Epic Games is the latest gaming company to suspend sales of its products in Russia, and Russia's war against Ukraine continues, the latest response to sanctions imposed on Russia by the Western gaming industry.
In a statement shared with its social media channels yesterday, Epic Games confirmed that it was "stopping trade with Russia" but did not completely restrict access for Russians in order to "maintain all channels of dialogue."
"Epic is stopping business with Russia in the gaming industry in response to its invasion of Ukraine," the company said in its brief statement.
"We didn't block access for the same reasons as other communication tools staying online, and the free world should keep all channels of conversation open."
Earlier, Ukraine's deputy prime minister called on video game companies, esports organizations, especially PlayStation and Xbox, to do more to put pressure on the Russian market, causing publishers and developers such as Activision Blizzard to suspend selling games in Russia.
Across the gaming industry, many companies have responded to Russian sanctions and expressed support for ukrainian staff. Earlier this week, due to the Russian theme and content within the game, many of the top esports events also said they would no longer work with Major Esports Clubs in Russia.