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Take-Two Interactive & Ubisoft join in suspension of sales in Russia

The Grand Theft Auto and Rainbow Six publishers are joining in blocking new sales in Russia and Belarus in support of Ukraine.

TJ Denzer

March 7, 2022 1:05 PM

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As Russia continues its war on Ukraine, bringing about a major humanitarian crisis, so too have many major organizations around the world been acting to challenge Russia and support Ukraine alongside. This week, Take-Two Interactive and Ubisoft join that growing list. Both publishers have officially announced that they will suspend new sales in Russia immediately in support of Ukraine.

Ubisoft officially announced its decision to suspend sales in Russia via a blog post on its own website speaking on how the company is working to support Ukraine and its employees there. Take-Two Interactive also spoke to its own decision regarding the situation in a statement to PC Gamer. Both publishers are set to cease new sales in Russia as the war continues. Take-Two Interactive will also stop sales in Belarus for the time being. With Take-Two Interactive behind the much-beloved Grand Theft Auto and GTA Online and Ubisoft behind a great deal of major franchises including Rainbow Six, Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and more, it’s hefty array of popular gaming that will be unavailable in the country while these suspensions go on.

Learn more about our measures to support the safety and wellbeing of our teams, as well as the total donation of 200,000 EUR we're making to @RedCrossUkraine and @SavetheChildren:

— Ubisoft (@Ubisoft) March 1, 2022

Take-Two Interactive and Ubisoft are a little late to the punch, but it can largely be considered a “better late than never situation”. They join the likes of Electronic Arts, Microsoft, CD Projekt RED, 11 bit studios, and GSC Game World to name a few. The continued international effort to hammer Russia with economic sanctions and further dissuasions from the ongoing conlict has brought a lot of major forces and organizations together in support Ukraine’s freedom and safety. With major franchises like GTA and Rainbow Six becoming unavailable in the country for the time being, it adds to the effort to attempt to financially damage Russia while it continues its military aggression in Ukraine.

As Take-Two and Ubisoft join the continuing effort to support Ukraine, stay tuned for the latest updates and details as we continue to follow this topic.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.