Today, Ukrainian officials have requested that the gaming industry stands against Russia’s actions by blocking access to services. After the recent events that have taken place in Ukraine, more industries are beginning to look at their relationships with Russia. This also includes video games and the industry tied to them.
Recently there have been instances of industry changes due to the conflict in Europe. For example, Electronic Arts removed Russia from its FIFA and NHL titles, a World of Tanks creative director was fired over pro-Russian comments. There have also been large donations. For example, this War of Mine developer, 11 Bit Studios, and Crunching Koalas donated a week’s worth of revenue to the Red Cross in Ukraine, and CD Projekt Red donated $232,000 to humanitarian efforts.
As the conflict continues to play out, the industry will have to continue to deal with these effects. Now officials in Ukraine are asking some in the industry to block access to Russia. Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov tweeted out to the giants Xbox and PlayStation saying:
“- I appeal to temporarily block all Russian and Belorussian teams and gamers in all international esports events and cancel all international events holding on the territory of Russia and Belarus.”
You are definitely aware of what is happening in Ukraine right now. Russia declare war not for Ukraine but for all civilized world. If you support human values, you should live the Russian market! pic.twitter.com/tnQr13BsSv
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 2, 2022
Ukrainian Officials request a halt of gaming services with Russia
With more gaming industries blocking access to Russia. It’s not surprising that the Ukrainian officials asked one of the largest entertainment industries. However, the situation is unclear as there has been no response from either Xbox or Playstation since the initial tweet early this morning.
Since the tweet, there has been a heated discussion happening online, even if PlayStation and Xbox decide to end services to the region. The change would have little impact unless the other prominent industry leaders like Valve or Nintendo would also end their services. So, for now, everyone, we’ll have to wait for a response of some sort from the industry.