Sony Interactive Entertainment has pulled its latest PlayStation-exclusive release from sale in Russia, becoming the latest in a long line of video game companies to take action against the country's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
PlayStation's critically acclaimed racing game Grand Turismo 7 is now available to buy worldwide, but Eurogamer reports that the title is currently inaccessible via the Russian PlayStation Store. Apparently PlayStation only made the decision to block sales of the game in Russia last night.
Sony has yet to officially announce that the game has been removed from sale, or explain why. However, it seems clear that it is in response Russia's widely condemned actions in Ukraine.
Just yesterday, CD Projekt announced it would pulling its games from Russia until further notice. Disney, Sony, and Warner Bros. also confirmed that they will be pulling their biggest releases from Russian cinemas, and EA is pulling Russian teams from its EA and NHL titles.
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Sony's actions come days after Ukraine's deputy prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov called on Xbox and PlayStation to remove its games from Russian storefronts.
"The armed forces and citizens are defending Ukraine till the end! The whole world is repelling the aggressor through the imposition of sanctions - the enemy must suffer significant losses," Fedorov wrote in an open letter. "But we need your support - in 2022, modern technology is perhaps the best answer to the tanks, multiple rocket launchers (hrad) and missiles.
"I am sure that you will not only hear, but also do everything to protect Ukraine, Europe and finally, the entire democratic world from bloody authoritarian aggression - and I appeal to temporarily block all Russian and Belarusian accounts, temporarily stop the participation of Russian and Belarusian teams and gamers in all international esports events and cancel all international events holding on the territory of Russia and Belarus.
"We are sure that such actions will motivate the citizens of Russia to proactively stop the disgraceful military aggression."
Topics: World News, PlayStation