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EA is removing Russian teams from FIFA 22, NHL 22, and several other sports games.
EA voiced its support of Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia last week and is still under attack, in a statement posted (opens in new tab) to the FIFA Twitter account earlier today. Calling for “peace and an end to the invasion of Ukraine,” EA Sports says it has “initiated processes” to remove the Russian national football team and all Russian clubs from FIFA 22, FIFA Mobile, and FIFA Online.
“We’re also actively evaluating related changes to other areas of our games,” EA added.
Minutes after this statement went live, EA’s NHL Twitter posted (opens in new tab) a similar message confirming that Russian and Belarusian national and club teams will be removed from NHL 22 “within the coming weeks.” This echoes the International Ice Hockey Federation’s decision to suspend the same teams.
Earlier today, Ukrainian vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov called on PlayStation and Xbox to temporarily block all Russian and Belarusian accounts, ban all related esports teams from any events, and cancel any esports tournaments planned for Russia or Belarus. Neither platform holder has responded to these demands at the time of writing.
Ukrainian developer GSC Game World also recently confirmed that its work on Stalker 2 has been halted by the Russian conflict as the studio is currently prioritizing the safety of its employees and their families. It says work on the game will continue once the conflict has ended.
We spoke to dozens of Ukrainian game devs to hear their stories of work and life under the shadow of war.
