Samsung Launches Galaxy Z TriFold to Elevate Its Position in the Foldable Smartphone Market 
Hikvision Challenges FCC Rule Tightening Restrictions on Chinese Telecom Equipment 
Banks Consider $38 Billion Funding Boost for Oracle, Vantage, and OpenAI Expansion 
Australia Moves Forward With Teen Social Media Ban as Platforms Begin Lockouts 
Trump Administration to Secure Equity Stake in Pat Gelsinger’s XLight Startup 
Firelight Launches as First XRP Staking Platform on Flare, Introduces DeFi Cover Feature 
Coupang Apologizes After Massive Data Breach Affecting 33.7 Million Users 
AI-Guided Drones Transform Ukraine’s Battlefield Strategy 
Intel Boosts Malaysia Operations with Additional RM860 Million Investment 
Amazon and Google Launch New Multicloud Networking Service to Boost High-Speed Cloud Connectivity 
OpenAI Moves to Acquire Neptune as It Expands AI Training Capabilities 
Apple Leads Singles’ Day Smartphone Sales as iPhone 17 Demand Surges 
Wikipedia Pushes for AI Licensing Deals as Jimmy Wales Calls for Fair Compensation 
Baidu Cuts Jobs as AI Competition and Ad Revenue Slump Intensify 
Norway’s Wealth Fund Backs Shareholder Push for Microsoft Human-Rights Risk Report 
Anthropic Reportedly Taps Wilson Sonsini as It Prepares for a Potential 2026 IPO 
Senate Sets December 8 Vote on Trump’s NASA Nominee Jared Isaacman 
Sony suspends its sales of PlayStation consoles in Russia, joining other video game companies, following the invasion of Ukraine. The company also confirmed Russian gamers would lose access to the PlayStation Store, which will prevent them from purchasing new games and add-ons.
“Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) joins the global community in calling for peace in Ukraine,” the company wrote in a statement on Twitter on Thursday. As a response to the ongoing conflict, Sony said shipments of PlayStation hardware and software products, along with the PS Store operations, have been halted in Russia.
The decision also affects the availability of “Gran Turismo 7” in Russia. The racing simulation video game was released last March 4 on PS4 and PS5.
Along with halting sales in Russia, Sony also reiterated that the Sony Group Corporation is donating $2 million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Save the Children organization to support people affected by the invasion of Ukraine. The UNHCR reports that more than 2.1 million refugees fled Ukraine as of March 8.
Nintendo also confirmed (via Reuters) on Thursday that it will suspend shipments of its product to Russia indefinitely “due to considerable volatility surrounding the logistics of shipping and distributing physical goods.”
Last week, Microsoft announced it was halting the “new sales of Microsoft products and services in Russia,” which includes Xbox consoles and games. “We are horrified, angered and saddened by the images and news coming from the war in Ukraine and condemn this unjustified, unprovoked and unlawful invasion by Russia,” Microsoft president Brad Smith said in a blog post.
Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo’s announcements followed a public appeal to the PlayStation and Xbox makers made by Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s vice prime minister and minister of digital transformation, for video game companies to cease their operations in the Russian market amid the war in Ukraine.
Aside from the major console makers, which most video games call the “Big 3” of the gaming industry, other video game publishers have previously announced similar decisions to halt sales and operations in Russia. Last week, “Cyberpunk 2077” publisher CD Projekt, EA, and Epic Games have all announced they have halted all game sales in Russia and Belarus.
Photo by Triyansh Gill on Unsplash
