If it were up to Ukraine, PlayStation and Xbox gamers would be excluded from the entire world in addition to Russian athletes.
We see the terrible images from Ukraine every moment of every day. Russia has invaded the country and is causing massive damage to the infrastructure and the population. The whole world sees what is happening and some companies have already announced to take action. For example, Shell is divesting all its operations in Russia and Apple is no longer selling iPhones. Several sports federations have decided to ban Russian athletes. If it were up to Ukraine, it would also be the turn of gamers with their PlayStation and Xbox.
No Xbox- PlayStation account for Russian players
The American medium Polygon now reports that Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has called on Sony and Microsoft to take action. He wants PlayStation and Xbox like accounts of Russian and Belarusian players to be temporarily blocked. In addition, he calls on organizers of e-sports events to exclude players from those two countries and cancel events in the countries.
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@Xbox @PlayStation
You are definitely aware of what is happening in Ukraine right now. Russia declare war not for Ukraine but for all civilized world. If you support human values, you should live the Russian market! pic.twitter.com/tnQr13BsSv
– Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 2, 2022
The big question is whether Sony and Microsoft will heed the call. Both countries are not such big markets so it won’t have too big an impact on the companies. Microsoft has previously banned Russian state media, so banning players from the Xbox would be a small step. Sony already let it be known not to release upcoming cinema releases in Russia, so they too may take action with PlayStation. So it won’t be surprising if they actually do.
Several companies are already taking action
Several game producers are already taking action. For example, The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red has already donated over 200,000 euros. In addition, EA Sports has already announced to remove Russian clubs from FIFA 22. So you will no longer encounter them on your PlayStation when you play a game of FIFA.
