Nintendo and Sony are halting video game sales in Russia, citing the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
On Thursday, Nintendo told Reuters it was suspending sales in Russia “for the foreseeable future," after it already began stopping payments through the company's eShop in the country. The reason for the sales halt is due to the “volatility surrounding the logistics of shipping and distributing physical goods” to the country, it said.
On Wednesday, Sony also announced it was hitting pause on all software and hardware sales for the PlayStation in Russia. "Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) joins the global community in calling for peace in Ukraine,” it tweeted.
The sales stoppage means Russia is losing retail access to all three major video game console makers. Last week, Microsoft also decided to stop all product sales to the country, which should include the company’s Xbox hardware.
“Like the rest of the world, we are horrified, angered, and saddened by the images and news coming from the war in Ukraine and condemn this unjustified, unprovoked, and unlawful invasion by Russia,” Microsoft said at the time.
Others, including Electronic Arts, CD Projekt RED, Ubisoft, and Take-Two, have also halted game sales in the country. In addition, Intel, AMD, and Nvidia are no longer shipping chips and other products to Russia. As a result, it may get harder for local Russians to enjoy video games during the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
The growing tech ban against Russia is precisely what the Ukrainian government wants. “We are sure such actions will motivate the citizens of Russia to proactively stop the disgraceful military aggression,” Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov wrote in an appeal to the gaming community last week.
However, Russia is reportedly preparing to respond to the tech ban by legalizing software piracy in the country. It’s also possible Russian consumers will simply source Sony, Nintendo, and Xbox games by importing them through unofficial channels from neighboring European countries.