Sony Group Corp.’s PlayStation business and Nintendo Co. have become the latest companies to distance themselves from Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.
The Japanese companies issued separate statements on March 10 announcing they were suspending operations in the country in a show of support for Ukraine.
Sony’s PlayStation said it has suspended all software and hardware shipments, the launch of Gran Turismo 7, and operations of the Playstation store in Russia.
A Nintendo spokesperson told Eurogamer that it is suspending shipping all products to Russia “for the foreseeable future” due to “considerable volatility surrounding the logistics of shipping and distributing physical goods.”
However, it stopped short of specifically stating that the suspension was due to the conflict in Ukraine.
“In addition, Nintendo eShop in Russia is currently under maintenance following the suspension of transactions in Russian rubles by the payment provider,” the spokesperson told Eurogamer.
The Epoch Times has contacted a Nintendo spokesperson for comment.
The moves from Sony and Nintendo come shortly after Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, called on “all game development companies and esports platforms” to temporarily stop support for Russia and Belarus.
A string of other non-gaming companies including McDonald’s, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Levi’s, and more have cut business ties with the nation.
“You see the bacchanalia, the hostile bacchanalia, which the West has sown—and that, of course, makes the situation very difficult and forces us to think seriously,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday, adding that it was considering its response to a U.S. ban on Russian oil and energy.
“We see that the situation on energy markets is developing rather turbulently—and we don’t know how far that turbulence will go,” Peskov said.