The Russian invasion of Ukraine is negatively affecting Russia’s image, including in sports and video games. Electronic Arts announced, this Wednesday (2), a kind of digital sanction: Russia, as well as all Russian clubs, will be removed from FIFA franchise games for PCs and consoles.
For now, the new rule applies to FIFA 22, FIFA Mobile and FIFA Online. These three games will no longer have Russian representatives available until further notice. In a statement, Electronic Arts said it was “evaluating changes related to other areas”.
The decision to remove Russian teams from FIFA series games came shortly after real-world FIFA and UEFA banned Russia from official football competitions. In the message posted on social media, EA does not comment on Russia’s presence in FIFA 23.
The full statement can be found below:
“EA Sports stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and, like so many other voices across the world of football, we call for peace and an end to the invasion of Ukraine.
Aligned with our partners at FIFA and UEFA, EA Sports has begun the process of removing the Russian national team and all Russian clubs from EA Sports FIFA products, including FIFA 22 , FIFA Mobile and FIFA Online . We are also actively evaluating changes related to other areas of our games.
We will keep our communities updated on all actions taken and we thank players for their patience as we work on these updates.”
Electronic Arts.
Russia will also be removed from NHL 22
In addition to the FIFA franchise games, the NHL series games – ice hockey – will also remove Russian teams from the current titles. There’s no word yet on when this will happen, but Electronic Arts have reported that the change will apply “in the coming weeks” in NHL 22.
Source: Eurogamer .
