Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister challenges PlayStation, Xbox and esports

In an open letter posted on Twitter, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation calls on all video game studios and esports organizers to sanction Russia.

Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov tweeted this Wednesday morning directly to Xbox and PlayStation (Nintendo is shunned) to ask them to stop any agreement or distribution with Russia. While the country is still at war with its neighbor, calls for support from the international community are numerous.

Recently, several studios have announced donated money for humanitarian aid, like at Wargaming.net or the giant Embracer. In the world of esports too, several organizers or players have given support to the Ukrainians.

In his official open letter, the Ukrainian minister believes that “Russia has not only declared war on Ukraine, but also on the civilized world. If human lives matter to you, you need to exit the Russian market.» The mail is addressed toall video game companies and esports platforms“. Additionally, the country is asking for support for digital businesses because “in 2022, technology may be the best answer to tanks, missile launchers and missiles.”

As in other areas, the country therefore calls for a sanction on the ground of the video game industry in blocking accounts linked to Russians or Belarusians, but also removing the participation of these countries from esports competitions. BLAST, one of the main organizers of CS:GO, had already taken this sanction this week.