Sony has halted Gran Turismo 7 Russia sales. The game is not currently available to purchase on the Russian PlayStation Store and instead merely lists a release date of "pending confirmation", although Sony hasn't yet announced any decision officially.
Why has Sony halted Gran Turismo 7 Russia sales?
Although Sony hasn't officially given a reason for halting Gran Turismo 7 Russia sales (nor has it actually announced that it's doing so), the reason is likely to be the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine. Many studios, including GOG owner CD Projekt and The Medium developer Bloober Team, have halted sales of their games in Russia owing to the invasion. According to Eurogamer, who originally discovered Sony's decision, the move to halt sales in Russia was made last night. Naturally, this decision doesn't affect the ability to purchase Gran Turismo 7 in other territories.
Sony doesn't appear to have halted sales of any of its other games in Russia, although it may be about to take a similar stance to Microsoft and halt all new sales in the country. It's likely we're going to see more and more major gaming companies halting operations in Russia in response to the invasion. Wide swathes of the industry have already condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and although bigger companies are likely to be somewhat slower to act, don't be surprised if more titans of the industry move away from Russia soon.
How has the gaming industry responded to Russia's invasion of Ukraine?
Broadly speaking, the gaming industry has, like the rest of the world, reacted with horror and shock to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As well as Bloober Team and CD Projekt, studios like Book of Demons developer Thing Trunk and This War of Mine creator 11 Bit Studios have also expressed explicit support for Ukraine, in some cases donating proceeds from game sales to Ukrainian causes and organizations. Even family-friendly fare is getting in on the action; yesterday, The Pokemon Company donated $200k to Ukrainian aid.
Of course, there has been something of a backlash, albeit a very muted one. The aforementioned Book of Demons was review-bombed on Steam, mostly by Russian users unhappy with the 1200% price increase on the game in their country. Naturally, both The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 were also review-bombed for similar reasons after CD Projekt halted all sales in Russia. We'll bring you more on this as soon as we get it, but for now, expect the discourse around Russian sanctions on the part of the gaming industry to intensify in the coming weeks.
