EA removes Russian national team, football clubs from "FIFA 22" videogame (updated)

Motorsport Games

02/03/2022 17:29

(Rewrites throughout; adds EA's comments)
    March 2 (Reuters) - Electronic Arts Inc  EA.O  is removing
the Russian national team and all Russian football clubs from
its popular videogame title "FIFA 22", as more companies
distance themselves from the country following its invasion of
Ukraine.
    The company also said it would remove Russian teams from
"NHL 22", its game title based on the National Hockey League.
    EA's move comes days after the FIFA suspended Russia's
national teams and clubs from international football and the NHL
said it would no longer consider the country when looking at
locations for any future NHL competitions.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2V31QC
    The North American league counts many high-profile Russian
players among its ranks including Tampa Bay Lightning stars
Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy and veteran Washington
Capitals winger Alexander Ovechkin.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2V32WN
    From Apple  AAPL.O  to Nike  NKE.N , scores of companies
have severed connections with Russia as western nations impose
sanctions, including shutting out some Russian banks from the
SWIFT global financial network.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2V500D
    Motorsport Games Inc  MSGM.O  separately said the sanctions
against Russia could delay the release of the racing game
developer's future titles.
    Shares of Miami, Florida-based Motorsport, which is known
for its "NASCAR" and "KartKraft" games, fell nearly 13% in
afternoon trading.
    Motorsport Games said a significant portion of its
development staff is based in Russia and the sanctions could
impact its ability to use Russian staff for future game
development.
    The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters query
on the number of employees working out of Russia.
    "Prolonged unrest, intensified military activities or more
extensive sanctions impacting the region could have a material
adverse effect on our operations, results of operations,
financial condition, liquidity and business outlook," the
company said https://bit.ly/3sAS8K0 in a regulatory filing.

 (Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh
Kuber and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
 ((tiyashi.datta@thomsonreuters.com;))