Gran Turismo 7, a Sony staple and one of the most awaited racing games of 2022, launched today worldwide for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4, but it’s not available for purchase in Russia.
Players can not buy it via the Russian PlayStation Store. Eurogamer reported that PlayStation took the decision to not sell the game in Russia last night. Sony, though, is yet to announce that the game will not be available in Russia, at least for the foreseeable future. The Russian PlayStation Store only says that the release date of Gran Turismo 7 is pending confirmation.
The country led by President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 and is now suffering a number of sanctions from around the world. Sony’s decision to not sell Gran Turismo in Russia comes just a few days after Mykhailo Federov, the vice prime minister of Ukraine, asked PlayStation and Xbox to leave the Russian market and requested esports platforms to block Russian teams and players from attending tournaments.
Gran Turismo 7 is the first major release of the year from either PlayStation or Xbox to not be sold in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. CD Projekt, the developer of the famous The Witcher franchise and Cyberpunk 2077, pulled all business from Russia and its ally Belarus yesterday, including the sales on digital platform GOG.
Should the war continue, it’s expected that more companies—not just those related to video games—will stop doing business with Russia to isolate the country and hurt its economy.
