In response to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian government issued a public call to "all game development companies" to "temporarily block all Russian and Belorussian accounts." Following a slow start, many of the game industry's major players are now responding to that call by halting new sales in the country.
Ubisoft became the latest to take action against Russian customers on Monday morning, informing Bloomberg that it is "suspending its physical and digital sales" in the Russian market.
Take-Two made a similar announcement earlier in the morning, telling Mashable that it will suspend "new sales, installations, and marketing support" in Russia and Belarus, which includes purchases made using the Rockstar Game Launcher.
The new statements follow a weekend storm of similar actions by major gaming companies.
Electronic Arts announced on Friday that it is suspending Russian game sales, including the sale of virtual currency bundles in its popular games, "while this conflict continues." This move follows EA Sports' earlier removal of all Russian teams from FIFA 22 and NHL 22, mirroring similar moves by international organizations managing those sports.
Activision Blizzard also stated late Friday that it will suspend game sales and will match employee contributions to Ukraine-based relief organizations two-to-one.
On Friday, Microsoft also joined the fray by prohibiting all sales of Xbox hardware, software, and Game Pass memberships in Russia.
Epic announced on Saturday that it was "stopping commerce with Russia in our games," though it's unclear if that ban applies to the Epic Games Store or development clearinghouses like the Unreal Marketplace.
Regardless, Epic claims it would continue to allow Russian gamers access to its games because "the free world should maintain all lines of discussion open," noting "the same reason other communication tools stay available."
While some game platforms are still operational in Russia, major payment processor bans appear to be restricting access to several online storefronts for game purchases.
According to a (translated) error message on Nintendo's Russian website, "due to the fact that the payment service used in Nintendo eShop has suspended the processing of payments in rubles, Nintendo eShop in Russia is temporarily placed into maintenance mode."
While Sony has made no official announcements on the Russian PlayStation market, Gran Turismo 7 was removed from the Russian PlayStation store on Friday. This action coincides with FIA Motorsports' efforts to ban Russian participation in events, including esports.
Credit card payments are also inaccessible on Steam, while Russian customers can reportedly continue to make new purchases using current Steam wallet funds. PayPal purchases were also still available on Steam before the firm discontinued Russian service on Saturday.
