Take-Two and Ubisoft suspend sales in Russia over Ukrainian invasion
The publishers join Electronic Arts, Activision-Blizzard, CD Projekt, and others in speaking out against Russian aggression.
Take-Two Interactive and Ubisoft have announced that they are halting sales of their games and services in Russia as a result of its invasion of Ukraine.
"We have watched recent events unfold in Ukraine with concern and sadness," Take-Two Interactive vice president of corporate communications Alan Lewis said in an email sent to PC Gamer. "After significant consideration, last week, we decided to stop new sales, installations, and marketing support across all our labels in Russia and Belarus at this time."
Ubisoft confirmed its policy change in a one-line update to last week's blog post on the state of Ukraine and its employees in the country: "In light of the ongoing tragedy in Ukraine, we have decided to suspend our sales in Russia."
The publishers are the latest game companies to suspend business in Russia because of the invasion, following CD Projekt, Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard, and Epic Games. Microsoft has also stopped "all new sales" of its products and services in the country, as well as "many aspects of our business in Russia in compliance with governmental sanctions decisions."
Non-gaming companies including Airbnb, Spotify, Volkswagen, Oracle, Netflix, Nike, Boeing, Netflix, PayPal, and many others have also stopped sales or manufacturing in Russia, while international economic sanctions have cratered the value of the country's currency, inflicting significant pressure on Russia's leaders but also causing hardships for much of its population.