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Sony, Microsoft have started suspending sales in Russia

By Otto Kratky Published March 4, 2022

Two days after Ukraine’s vice prime minister called on Sony and Microsoft to suspend Russian gaming accounts, it seems that the two companies are taking action. According to a report from Eurogamer, Sony appears to have pulled the release of its latest first-party title, Gran Turismo 7, from the nation. In its own blog post, Microsoft took more drastic action, announcing that it is suspending “all new sales of Microsoft products and services in Russia.”

Microsoft’s move against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine is much larger than Sony’s, although precise details on what the effects will be like for Russian consumers are not available. The company’s suspension of sales, which includes all of its products and services, likely means that Russian users may not be able to purchase any Xbox first-party titles, along with subscriptions to Game Pass or Xbox Live. It’s not clear if Xbox consoles are being pulled from store shelves in Russia, or if Russian users will be able to continue using any of the company’s online services.

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We have reached out to Microsoft regarding which services will be impacted by its suspension of sales and will update this article when we hear back.

While Sony hasn’t officially announced that it won’t be releasing Gran Turismo 7 in Russia, the game’s Russian PlayStation Store page currently displays a gray screen with text that (when translated) reads “not available for purchase.” The game’s worldwide launch is today.

Actions from both Microsoft and Sony against Russia follow a similar move from the company behind Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher franchise, CD Projekt Group, which suspended all of its sales in the nation.

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Otto Kratky is a freelance writer with many homes. You can find his work at Digital Trends, GameSpot, and Gamepur. If he's…

Space

Russia suspends Soyuz launches from Europe spaceport over EU sanctions

Soyuz MS-16 lifts off

The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, has announced it is halting launches of its Soyuz rockets from Europe's spaceport in French Guiana in response to sanctions from the European Union due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The EU imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Russia this week following missile and troop attacks on Ukrainian cities in what the EU described as an "unprovoked, unjustified invasion."

"In response to EU sanctions against our enterprises, Roscosmos is suspending cooperation with European partners in organizing space launches from the Kourou cosmodrome and withdrawing its personnel, including the consolidated launch crew, from French Guiana," head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, wrote in a tweet translated from Russian, first reported by space.com.

Gaming

With Bungie purchase, Sony is playing on Microsoft’s level

Destiny 2 character in gold armor holds and gun while looking toward the camera.

Sony Interactive Entertainment announced its intended $3.6 billion acquisition of Destiny developer Bungie on January 31. Less than two weeks after Microsoft's bombshell announcement of its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard, Sony responded by showing that it's willing to compete when it comes to spending lots of money to acquire popular developers. On top of that, Sony seemingly plans to keep Bungie a multiplatform studio.
While Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan told GamesIndustry.biz that "these conversations have been a number of months in gestation, and certainly predate the activity that we have seen this year," it still demonstrates a significant change in Sony's gaming mentality in light of Microsoft's acquisitions of Bethesda and Activision Blizzard.
For years, Sony focused on maintaining a refined and exclusive ecosystem of games and studios, but Microsoft's flurry of acquisitions over the past couple of years pushed Sony out of that comfort zone. After several smaller purchases, Sony has finally indicated that it's ready and willing to play on Microsoft's level and will do whatever it takes to stay on top in the gaming industry.

Taking a king
Sony's Bungie acquisition is just as symbolic as it is sensible from a competitive standpoint. Bungie used to be owned by Microsoft and created its biggest franchise, Halo. It split off to gain independence in 2007 and stayed that way for some time despite close partnerships with Activision and Google.
While it currently seems like Bungie will remain an independent and multiplatform studio, this is still a show of force by Sony. This acquisition means Microsoft can never truly get the developer who made Halo back and gives Sony a presence on Xbox platforms that extends beyond MLB The Show.
And as Ampere Analysis analyst Piers Harding-Rolls pointed out on Twitter, it also prepares Sony for potentially losing Call of Duty by giving it a first-party shooter game that's consistently updated as a live service. Of course, this isn't as direct of a response to the Activision Blizzard acquisition as it may initially seem, as this deal was in the works well before Microsoft's January 18 announcement.
The Bethesda acquisition is likely the deal that spurred Sony to acquire Bungie. Still, the Activision Blizzard deal affirmed why Sony had to make that move in the first place. Currently, the video game industry is on an acquisition spree from the top-down. Microsoft is one of the studio's leading the charge with the biggest and boldest deals.
While Sony may not have as much money to throw around, it still made plenty of smaller acquisitions, like Bluepoint, before the Bungie deal. Sony knows it needs to acquire studios and grow to stay competitive, and this is its first move to indicate that its willing to spend billions. The Bungie deal sends a clear message to Microsoft that Sony is still relevant and a force to be reckoned with.
What's mine is yours
That's not the only message Sony is sending either. It's also playing platform-exclusivity mind games. One of the most nebulous topics of debate with Microsoft's Bethesda and Activision announcements is whether or not the games from acquired studios would be exclusive to Xbox. Microsoft's current approach is to honor existing deals and keep multiplayer titles supported across platforms, but make brand new games like Starfield and Redfall into Xbox console exclusives that will also come to PC and Xbox Cloud Gaming. With Bungie, Sony seems to not be worried about exclusivity for once.
In the past, Sony has always wanted to keep its first-party games on PlayStation for as long as possible. Only recently has it chosen to port games like Horizon Zero Dawn, Days Gone, and God of War to PC and been forced to put MLB The Show on competing platforms. But from the get-go, Sony's messaging is that it's OK with Bungie staying creatively independent and multiplatform.

Gaming

Sony reportedly has a Game Pass competitor in development

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Sony is ratcheting up its competition with Microsoft's Xbox ecosystem in the form of a competitor to Xbox Game Pass, according to a report from Bloomberg. The report, which cites "people familiar with Sony's plans and documents viewed by Bloomberg," alleges that the competitor, code-named Spartacus, will be a tiered subscription plan.

Expected to launch in spring 2022, Spartacus will combine PlayStation's two current subscription services, PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now, into one service. PlayStation Now has been seen as a failed competitor to Game Pass that lets players stream a limited number of games to their PlayStation consoles. According to the report, PlayStation Now will be phased out entirely, while the PlayStation Plus branding is retained.