Epic Games halts sales in Russia

Fortnite creator Epic Games has announced that it “is stopping commerce with Russia,” joining a growing list of companies that are boycotting the country over its invasion of Ukraine.

On Saturday (March 5), Epic Games shared on Twitter that “it is stopping commerce with Russia in our games in response to its invasion of Ukraine.”

However, the company added that it is “not blocking access for the same reason other communication tools remain online: the free world should keep all lines of dialogue open.”

Epic is stopping commerce with Russia in our games in response to its invasion of Ukraine. We’re not blocking access for the same reason other communication tools remain online: the free world should keep all lines of dialogue open.

— Epic Games Newsroom (@EpicNewsroom) March 5, 2022

This means that although fans in Russia will still be able to access titles such as Fortnite, they won’t be able to make any in-game purchases. As sales are coming to a stop, it’s likely this boycott will extend to the Epic Games Store, an online storefront where Epic takes a cut of all sales made.

Epic Games follows multiple high-profile gaming companies taking steps to boycott Russia, following the country’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

Recently, PlayStation halted sales of Gran Turismo 7 in Russia, on the day that it was meant to launch.

Shortly afterward, Call Of Duty creator Activision Blizzard said it “will be suspending new sales of and in our games in Russia while this conflict continues,” and added that it “will continue to look at ways to support the Ukrainian people.”

On Friday (March 4), Microsoft also announced that it would be halting all sales in Russia. In a blog post shared by Microsoft, company president Brad Smith said it would be “stopping many aspects of our business in Russia” and accused the country of cyberattacks that “violate the Geneva Convention”.

In other news, Square Enix has teased what will be coming to Final Fantasy 14 with patch 6.1 in April.