Several other gaming giants like EA Games, CD Projekt Red, Take-Two, Ubisoft, Activision Blizzard, and Epic Games, have suspended sales in the country….reports Asian Lite News
Amazon has suspended shipment of retail products to customers based in Russia and Belarus, and will no longer provide customers with access to its streaming service Prime Video in Russia.
The company said that it will no longer be accepting new Russia and Belarus-based AWS customers and Amazon third-party sellers.
“We are also suspending access to Prime Video for customers based in Russia, and we will no longer be taking orders for New World, which is the only video game we sell directly in Russia,” the commerce giant said in a statement.
Amazon stopped any new orders of the open-world MMO New World, the only game title it sells in Russia.
Several other gaming giants like EA Games, CD Projekt Red, Take-Two, Ubisoft, Activision Blizzard, and Epic Games, have suspended sales in the country.
Unlike some other US technology providers, Amazon and AWS have no data centres, infrastructure or offices in Russia.
“We have a long-standing policy of not doing business with the Russian government,” said Amazon.
Amazon’s cloud-computing unit AWS has also announced that it is no longer accepting new customers based in Russia or Belarus, following the invasion of Ukraine.
The company said it is continuing to partner with several NGOs and organisations to support humanitarian needs in the region.
“Amazon donated $5 million to support those impacted. We continue to match our employees’ donations, and we’re happy to report that over 10,000 employees have donated to the effort,” it informed.
Tens of thousands of customers around the world have also made donations via Amazon home pages.
In addition to Amazon, several tech players like Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Netflix, and PayPal have stopped doing business with Russia. Visa and Mastercard have also shut down operations in the country.
Meanwhile, Sony’s gaming division Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced that it would stop hardware shipments and software launches in Russia, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The company will also pause shipments of the new racing game Gran Turismo 7 to the country.
“Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) joins the global community in calling for peace in Ukraine,” SIE spokesperson Joe Taraborrelli said in a statement shared with The Verge.
“We have suspended all software and hardware shipments, the launch of Gran Turismo 7, and operations of the PlayStation Store in Russia.”
As per report, Sony has announced a $2 million donation to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the NGO Save the Children to support those affected by the invasion.
Meanwhile, the US-based video game holding company Activision Blizzard also announced that it is suspending new sales “of and in” its games in Russia.
“We are doing everything possible to assist employees, and their families, who are being directly affected by this tragedy,” Activision Blizzard president and COO Daniel Alegre said in a letter.
In a tweet from its Newsroom account, Epic said that it was “stopping commerce with Russia in our games” as a direct result of the conflict.
In addition, EA Games removed Russian teams from its FIFA and NHL games, and later cut off all sales to Russia and Belarus. Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red has also taken similar steps.
Japanese gaming giant Nintendo has temporarily put its Russian eShop into maintenance mode, the company said in a notice on its Russian website.
ALSO READ: Amazon shuts down its brick-and-mortar storefronts
[soliloquy id="151345"]