Ukrainian official urges Xbox, PlayStation to ban Russian players

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, is urging gaming companies like Microsoft and Sony to temporarily pull out of Russian markets and block Russian accounts amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

In an open letter published Wednesday on Twitter, Fedorov suggested these actions will “motivate the citizens of Russia to proactively stop the disgraceful military aggression.” The deputy prime minister specifically called on Microsoft and Sony to bar players on their Xbox and PlayStation platforms. “You are definitely aware of what is happening in Ukraine right now,” Fedorov tweeted. “If you support human values, you should [leave] the Russian market.”

Polygon reached out to Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft console manufacturers for comments. We’ve also contacted platform holders and esports tournament organizers — like Valve, GOG, Epic Games, Riot Games, ESL Gaming, Intel, and Activision Blizzard. We’ll update this story with information as it comes in.

The full text from Fedorov’s letter is republished below.

For all game development firms and esports platform owners

Russian Federation launched a deceptive military attack against my country. Imagine that in 2022 cruise missiles will attack hospitals, kindergartens, and residential areas in Europe’s heartland.

Ukraine is being defended by its citizens, armed forces, and civilians until the very end. The whole world is repelling the aggressor through the imposition of sanctions — the enemy must suffer significant losses. But we need your support — in 2022, modern technology is perhaps the best answer to tanks, multiple rocket launchers (hrad) and missiles.

I am sure that you will not only hear, but also do everything possible to protect Ukraine, Europe, and, finally, the entire democratic world from bloody authoritarian aggression — and I appeal to temporarily block all Russian and Belarusian accounts, temporarily stop the participation of Russian and Belorussian teams and gamers in all international esports events and cancel all international events holding on the territory of Russia and Belarus.

These actions are certain to motivate Russian citizens to stop disgraceful military aggression.

Russian troops invaded Ukraine late February, in an unprovoked and devastating attack. Since then the fighting has intensified with many thousands fleeing to safety as refugees. On Tuesday, the United Nations stated that hundreds of civilians had died in conflict. “The real toll is likely to be much higher,” U.N. human rights office spokesperson Liz Throssel said, as reported by Reuters.

With hundreds of thousands in donations, the videogame industry has supported Ukraine and those whose lives were affected by war. Polygon was told by Ukrainian developers living in Ukraine that they have seen their team hiding underground under bomb shelters during intense bombing. Some are leaving the country.

“We want to keep testing Unreal Engine 5 and porting shooter games to consoles, not hiding in bomb shelters and not knowing what happens [in the] next hour,” Tymur Solod of Pingle Studios, an outsourcing company with 250 employees and three offices in Ukraine, told Polygon. “They attack peaceful cities and civilians. The following table lists the civilian victims. [the] hundreds right now, including children.”

Other than humanitarian aid and financial support for Russia, there have been no sanctions against Russian video game companies. Apple and other tech companies have also stopped sales to Russia. According to The Verge, Russians are no longer able to use Apple Pay or Google Pay with a bank card because of government sanctions. In the entertainment world, a number of companies pulled film releases in Russia citing the country’s invasion of Ukraine.