EA Plans to Remove Russian Teams from FIFA 22 and NHL 22. Recently, EA gave an announcement that it has “initiated Processes” to take out the Russian teams from its FIFA 22 and NHL 22 titles.
EA Plans to Remove Russian Teams from FIFA 22 and NHL 22
EA gave statements concerning the official EA Sports Twitter accounts for FIFA and NHL concerning its decision, which is a reflection of sporting sanctions instituted by EA’s partners FIFA, UEFA, and the International Ice Hockey Federation.
In the statement made by FIFA’s Twitter account, EA sports says that it “stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and like a lot of voices across the world of football, calls for peace and an end to the invasion of Ukraine.”
Russian National Team and Clubs Leaving EA Sports Products
EA says that, in line with its partners and UEFA, it would be “removing Russian national team and all Russian clubs from EA sports FIFA products including FIFA 22, FIFA Mobile and FIFA Online”, adding that its “also actively evaluating the related changes to other areas of the games.”
In a statement that was posted to the EA sports NHL account a minute afterward, EA says, “Following the IIHF’s suspension of all Russian and Belarusian national and club teams from IIHF competitions, we will be taking out all these teams from NHL 22 in the coming weeks.” EA closes out the statement by voicing the support for the people of Ukraine and joins “the voices that are around the world calling for peace.”
This announcement from EA comes a few hours after Ukraine’s Vice prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, published an open letter on Twitter, addressing the gaming industry and asking to do more.
Verdict
In the letter, Fedorov calls out to Xbox, PlayStation, and “all game development companies and esports platforms” to block support for Russian markets temporarily amidst the Russian invasion of Ukraine and to “do everything to keep Ukraine, Europe, and finally, the entire democratic world from bloody authoritarian aggression”.
EA stated that they would be keeping their “communities up to date on any actions taken” and thanks to players for their patience.
