Ukraine vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov has publicly requested that numerous game developers temporarily leave the Russian market and close their offices.
Tagging Xbox and PlayStation in a tweet on March 2, Fedorov said: “You are definitely aware of what is happening right now.”
The tweet also contained an open letter, addressed to both game developers and esports platforms.
It stated: “I appeal to temporarily block all Russian and Belarussian accounts, temporarily stop the participation of Russian and Belarussian teams and gamers in all international esports events, and cancel all international events holding on the territory of Russia and Belarus.”
Reaching out
Fedorov also called for Riot Games, EA, Ubisoft, Wargaming and Gameloft to close their offices in Russia. In this tweet, he stated: “There’s no place for aggressor [sic] on the global technological map!”
Fedorov later tweeted at Google and Apple that the “complete blocking of the Apple Store and Google Play with all apps” in Russia “will end Putin’s regime”.
The global games industry has expressed its suport of Ukraine during the Russian invasion. Comments and live updates from Ukrainian studios and links to support them and the Ukrainian Red Cross can be found through this link.
