Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
On the world stage, as Russia continues its aggression against Ukraine and national powers move to try to curtail loss and suffering while condemning Russia’s actions, many people and organizations in the video game industry have cast their support of Ukraine via donations to charity and humanitarian aid or other actions. However, two of the largest forces in the video game industry, PlayStation’s Sony and Xbox’s Microsoft, have remained fairly mum on the matter. Recently, Ukrainian leadership called this out, demanding Sony and Microsoft break silence on the matter and cease business in Russia.
It was Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov who took to his Twitter to call out Sony and Microsoft’s perceived inaction during the Russian invasion of Ukraine thus far. Fedorov pointed out that Sony and Microsoft could not have ignored the matter and demanded that action be taken in support of humanitarian efforts.
“Russia declares war not on Ukraine, but on all the civilized world. If you support human values, you should leave the Russian market!” Ferdorov wrote.
Indeed, where many in the video game industry, especially in Eastern Europe, have spoken out against Russia and in support of Ukraine, PlayStation and Xbox have been silent on the matter. We’ve seen STALKER 2 dev GSC Game World call for donations to Ukrainian armed forces, 11 bit studios use their anti-war game This War of Mine as a means to raise donations, CD Projekt RED donate outright to humanitarian causes, and more in the aid of Ukraine and humanitarian efforts around it, but many of the bigger forces in the industry have been quiet.
It remains to be seen whether or not PlayStation or Xbox will actually respond to the call for attention and action in the case of Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine. Nonetheless, we will continue to update as the story develops.