There are many international efforts to pressure Russia in the midst of the conflict with Ukraine. Sanctions, economic blockades, closure of trade relations, among other measures, have been taken by the states of the world to support Ukrainian citizens and surround the Russians.
These measures have reached a new area, which is still important today, and that is that people in Russia cannot use consoles from Sony and Microsoft. That is, due to the invasion of Moscow troops on Ukrainian soil, the Russians will not be able to play with PlayStation and Xbox devices.
The Ukrainian government wants video game giants to join the tech industry’s crackdown on Russia, and according to a report from Polygonthe Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov, has asked these entertainment companies and other video game companies to “temporarily block” all accounts of Russian and Belarusian gamers.
It also asked the organizers of eSports competitions to stop the participation of competitors from Russia and Belarusand that cancel any event planned for either of the two countries or to be played in one of the two nations.
“Xbox and PlayStation are definitely aware of what’s going on in Ukraine right now. Russia declares war not on Ukraine but on the entire civilized world”, Fedorov tweeted, attaching the official statement.
The video game industry has already shown signs of support.
These moves would motivate the Russians to stop “shameful military aggression” in Ukraine, argued Fedorov, who believes the technology could be the “best answer” to Russia’s military hardware.
In his report, Engadget account that some video game developers have already shown their support for Ukraine. Cyberpunk 2077 creator CD Projekt Red donated the equivalent of $232,000 to humanitarian efforts in the country.
Neither Sony nor Microsoft have commented on the matter and it is unknown if they will take the measures requested by the Ukrainian government. Russia isn’t the biggest market for either company, but banning the country, even briefly, would represent a significant move by driving out Russian and Belarusian players.