Ukraine asks Xbox, PlayStation and “all game development companies” to ban support for Russia

Editor’s note: The war in Ukraine is an ongoing, painful and emotional topic. IGN urges community members to be respectful when engaging in a conversation about this and does not endorse harassment of any kind.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called on “all game development companies and esports platforms” to temporarily stop supporting Russia and Belarus, and addressed an open letter to Xbox and PlayStation in particular.

on him Twitter accountFedorov tagged his Xbox and PlayStation, writing: “You are certainly familiar with what is happening in Ukraine now. Russia is declaring war not for Ukraine but for the civilized world. If you support human values, you should live [sic] Russian market! “

The open letter calls on the companies to “temporarily ban all Russian and Belarusian accounts, temporarily stop the participation of Russian and Belarusian teams and players in all international esports events and cancel all international events held on the territory of Russia and Belarus.” Although not explicitly stated, Fedorov likely included Belarus in the application due to its tacit support of the Russian invasion.

Xbox @Play Station

You certainly realize what is happening in Ukraine now. Russia declares war not for Ukraine but for the whole civilized world. If you support human values, then you have to live in the Russian market! pic.twitter.com/tnQr13BsSv

– Mikhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 2, 2022

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many parts of the gaming industry have thrown their support behind Ukraine, including a number of fundraising efforts for humanitarian organizations.

However, while we’ve seen the Little Orpheus platformer delayed due to its Soviet-related story, we haven’t yet heard of unrelated games pulled from release in Russia. This contrasts with the film industry, which has seen Disney, Sony Pictures and Warner Brothers pull films from release in the country.

We have contacted Microsoft, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and Nintendo for comment on the open letter.

You can read Federov’s speech in full below:

Joe Scripps is the executive news editor at IGN. follow him Twitter. Do you have a tip for us? Want to discuss a potential story? Please send an email to [email protected].