Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s vice prime minister, is calling for PlayStation, Xbox, and all video game companies to stop supporting Russia and Belarus for now.
On Wednesday, Fedorov shared an open letter addressing the entire games industry while tagging the official Twitter accounts for PlayStation and Xbox.
“You are definitely aware of what is happening in Ukraine right now. Russia [declared] war not for Ukraine but for all [the] civilized world. If you support human values, you should [leave] the Russian market,” Fedorov said on Twitter. “I appeal to temporarily block all Russian and Belorussia accounts, temporarily stop the participation of Russian and Belorussian teams and gamers in all international esports events and cancel all international events golding 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
Neither Sony nor Microsoft has acknowledged Fedorov’s plea, but many companies within the games industry are taking action in light of the crisis in Ukraine. EA is removing Russian teams from both FIFA 22 and NHL 22, for instance, which mirrors the real-world FIFA and UEFA’s ban on all Russian teams from competition.
However, EA isn’t blocking Russia as Fedorov’s request suggests. It’s unclear at this time if any companies in the games industry will do so.
Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.
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