Several game creators and publishers in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine have stated that they are unable to receive payment for their products from Valve.
Many companies have recently placed sanctions on or closed operations in Russia for its invasion of Ukraine late last month, an assault that has drawn widespread condemnation from the international community. It has also left many citizens in physical, emotional, and financial peril. Some developers in the region and other members of the industry took to social media to express their concerns and confusion on the matter.
Valve initially wrote in a message to some developers that Steam had deactivated their banking information. "Due to the current environment," the message stated, "we are unable to send bank payments to Belarus, Russia, and the Ukraine." Valve later clarified in a follow-up that these payments would be delayed, as the company could not make off-cycle payments. The company also offered an explanation for the frozen payments: the bank Valve uses to issue royalties to developers and publishers had imposed sanctions on Russia. Valve suddenly needed to provide intermediary wire payments for all accounts based in Russia and Ukraine, and could no longer send any payments to Belarus. According to the message, Valve will be collecting the necessary information to meet the bank's new requirements as quickly as possible.
Valve plans to issue any accrued back pay with the next payment they make when they can solve outstanding problems with the bank by then. For those affected, Valve has recommended that developers either continue to wait, or change their payment information to a bank located outside of Belarus, Ukraine, or Russia. Should the issue remain, they have pledged to pay any outstanding balances in full once the situation has been resolved. TechRaptor has reached out to Valve for more information, and will update this story upon a response.
If you would like to financially support the people of Ukraine during this conflict, you can do so by purchasing the Humble Stand With Ukraine Bundle. 100% of proceeds from the Bundle will go to charity and relief efforts. Another bundle, the Itch.io bundle, earned over $6,000,000 after it concluded earlier today for charities supporting people in Ukraine.
