EA takes its games off digital shelves in Russia and Belarus

Electronic Arts, which produces games such as The Sims, Battlefield, many sports-related titles, and It Takes Two, has decided to halt sales in Russia and Belarus amid the conflict in Ukraine, it announced today.

All EA content for purchase in the Russian region will be taken off of Origin, the EA app, and in-game stores. The company is also working with its platform partners, such as Xbox and PlayStation, to remove its games from those platforms as well to stop the sale of new games and any in-game content from their digital storefronts.

This decision comes amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. EA is one of the many gaming and esports companies to take a stance in the conflict. Ukraine’s government officials have even asked some esports and gaming platforms to forbid Russian teams from competing and to block all Russian and Belarusian accounts.

This isn’t the first time that EA has considered blocking Russia from its games. Just last month, EA made and then reversed a decision to block a new Sims 4 game pack from being released in Russia due to its anti-LGBTQ stance.

It seems that Russian and Belarusian accounts that have already purchased EA games will still have access to them, but any in-game currencies or DLCs will be unavailable for purchase. The company also said that as the situation develops, it will re-evaluate and make the appropriate changes.