Ubisoft, Take-Two Are the Latest Game Makers to Halt Sales in Russia
Ubisoft and Take-Two are the latest game publishers to halt business in Russia.
The game makers behind Assassin's Creed and Grand Theft Auto, respectively, this week revealed plans to curb access to their titles over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. "In light of the ongoing tragedy in Ukraine, we have decided to suspend our sales in Russia," Ubisoft said in a statement.
The declaration comes days after Ubisoft announced a €1 million ($1.1 million) fund dedicated to supporting Ukrainian colleagues, as well as donations to local aid efforts. "We stand by our teams in Ukraine and will continue to adapt and reinforce our support as the situation evolves."
Take-Two Interactive is also terminating sales of its games and marketing support in Russia and Belarus, where people are also prevented from installing titles like Grand Theft Auto V—believed to be the third most-popular game in Russia behind Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2.
"We have watched recent events unfold in Ukraine with concern and sadness," Take-Two VP of corporate communications and public affairs, Alan Lewis, told GamesIndustry.biz. "After significant consideration," he continued, "we decided to stop new sales, installations, and marketing support across all our labels in Russia and Belarus at this time."
Activision Blizzard and Epic Games last week halted new sales of titles in Russia, stopping folks from making in-game purchases, but not from playing games they already own. "We're not blocking access for the same reason other communication tools remain online: the free world should keep all lines of dialogue open," Epic Games tweeted.
Microsoft, meanwhile, ceased "all new sales of Microsoft products and services in Russia," including Xbox consoles,
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