Electronic Arts halts all sales in Russia and Belarus

Electronic Arts
(Image credit: Jeremy Moeller (Getty))

Electronic Arts has announced that it will stop the sales of games and content in Russia and Belarus as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"We continue to be shocked at the conflict that is unfolding in Ukraine, and join so many voices around the world in calling for peace and an end to the invasion," EA said in a blog post

"We stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. Our primary concern is the ongoing safety of those in the region, particularly colleagues and partners, and we are seeking to understand how we might best help them further beyond our programs that are already in place."

Game sales, in-game content, and virtual currency sales through Origin and the EA app will be suspended in Russia and Belarus "while this conflict continues," EA said. It is also working with "platform partners" to remove its games from their stores in those regions as well.

Earlier this week, Electronic Arts removed Russia and Russian clubs from all active versions of its FIFA games and NHL 22. CD Projekt has also halted sales of The Witcher, Cyberpunk 2077, and all games distributed on GOG in Russia and Belarus, and earlier today Microsoft announced that it has suspended sales of products and services in Russia, joining major commercial players including Airbnb, Spotify, Volkswagen, Oracle, Netflix, Nike, and Boeing. Numerous other game studios have also spoken out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and many are raising or donating funds to support victims of the war. 

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.