Skip to main content

Cyberpunk 2077 developer halting all game sales in Russia

CD Projekt Group, the company behind Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher franchise developer CD Projekt Red, is taking a fierce stance against the invasion of Ukraine by halting sales of its products to Russia and Belarus.

pic.twitter.com/C2TMk7m2KC

— CD PROJEKT RED (@CDPROJEKTRED) March 3, 2022

In a statement posted to Twitter, CD Projekt  said that sales to players in Russia and Belarus have been halted “until further notice.” This applies to all sales of both physical and digital games developed by CD Projekt Red, as well as “all games distributed on the GOG platform.” CD Projekt’s decision marks the first time that an entire storefront has effectively been shut off for Russian and Belarusian users.

Today’s decision by CD Projekt Group isn’t the first action the company has made in support of Ukraine. The Polish games company has already pledged to donate the equivalent of $243,000 to a Polish humanitarian organization working in the besieged country. Numerous other game developers in Ukraine and Poland have also called for fans and industry peers to assist Ukraine any way they can.

CD Projekt Group’s GOG launcher may not be the only PC gaming platform that will be shut off to Russian users due to the war. Recently, Ukraine’s vice prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, called on all “game development companies and esports platforms” to ban Russian and Belarusian accounts. The Ukrainian government official singled out two gaming companies specifically: Microsoft and Sony. If those two platforms decide to take action against Russia, the country’s population would effectively be cut off from purchasing video games.

Editors' Recommendations

Otto Kratky
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Otto Kratky is a freelance writer with many homes. You can find his work at Digital Trends, GameSpot, and Gamepur. If he's…
Gaming’s biggest power players are cutting ties with Russia
Mario with a shocked expression.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, much of the world has pushed back. Governments have imposed strict sanctions on the country, and others, including the United States, have even banned the import of Russian oil in an attempt to inflict never-before-seen financial damage on the Kremlin. A fair number of companies have also taken actions against Russia for its invasion, including some of the largest players in the game industry.

Over the course of the past two weeks, the average Russian video game-playing citizen has effectively been cut off from their hobby of choice. With sales restrictions coming in from all corners of the gaming world, from indie developers to AAA publishers, Russian users are being frozen out of both new hardware and software.

Read more
How the video game industry is aiding Ukraine
A family in a bombed-out home in This War of Mine

In the early morning hours of February 24, 2022, Russian forces began invading Ukraine, a democratic nation that had been a part of the Soviet Union until its collapse in 1991. Over the course of the day since, every major news outlet has reported the same thing: Russia's attack on the country is coming in from all sides, and includes missile bombardments on villages and cities.

https://twitter.com/4AGames/status/1497205818181230595

Read more
Cyberpunk 2077 is still the same game with the same issues
An enemy swings a sword at the main character of Cyberpunk 2077.

Cyberpunk 2077 is in trouble. It has been since the game launched and people couldn't play it on their PS4 or Xbox One consoles. Trouble has followed it through every patch, hotfix, and update that rolled out through 2021. And even now, with another massive update that's given the game a suite of improvements on current-gen consoles, Cyberpunk 2077 is still in trouble.

Cyberpunk 2077 — Next-Gen Gameplay | PlayStation 5

Read more