Supercell is suspending service for players in Russia and Belarus until at least June 1, reports Gameworldobserver.com.
This block follows the removal of Supercell titles from app stores in the region last March in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Former member of the Soviet Union Belarus remains a staunch supporter of Russia, which has seen it face several sanctions along with Russia itself. In the games industry, many developers have taken steps to support Ukraine, including closing offices in Russia and Belarus and selling their assets in the region.
In a statement on Supercell’s site, the company wrote: “In response to the ongoing war in Ukraine, Supercell has removed its games from app stores in Russia and Belarus. Access to all Supercell games for existing users from Russia and Belarus will be interrupted during the spring of 2023 in accordance with an earlier decision.”
At the time that Supercell titles were removed from Russian and Belarusian app stores, the company stated that access for existing players would be removed with the next round of client updates. As a result, players in both markets lost access to Brawl Stars in April 2022, while maintaining access to other games developed by the Finnish company. Access to Clash of Clans was also suspended earlier this month.
It’s unclear, at present, whether service will resume on June 1, however given that the company has already blocked access in these markets for significant periods of time, it may be that Russian and Belarusian players will be unable to access Supercell titles until the war is over.
Stepping away from big markets
Russia was Supercell’s 14th largest market by revenue, with player spending reaching $161 million, or 1.3% of the company’s total. At 132 million installs, it was also in the company’s top five markets by downloads, accounting for 6.3% of the total.
Despite these large numbers Russia pales in comparison to other markets. The US proved to be Supercell’s largest market in terms of both revenue ($4.2 billion) and downloads (234.5 million). As such, while Supercell could see a dent in its financials following the blocks, it seems unlikely that this would cause any significant harm to the company.
We listed Supercell as one of the top 50 mobile game makers of 2022.
