Russia-Ukraine war: Minecraft no longer available on Play Store & App Store in Russia

Following Microsoft's announcement about suspending all new sales of Microsoft products and services in Russia, the popular sandbox-type game Minecraft has disappeared from the mobile apps store in Russia. According to several reports, Minecraft is no longer available on Apple's App Store and Google Play Store in Russia. This development took place yesterday, March 5, 2022. Keep reading to know the developments related to the gaming industry during the Russia Ukraine war.  

One of the earliest reports about the removal of Minecraft from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store comes from a publication called iMore. The publication cites reports from other sources like Gazeta.ru and iPhones.ru while stating that video games in no longer available in Russia. A comparison between Apple's US website and Russian website indicates that Minecraft is no longer available on the latter. 

Minecraft is not available on Google Play Store or Apple App Store in Russia

It is worth mentioning that these reports started to surface after Microsoft's announcement of halting all new sales of its products and services in Russia. "We are announcing today that we will suspend all new sales of Microsoft products and services in Russia," says Microsoft in an official blog post published on March 4, 2022. However, it is not clear whether Minecraft has intentionally been removed from the app stores in Russia or not. 

Other popular video game development companies including CD PROJEKT and Electronic Arts have also reacted to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. While CD Projekt has halted the sales of all its video games in Russia, Electronic Arts has removed all the Russian Teams from the titles of FIFA and NHL. Popular video game Battlefield 2042 removed a Russian helicopter's skin from the game last week. 

As the Russian forces are invading Ukraine, technology leaders in the world are reacting to the situation. The Ukrainian leaders have reached out to top tech companies of the world, including Google and Apple to restrain their services in the Russian mainland. Apart from this, there are several companies that have been operational in Ukraine and have either stopped operations or are preparing for future scenarios.