Epic Games is suspending commerce in Russia in response to the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, though Fortnite will reportedly remain online in the region. As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to unfold, many game industry titans have taken direct action in support of Europe’s second-largest country. Responses include games like Battlefield 2042 removing in-game items, as well as large corporations like Ubisoft providing additional funds to Ukrainian employees to aid in relocation efforts.
Companies in both the gaming and tech industries have expressed solidarity with Ukraine, providing financial aid to those affected by the invasion and taking direct economic action against Russia. The Pokémon Company and CD Projekt Red are among the companies to provide substantial financial aid in support of Ukraine, and game developer John Romero announced the first new DOOM 2 level in nearly 30 years, with proceeds going to humanitarian efforts. In addition to those generous responses, Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov asked game companies to block Russian accounts.
In a post from the Epic Games Newsroom Twitter account (via Forbes), Fortnite will remain online in Russia but will be “stopping commerce” in the region. Epic explained that while its response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will be met with the suspension of commerce in all of its games, the publisher is “not blocking access” to games like Fortnite because it believes that the free world should “keep all lines of dialogue open.” This means that Fortnite V-Bucks will not be sold in Russia, and it’s also possible the Epic Games Store will stop the sale of its games in the region, though the publisher has not confirmed what its exact actions will be.
Epic’s response is similar to Nintendo’s, when it suspended eShop payments in Russia, though it wasn’t clear if the game company had a direct hand in suspending its digital storefront. The suspension was blamed on Nintendo eShop’s third-party payment service, which temporarily stopped processing rubles. Since its invasion, Russia has cracked down on social networking sites in its attempt to prevent the spread of unfiltered information, threatening up to 15 years in prison for anti-war sentiments. Epic's statement about not blocking access could have been a reference to this, though it's unclear what exactly the company will do to keep this dialogue open.
The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red has already stopped all game sales in Russia and Belarus, and Ukrainian developer GSC Game World announced S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is delayed until Ukraine claims victory over its invaders. At the moment it’s not clear whether Epic will completely suspend all game sales in Russia on the Epic Games Store, or if it will only prevent sales of in-game items like Fortnite V-Bucks and skins. To have the greatest impact on the Russian economy, Epic will have to shut down all commerce, though that would also have the largest impact on the company’s revenue as well.
Source: Epic Games Newsroom/Twitter (via Forbes)