Game developer stands in the middle of war as industry cancels Russia

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Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, several distributors, production companies and virtual game studios have publicly declared their repudiation of the war and publicized donations and initiatives to help the victims of the conflict.

In recent days, however, several of these companies have gone further and joined the boycott of the Russian market as a way of pressuring the country to give up the war.

One of the first big companies to take the initiative was the Polish CD Projekt. Known for the series “The Witcher” and, more recently, for the game “Cyberpunk 2077”, the developer announced on the 3rd that suspended the sale of its games physically and virtually in Russia and Belarus, which supports the invasion of Ukraine. The block also extends to all titles on the GOG.com virtual store, belonging to the same group.

For most companies, multinationals with close links to the United States and the European Union, it was not difficult to decide which side to take in the conflict. But one developer found itself torn apart by the war.

Wargaming, from the “World of War” series -whose most successful game is “World of Tanks”-, was founded in 1998 in Minsk. With the success of the game, it moved its headquarters to Cyprus in 2011, but kept its main studio in the capital of Belarus. Around the same time, the company acquired studios in Kiev, Ukraine, and in St. Petersburg, hometown of none other than Vladimir Putin.

Today the company has studios spread across Europe, the United States and Australia, but maintains a close connection with Russia and other Eastern European countries, where a large part of its employees and consumers of its games are located.

It is not by chance that the company was mentioned by name by the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, alongside giants such as Electronic Arts, Ubisoft and Riot, in a tweet with a request for these companies to close their offices in Russia.

Wargaming found itself embroiled in the conflict in the early days of the invasion, when Sergey Burkatovskiy, creative director of “World of Tanks,” said in a Facebook message, posted on Feb. .

Days after the declaration, Burkatovskiy was fired. The company told PC Gamer that its now-former employee “expressed his personal opinion on the social network, which categorically does not reflect the company’s position.”

After that, Wargaming released a note in which it said it was fully committed to helping move and protect its more than 550 employees in Kiev and announced a donation of US$1 million to the Ukrainian Red Cross. So far, however, the company has not joined the boycott.

Check out the main companies that joined the boycott:

• Microsoft: The maker of Xbox consoles has stopped all sales and services to Russia and says it will be attentive to guidance from the US and UK governments and the European Union on indications of new sanctions.

• Sony: the manufacturer of PlayStation consoles has cut off the shipment of software and hardware and the operation of its virtual store in the country. The company had already postponed the release of the game “Gran Turismo 7” in Russia, but did not reveal the reason.

• Nintendo: suspended the shipment of goods indefinitely “due to considerable volatility in relation to the logistics for shipping and distributing physical goods”. The online store in the country is not accepting purchases due to problems processing payments in rubles.

• Electronic Arts: The producer and distributor of the “Fifa” and “The Sims” series no longer sells games, extra content and virtual currencies for the country in physical and virtual stores. Russian users, however, will still have access to the company’s servers and will be able to continue playing their games.

• Epic Games: the owner of “Fortnite” and “Rocket League” suspended sales, including microtransactions, but also kept Russian users from accessing its servers. The company justified the initiative stating that “the free world must keep all lines of dialogue open”.

• Take-Two: distributor of “Grand Theft Auto” series games has suspended the sale and advertising of its games in Russia and Belarus. According to GamesIndustry.biz, data from consultancy Newzoo indicate that “Grand Theft Auto 5” is the third most played title in Russia.

The list grows day by day and also includes other big companies like Activision Blizzard (“Call of Duty”), Ubisoft (“Assassin’s Creed”), Bungie (“Destiny”) and mobile game developers like Supercell (“Hay Day”). , Rovio (“Angry Birds”) and Niantic (“Pokémon GO”).

Still, even if the boycott involved the entire virtual gaming industry, the measure would have more symbolic than practical significance. According to Gamesindustry.biz, the video game market was worth US$3.4 billion in Russia in 2021, which represents only about 0.2% of the country’s GDP.

update

news, launches, business and what else matters

• Nintendo announced on Wednesday (9) that it has postponed indefinitely the release of “Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp”, a Switch remake of the war-themed strategy title released for the Game Boy Advance in the early years. 2000. The company said it made the decision due to “recent world events”, in clear allusion to the war in Ukraine.

• According to a report by Axios, eight former and current Sony PlayStation employees have joined a lawsuit against the company for alleged sexist treatment in the workplace. The lawsuit was filed in November by IT security analyst Emma Majo, who said the company has a culture hostile to women. In her defense, Sony asked that the suit not be accepted for lack of evidence.

• Warner has announced that “Gotham Knights” will be released on October 25th. The title is described as an action RPG in which the player will be able to explore Gotham after Batman’s death as one of his old sidekicks: Robin, Batgirl, Nightwing and Red Hood.

• “Guardians of the Galaxy”, an action game based on the Marvel comics, has entered the catalog of the Xbox Game Pass subscription service. Along with it are also available the indie “Kentucky Route Zero”, the RPG “Young Souls” and the lawnmower simulator (!) “Lawn Mowing Simulator” (only on Xbox One).

play

game tip, new or old, for you to test

inscryption
(PRAÇA)

At first “Inscryption” might just seem like an ordinary “Magic: The Gathering”-style card battle game, but it goes far beyond that. With a plot surrounded by mysteries, “escape room” elements and the ability to reinvent itself in unexpected ways, this “roguelike” never ceases to amaze the player. Even for those who aren’t a big fan of card games, it’s worth a try.

download

games that will be released in the next few days and promotions that are worth it

15.mar

• “Grand Theft Auto V”: BRL 53.73 (PS 5), BRL 107.45 (Xbox X/S)

• “The Cruel King and the Great Hero”: BRL 152.95 (Switch), price not informed (PS 4)

16.mar

17.mar

• “Persona 4 Arena Ultimax”: BRL 159.90 (PC, Switch), price not informed (PS 4)

• “Shredders”: price not stated* (PC, Xbox X/S)

18.mar

• “Stranger Of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin”: BRL 299.90 (PC, PS 4/5, Xbox One/X/S)

*Available on Xbox Game Pass

Promotions of the week

• Small game developers last week launched the “Bundle for Ukraine”, an initiative to help victims of war in Ukraine. The companies made a collection of more than 500 indie games that can be purchased for a minimum price of US$ 10 (R$ 50), with all the amount paid going to charities that operate in Ukraine. Among the titles available are little gems like “Celeste”, “Baba is You”, “Superhot”, “CrossCode” and “Skatebird”. The promotion runs until next Friday (18).

• Considered one of the best city building simulators today and the spiritual successor to the “SimCity” series, “Cities Skylines” is available for free on the Epic Store. The promotion ends next Thursday (17).

Readings of the week

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