Epic Games suspends commercial relations with Russia over invasion of Ukraine

The ongoing Russia Ukraine war has made companies take action to limit business activities in Russia. In a recent move to punish Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Epic Games, which is one of the world's most popular gaming platforms, informed that they are suspending all commercial relations with Russia. Following the Western sanctions against Russia, Epic Games informed that it will not be in business with Russia, however, added that it will continue to provide the Russians access to its games.

Epic Games, which is an American video game company famous for games like Fortnite and Infinity Blade series, is set to stop commerce with Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine. However, the video game developers also informed they are not blocking access and other communication tools will remain online. “Epic is stopping commerce with Russia in our games in response to its invasion of Ukraine. We’re not blocking access for the same reason other communication tools remain online: the free world should keep all lines of dialogue open,” Epic Games said in a tweet.

Epic Games was founded in 1991 and is based in Cary, North Carolina. Epic Games develops Unreal Engine, which also powers their internally developed video games, such as Fortnite and the Unreal, Gears of War and Infinity Blade series. In 2014, Unreal Engine was named the "most successful videogame engine" by Guinness World Records. Following this, the company became one of the biggest game developers in the world with millions of subscribers including from Russia, majorly for its multiplayer game, Fortnite.  

Puma joins list of MNC suspending operations in Russia

In a move to punish Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, German sportswear maker Puma has decided to suspend operations and product deliveries to Russia. There are about 100 Puma stores in Russia which had already stopped deliveries following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. In a statement, Puma said, “We have suspended our contract with the Russian Basketball Federation with immediate effect”.

Some of the sportswear and fashion companies that have suspended operations in Russia include Adidas, Nike and H&M. Adidas has suspended its partnership with the Russian Football Union with immediate effect. Nike has made merchandise purchases on its website and app unavailable in Russia as it cannot guarantee delivery. While the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer, H&M has temporarily suspended all its sales in Russia. Earlier, beverage company Coca-Cola and food-products corporation Danone had also announced their decision to leave the Russian market.

(Image: SHUTTERSTOCK/AP)