Across the world, countries are watching the war in Ukraine as it happens. Many video game companies have shown solidarity, or offered support in various ways. Earlier, Blizzard added the Ukrainian flag to Overwatch, and games storefront Itch.io introduced a charity bundle that raised $6.3 million USD. Last month, Electronic Arts promised it would remove Russian teams and clubs from its top sports games. Today, the company rolled out a patch to remove Russia in the form of teams, cosmetics, and more from FIFA 22.
Electronic Arts stated that it stands in solidarity with Ukraine, and is calling for an end to the invasion. Following suit of real world decisions made by FIFA and UEFA, the developers have decided to take action in the digital versions.
“EA SPORTS stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and like so many voices across the world of football, calls for peace and an end to the invasion of Ukraine,” the company stated in the patch notes. “In line with real world actions taken by our partners at FIFA and UEFA, this Title Update includes the removal of the Russian national team and all other Russian teams.”
FIFA 22 patch removes Russia entirely
The FIFA 22 patch has taken out the Russian national team and other Russian teams. As a result, if your favorite Pro Club selection was a Russian team, it has now been changed to PSG. In addition, arena player and goalkeeper selections have been changed to PSG players if players from a Russian team were previously selected. EA has not stopped there, as the Otkritie Bank Arena, a stadium northwest of Moscow, has been removed. Russian themed stadium customization items and player kits are also no longer in the game.
Along the way, some bug fixes have been made in the FIFA 22 patch. The most notable repair has been made to packs of the same name opening in the order they were received, rather than to your selection. Also, a rare problem has been fixed which caused a goalkeeper to not drop the ball when requested.
EA Sports is not the only game developer to show its support for Ukraine during the invasion. CD Projekt announced that sales of its in Russia and Belarus would be ended.
