Big players in the video game world are responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and are removing the sport teams of the aggressor nations from its games. The move is an act of solidarity with other organizations aiming to denounce the recent military action. Specifically, in a pair of tweets, EA has announced it will remove Russian and Belarusian teams from the most recent versions of its popular sports franchises, FIFA and NHL 22.
Following in the footsteps of real-world sports organizations FIFA, UEFA, and IIHF in the suspension of Russian and Belarusian national teams and clubs, EA will remove these teams from their games as well in the coming days and weeks. “In line with our partners at FIFA and UEFA,” says the Twitter announcement, “EA Sports has initiated processes to remove the Russian national team and all Russian clubs from EA Sports FIFA products including: FIFA 22, FIFA Mobile, and FIFA Online. We’re also actively evaluating related changes to other areas of our games.” The same goes for the hockey franchise NHL 22 which will be trimmed of its teams representing both Russia and Belarus.
“EA Sports stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and like so many voices across the world of football, calls for peace and an end to the invasion of Ukraine,” reads the FIFA account’s announcement with a similar sentiment shared from the EA Sports NHL account. The removal of teams is set to start in the coming weeks. EA has stated that it will provide additional updates on the matter as they become available.