Sony PlayStation and Nintendo have suspended sales in Russia due to the conflict in Ukraine

Sony PlayStation and Nintendo have suspended sales in Russia

Sony's PlayStation division and Nintendo have halted product sales in Russia, becoming the latest major companies to pull out due to the conflict in Ukraine.

Sony's video game division announced Wednesday that all console and software shipments to the nation had been stopped, including the launch of the new racing game Gran Turismo 7. In addition, the PlayStation Store will be unavailable in Russia.

The company told, "Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) supports the worldwide community in asking for peace in Ukraine."

The Sony Group has set aside $2 million for donations to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and Save the Children "to help the victims of this catastrophe," according to the company.

Nintendo said on Wednesday that all shipments to Russia will be halted "for the time being," citing "significant volatility all-around challenges of shipping and distributing physical items."

In light of recent world events, Nintendo has also chosen to postpone the release of Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp, a military-themed strategy game.

Both companies' suspensions occurred after Ukraine's digital minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, requested that Russian players' accounts be blocked directly from Xbox and PlayStation.

Sony and Nintendo are following in the footsteps of well-known corporations such as McDonald's, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Starbucks, which have all halted operations in Russia in response to public outrage over the country's invasion of Ukraine.

Video game companies began making efforts to cut connections with Russia last week. Electronic Arts and CD Projekt, the creators of the sci-fi game Cyberpunk 2077, have announced that they will stop selling games and material in Russia and Belarus.

Microsoft said on Friday that all new sales of its products and services, including Xbox gaming consoles, software, and subscription services, will be halted in Russia. The next day, Epic Games, the creators of Fortnite, followed suit, announcing that it was "ending trade with Russia in our games."

Epic is stopping commerce with Russia in our games in response to its invasion of Ukraine. We’re not blocking access for the same reason other communication tools remain online: the free world should keep all lines of dialogue open.

— Epic Games Newsroom (@EpicNewsroom) March 5, 2022

Sony's decision is one of the most momentous in the business to date. According to industry sources, the business has the strongest presence in Russia of any console producer.

"Sony has the greatest installed base, so if a console maker has a particularly difficult option from a purely financial one, it's Sony," Lewis Ward, head of gaming at research firm IDC, recently told CNBC.

Ukraine's digital minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, has earlier demanded that Microsoft and Sony ban all Russian and Belarusian accounts and cancel any upcoming events in the two nations.

CNBC