Editor’s Note: The war in Ukraine is an ongoing, painful and emotive topic. IGN urges community members to be respectful when engaging in conversation around this subject and does not endorse harassment of any kind.Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov has called on “all game development companies and esports platforms” to temporarily stop support for Russia and Belarus, and directed an open letter to Xbox and PlayStation in particular.On his Twitter account, Fedorov tagged Xbox and PlayStation, writing: “You are definitely aware of what is happening in Ukraine right now. Russia declare war not for Ukraine but for all civilized world. If you support human values, you should live [sic] the Russian market!”The open letter calls for companies to “temporarily block all Russian and Belarusian accounts, temporarily stop the participation of Russian and Belarusian teams and gamers in all international esports events and cancel all international events holding on the territory of Russia and Belarus.” While not explicitly mentioned, Fedorov has likely included Belarus in the request because of its tacit support of Russia’s invasion.@Xbox @PlayStationYou are definitely aware of what is happening in Ukraine right now. Russia declare war not for Ukraine but for all civilized world. If you support human values, you should live the Russian market! pic.twitter.com/tnQr13BsSv— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 2, 2022 Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many parts of the games industry have thrown their support behind Ukraine, including a number of fundraising efforts for humanitarian organizations.However, while we’ve seen platformer Little Orpheus delayed due to its Soviet-related storyline, we’ve not yet heard about unrelated games being pulled from release in Russia. That stands in contrast to the film industry, which has seen Disney, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros. pull movies from release in the country.We’ve contacted Microsoft, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and Nintendo for comment on the open letter.You can read Federov’s letter in full below:Ukraine’s Open Letter to the Games IndustryTo all game development companies and esports platformsThe Russian Federation has carried out a deceptive and outrageous military attack on my country! Just imagine, in 2022, cruise missiles attack residential neighbourhoods, kindergartens and hospitals in the heart of Europe.The armed forces and citizens are defending Ukraine till the end! The whole world is repelling the aggressor through the imposition of sanctions – the enemy must suffer significant losses. But we need your support – in 2022, modern technology is perhaps the best answer to the tanks, multiple rocket launchers (hrad) and missiles.I am sure that you will not only hear, but also do everything to protect Ukraine, Europe and finally, the entire democratic world from bloody authoritarian aggression – and I appeal to temporarily block all Russian and Belarusian accounts, temporarily stop the participation of Russian and Belarusian teams and gamers in all international esports events and cancel all international events holding on the territory of Russia and Belarus.We are sure that such actions will motivate the citizens of Russia to proactively stop the disgraceful military aggression.Yours sincerely,Deputy Prime-Minister of UkraineMinister Mykhailo FedorovJoe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.
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