Electronic Arts Ends Sales in Russia and Belarus

Electronic Arts will no longer sell its games and other content in Russia and Belarus, the publisher announced this week, after condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine. An announcement about the decision said Electronic Arts stands “solidarity with the people of Ukraine” and is working to understand how it can help people in that region including its colleagues and partners. In addition to ending the sales in Russia and Belarus, Electronic Arts also said it’s looking into changes to be made within its EA Sports titles including the FIFA and NHL series as well as other games.

The post shared on the EA site on Friday began by saying the publisher was “shocked” at the conflict afflicting Ukraine with a call for peace and an end to the invasion. After reiterating plans to assist those in need, EA said it’ll no longer be selling games in Russia and Belarus. That decision extends to things like virtual currency, too.

“We have made the decision to stop sales of our games and content, including virtual currency bundles, in Russia and Belarus while this conflict continues,” EA said. “As a result, our games and content will no longer be available for purchase in our Russian region storefront on Origin or the EA app, including through in-game stores. We are also working with our platform partners to remove our titles from their stores and stop the sale of new in-game content in the region.”

Recently, it was announced that EA Sports would be taking out Russia’s National Team and the Russian Clubs from FIFA 22. With that happening the FIFA game and similar actions planned for the publisher’s NHL series, EA said it’ll look into other actions which may be deemed necessary.

“As this deeply troubling situation evolves, we’re continually reviewing the steps we can take,” EA continued.” In addition to changes to our EA SPORTS FIFA and NHL games, we are actively evaluating other areas of our games and operations, and will update with any further actions.”

This decision follows CD Projekt’s announcement that it too would be suspending sales of its games in Russia and Belarus including sales within the company’s GOG marketplace. Ukraine has been pressuring major gaming companies this week to take similar actions and end their sales within those regions.