Microsoft Suspends New Sales In Russia, Presumably Including Xbox Products

Microsoft announced it will suspend new Russian sales for its products and services. This presumably applies to Xbox-related products such as consoles.

This news comes as a response to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, which has seen hundreds of Ukrainian civilians killed in bombings and more. Microsoft said it was saddened and angered by the Russian actions in Ukraine and that it has stopped many of its relations with Russia.

“Like the rest of the world, we are horrified, angered, and saddened by the images and news coming from the war in Ukraine and condemn this unjustified, unprovoked, and unlawful invasion by Russia,” Microsoft president and vice chair, Brad Smith, writes in a new blog post. “We are announcing today that we will suspend all sales of Microsoft products and services in Russia.

We are also working closely with and coordinating in lockstep the United States and European Union governments. In compliance with government sanctions, many of our Russian business activities are being stopped. We believe we are most effective in aiding Ukraine when we take concrete steps in coordination with the decisions being made by these governments and we will take additional steps as this situation continues to evolve.”

Microsoft says its “single most impactful area of work” is its protection of Ukraine’s cybersecurity and it will continue to work proactively to help cybersecurity officials in the country combat Russian cyberattacks. It also says it has acted against Russian positioning and destructive or disruptive measures against more than 20 Ukrainian government, IT, and financial sector organizations since the war began.

“Like so many others, we stand with Ukraine in calling for the restoration of peace, respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty, and the protection of its people,” Smith writes.

Axios reporter Stephen Totilo reached out to Microsoft to ask if today’s news applied to digital sales and existing paying users of Microsoft services such as Xbox Live. Microsoft did not respond to our request.

It was unclear if Microsoft would apply this to digital sales. I also wondered if existing paying Microsoft users (such as Minecraft and Xbox Live subscribers), would be affected. Microsoft declined further comment.

— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) March 4, 2022

Microsoft just released this news a few days later Ukrainian vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov publicly called on Sony and Microsoft to cut off Russia from its respective online gaming services immediately in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sony has not made a public stance or released a statement in regards to this war at the time of this writing.

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