In view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the current acts of war, other companies in the games and technology industry are now taking action and stopping their business in Russia. This now includes Microsoft and Electronic Arts.
First of all, Microsoft officially announced that all new sales activities in Russia will be suspended until further notice. At the same time, it pledged to cooperate with Ukraine’s official cybersecurity bodies to help defend the country against Russian cyberattacks.
Yesterday, CD Projekt RED, an important company in the games industry, announced that it would stop all business in Russia and Belarus, but Microsoft is of course unequally important. Although the Xbox division is also affected, the company based in Redmond, USA, is of course one of the most important companies in the PC sector as a whole. In this respect, the step in this case is more comparable to Apple’s withdrawal. Brad Smith, Microsoft President, stressed that sales of all Microsoft products and services in Russia will be suspended – meaning no more Xbox consoles and Windows for Russian customers.
And: Electronic Arts has also followed this example for a while and is also ending its business in Russia, at least temporarily. That means: No more game sales, no other content, no virtual currencies! In this case, that also applies to pro-Russian Belarus. Transactions are no longer possible via Origin and the EA app, and they are also working with partner platforms to remove their own titles from their stores.
EA had previously taken action, removing Russian and Belarusian teams from the FIFA and NHL ranks.
For the launch of Windows 11 on October 5th, there is a short video that praises the advantages of the new operating system for gaming.
