How Gaming World Reacts to the War in Ukraine

Two weeks ago, the Russian army started shelling Ukrainian territory and invading cities and villages. What has the gaming industry got to do with it? But, as a large sector of the world’s economy, it can strongly respond. One by one, gaming giants and independent companies join the sanctions against Russia and hurry to support Ukraine.

 Among the first ones to react were Microsoft and Electronic Arts. Just think about it: earlier this year, EA seriously cared about how same-sex marriages in The Sims 4 would be met in Russia, and now it completely exits the market! More than that, Russian teams and players are removed from the FIFA 2 and NHL 22 games. Amazon suspended any activity in the Russian version of the New World.

 Among other major players, there are Nvidia, Steam, Epic Games, Rockstar Games, Activision Blizzard, and CD Projekt RED. It’s hard to name all the independent studios that joined these sanctions and suspended all the sales in Russia and Belarus which de facto acted as a Russian ally. It’s also worth noticing that ESL suspended all the championships in the CIS and banned Russian pro-government teams from participating.

 Along with this, many publishers and developers started campaigns for charity organizations helping Ukraine and Ukrainians. All these companies donate millions of dollars to funds that support Ukraine, like International Medical Corps, Global Giving, or Polish Red Cross (which is important, given how many Ukrainian refugees are now in Poland). The developers of Unity participate independently, donating a noticeable sum. Also, they release the Ukraine Mega Bundle the proceeds of which will also be donated.

 So, what do you think about these actions? Do you take the gaming world more seriously now? And have you seen that tweet (alas, a fake one) by Activision regarding the Russian army? Let’s enjoy our freedom of speech and speak what we think in the comments!