Many players in the game are mobilizing to sanction Russia, which could cost the industry dearly. The country is the eighth largest consumer of the sector, with an estimated market of 2.5 billion euros.
As the days go by, Russia becomes more and more isolated from the rest of the world. His decision to invade cost him dearly, and while Vladimir Putin must have anticipated some of the sanctions, he may not have anticipated the magnitude of the Western response. Thus, several big names in tech have already announced their sanctions against the country. Among these, the video game world is particularly committed to the Ukrainian cause.
On March 2, 2022, the Ukrainian government calls on the video game industry to rise up against Russia. The response was not long in coming. Since that date, there has not been a day without a publisher or a studio taking action against the country. Some are somewhat timid, like FIFA 22 which removed the Russian team, while others are more radical, such as stopping the distribution of CD Projekt RED games to Russian players.
The video game must expect serious consequences
These decisions, as strong and symbolic as they are, will not be without consequences. Indeed, a study by the Statista Institute, dating from last year, places Russia in eighth place among the biggest consumers of video games in the world. A gigantic market worth no less than 2.5 billion euros. As much money as the industry risks losing by taking these measures, and which explains why certain studios are more cautious.
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In Japan, for example, people are not as inclined to sanction Russia. Sony, for example, has for the time being content to remove Gran Turismo 7 from its store for players in the country. As for the Nintendo Store, it is officially under maintenance on the Russian servers. The two companies have in common not to have publicly confirmed that these are direct sanctions.
In the West, although the answer is more present, we are still careful to take tweezers. In announcing its withdrawal from the Russian market, Epic Games took care to specify “A free world needs all means of communication to remain open” to justify the maintenance of its messaging. Finally, all this is without counting the games that simply cannot be developed given the current situation, such as STALKER 2, the next title from the Ukrainian studio BSC.
