Sony appears to have pulled Gran Turismo 7 from sales on the Russian PlayStation Store.
Launching globally today, sources who spoke to Eurogamer said the company made the decision to take the game off the shelves overnight.
Sony hasn’t officially announced the game’s removal, but the game’s store page says “release date to be confirmed”.
The move comes after multiple companies suspended sales of various products in the country due to the invasion of Ukraine.
Today, Microsoft announced that it will stop new product sales in the country, while yesterday, CD Projekt stop all sales of its games Via GOG in Russia and Belarus. It will also stop distributing physical stocks in both countries.
“The entire CD Projekt team stands with the people of Ukraine,” the statement read. “While we are not a political entity capable of directly influencing national affairs, nor do we aspire to be a part of it, we do believe that commercial entities, when united, have the power to spark global change in the hearts and minds of ordinary people.
“We know that Russian and Belarusian actors, individuals unrelated to the invasion of Ukraine, will be affected by this decision, but with this action we hope to further inspire the international community to talk about what is happening in the heart of Europe.”
EA also showed its support for Ukraine by removing Russian teams and clubs from its FIFA product. in a statement, EA said it has initiated a process to remove the Russian national team and all Russian clubs from EA Sports FIFA products including FIFA 22, FIFA Mobile and FIFA Online. It is also evaluating related changes in other areas of its game.
The company also stopped selling its games and content, including virtual currency bundles, in Russia and Belarus while the conflict continued. As a result, its games and content will no longer be available for purchase on Origin’s storefront or on the EA app, including through in-game stores in the region.
The company is also working with its platform partners to remove games from the store and stop selling new game content in the region.
Bloober Team, the developers of The Medium, also stopped game sales in Russia and Belarus, and many game companies have pledged to donate to various charities supporting the people of Ukraine.
earlier this weekUkraine Deputy Prime Minister Mikhailo Fedorov called on many game companies to block players in Russia and Belarus.
Fedorov asked gaming companies to prevent esports teams and players from both countries from participating in all international events and to cancel all events held in Belarus and Russia.
He also specifically called on Riot Games, Ubisoft, Gameloft and World of Warships developer Wargaming.net to close their offices in Russia.
Apple recently suspended all sales of its products in Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine, and has moved to limit the use of digital services such as Apple Pay within Russia and the use of Russian state media apps abroad.
Google also showed support by expanding security protections, updating Ukraine’s Search and Maps with SOS alerts on Search, and temporarily disabling some live Google Maps features in the country to help “keep the local community and its citizens safe.” It also added information on refugee and immigrant centers in neighbouring countries. Google also blocked YouTube channels related to RT and Sputnik in Europe, noting that products like Google Pay may not be available in some countries.