In solidarity with its neighboring nation Ukraine, the Poland-based Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher studio CD Projekt Red has suspended all digital sales and physical stock deliveries of its games in Russia and Belarus. Sales of all games on GOG, regardless of publisher, have been suspended in the two companies by CD Projekt Red, too.
Taking to Twitter to confirm its move, CD Projekt Red explained that it is also suspending sales of “all games distributed on the GOG platform, to the territories of Russia and Belarus.” This is a big act of support for Ukraine in this widely unpopular conflict. Despite causing some unrest in Twitter replies, the more the Russian (and Belarusian) people are made unhappy about the war, the more likely it is to come to an end (hopefully). Any dip in tax payments made to the Kremlin too can be seen as a step in the right direction towards the end of the fighting.
This is CD Projekt Red’s sentiment, telling everyone that “commercial entities, when united, have the power to inspire global change in the hearts and minds of ordinary people.” For the Polish studio, suspending its game sales in Russia and Belarus has been done in an effort to “further galvanize the global community to speak about what is going on in the heart of Europe.”
On top of this gesture, CD Projekt Red has also donated 1 million PLN to the Polska Akcja Humanitarna organization to help deliver aid to the people of Ukraine. CD Projekt Red isn’t the only studio to act out in aid of Ukraine, with EA removing Russian teams from sports titles such as FIFA 22. The Pokémon Company claims that it nearly didn’t announce Pokémon Scarlet and Violet out of respect for everyone caught in the conflict.
