Publisher Electronic Arts is reportedly planning to remove references to Russia from its FIFA and NHL franchises.
This is according to industry insider Tom Henderson, who claims that EA confirmed in an internal email to staff that "it will be removing Russia from the likes of FIFA and NHL games due to the invasion of Ukraine."
It remains to be seen what shape "removing Russia" from its games will take, but the assumption is that Russia's national teams will be unplayable for an indefinite amount of time. It's unclear whether the publisher will also remove specific players. We've reached out to EA for comment.
Late last month, DICE confirmed that it would be removing certain content from Battlefield 2042 until further notice. One of the game's weekly rewards, a skin for the Mi-240 Super Hind Russian attack helicopter called the Grin Reaper, was pulled as a result of the ongoing conflict.
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EA wouldn't be the first company to take a stance against Russia, either. In the last week, Disney, Sony, and Warner Bros. have confirmed that they will be pulling their biggest releases from Russian cinemas until further notice.
A wide range of studios big and small have also condemned the invasion, and made donations to various humanitarian causes. You can see the full list of developers currently sharing proceeds from their games to aid the Ukraine crisis here.
Topics: FIFA