The video game world is mobilizing against the war in Ukraine. CD Projekt Red, studio behind Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher, has announced that it will stop selling its games in Russia and Belarus. Its GOG platform is also suspended in these countries.
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has consequences for all sectors, including the video game industry. While Ukrainian developers are hard hit, others are stepping up, either by sending money, or by making strong business decisions.
This is the case of CD Projekt Red, developer of The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077 games. The studio based in Warsaw (Poland) has announced withdraw its products from sale in both Russia and Belarus, the two aggressor countries of Ukraine. This concerns physical games, but also dematerialized ones. From today, it is impossible for Russian players to buy their creations.
CD Projekt Red makes a strong decision by withdrawing from the Russian market
CD Projekt Red is also behind the GOG platform, a kind of Steam intended mainly for old PC games (but not only). Here again, sales in both countries are suspended.
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A decision that will cost the studio financially, since Russia represents 5.4% of its income in 2021, and Belarus 3.7%. In its press release, CD Projekt Red says it understands that the players of the two countries are not responsible for the events, but that this decision is necessary to make the world aware of what is happening in Ukraine. Another Polish developer, Bloober Team (The Observer, The Medium) has also announced the end of sales of its games in Russia.
In the world of video games, many studios have reacted to events in their own way. For example, Ubisoft has given additional funds to its Ukraine-based employees to help them. EA has taken the symbolic decision to remove the Russian team from its FIFA and NHL games and many studios are calling for donations. Yesterday, the Ukrainian studio CSG announced the cessation of development of its game Stalker 2 until further notice, the situation no longer allowing it to work peacefully.
