“You are obviously aware of what is happening in Ukraine right now. Russia has not only declared war on Ukraine but on the entire civilized world. If you support human values, you have to leave the Russian market!“, published Mykhailo Fedorov on his Twitter account, more specifically challenging PlayStation and Xbox. also challenged Riot Games, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Gameloft or Wargaming asking them to close their studios and offices in Russia.
More generally, the Minister in charge of digital has signed a letter addressed to all video game and electronic sport players. “We need your help. In 2022, modern technology is perhaps the best answer to tanks, rocket launchers and missiles. I am sure that you will not only hear but also do your best to protect Ukraine, Europe and the whole free world from authoritarian bloody aggression, and I call for the temporary blocking of all Russian and Belarusian accounts, to the temporary interruption of the participation of Russian and Belarusian teams and players in esports events as well as the cancellation of competitions taking place on Russian and Belarusian territory“, can we read.
Minister Fedorov therefore hopes that platform owners like Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo will follow the path of Apple, which has halted all sales of its products in Russia and removed Russian media RT News and Sputnik News from its App Store. However, Mykhailo Fedorov would like Tim Cook not to stop on such a good path and suspend the entire App Store in Russia. A neighbor of video games, the film industry has also taken a stand since Disney, Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. announced the suspension of their films scheduled in Russia, which includes films like Red alert, The Batman and Morbius. The minister’s request concerning esport competitions evokes the numerous sanctions taken by world sports bodies, starting with the expulsion of Russia from the next football world championship.
If no message was published by PlayStation on the news in Ukraine, note that Sony Group Corporation announced yesterday a donation of 2 million dollars to humanitarian associations to contribute to the aid of the populations affected by the war in Ukraine. In addition, the various Sony Group subsidiaries around the world will collect donations from their employees and match the amounts collected.