As the Russian tanks crossed the Ukraine border on the night of Feb. 24th, Ukraine citizens, including its game developers, are now left in fear with the reality of a war starting on their homeland. Ukraine has a large community of game developers, and throughout the years, they have developed a series of games that are enjoyed and loved by the global gaming community.
A screenshot was circulating on Chinese social media soon after the bombings were heard at Ukraine’s capital Kyiv. The message, posted by an alleged staff from Ubisoft China, claimed Ubisoft Kyiv has been taken over by ‘the Russians’, and now the Shanghai team is taking over all the work. This has raised strong concern about the safety of Ukrainian game developers. Ubisoft currently has two offices in Ukraine, Kyiv, and Odessa, respectively. Both studios are major development units for Ubisoft’s influential titles including Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed.
After talking to our inner sources from Ubisoft, Superpixel is able to confirm that the claim is false and Ubisoft has released a statement on the issues. Ubisoft stressed that the safety and wellbeing of the teams have been the top priority and the company is providing aid to all the team members in Ukraine in order to keep them safe. So far, Ubisoft cannot share further information on this particular issue but they will continuously monitor the Ukraine situation and would take action if needed.'
Ubisoft is not the only developer that has taken an active stance on the situation. GSC Game World, the 300 people studio behind the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series released a statement on Twitter, asking for a global donation to a special aid account that supports the nation’s armed forces. ‘The future is unknown, but we hope for the best, are ever sure of our armed forces and our belief in Ukraine’, the developer team wrote in their statement.
The Russian Federation has declared war on Ukraine.
— GSC Game World (@GSC_GW) February 24, 2022
The future is unknown, but we are sure of our Armed Forces and country.
We ask all: do not stand aside and help those in need.
Support the Armed Forces of Ukraine:
UA843000010000000047330992708 pic.twitter.com/XoEFDtgKiW
Frogwares, Ukrainian developer of The Sinking City and the Sherlock Holmes series; Sengi Games, the developer behind the upcoming title The Serpent Rogue; G5 Entertainment, developer and publisher of high-quality free-to-play games, and Ukrainian esports organization Natus Vincere (NAVI) have all released statements to confirm the safety of their staff while advocated for support and took a firm stance on anti-war messages.
Dear friends, as some of you may know, we are based in Ukraine, today our country was attacked by Russia. They declared a War and currently attacking our citizens.
— The Serpent Rogue (@TheSerpentRogue) February 24, 2022
We will not able to answer or help you that much with the game atm.
Love and peace for you all!
We can't just stand by. Russia attacks our homeland and denies the sovereignty of Ukraine. We are trying to stay safe, but this is war, there are no two ways about it.
— Frogwares (@Frogwares) February 24, 2022
We call on everyone to force Putin to withdraw from our lands #StopRussianAggression
https://t.co/iNiwMXrC81 pic.twitter.com/JaOa6JQxEA
— NAVI (@natusvincere) February 24, 2022
Communities outside of Ukraine have also shown support for the country at this heart-wrenching time. The Polish developer 11 Bit Studios stated against the invasion. The studio also announced that it would donate all profits from This War of Mine, all its DLCs, on all stores and all platforms in the next seven days to Ukrainian Red Cross in order to support the war victims of the country. Raw Fury, the Swedish developer also issued a similar statement in support of Ukraine and called for action to donate to Ukrainian Red Cross as well.
11 bit studios team statement:#FuckTheWar#Ukraine @RedCrossUkraine @Ukraine pic.twitter.com/bVqBlZnR8j
— 11 bit studios (@11bitstudios) February 24, 2022
A message from us at Raw Fury on the current events.#StandWithUkraine https://t.co/SSSBXEKFwm pic.twitter.com/VwPlinc6Cr
— Raw Fury (@RawFury) February 24, 2022
Apart from neighboring communities, Bungie, the American game developer behind Destiny and Halo, announced that it ‘will donate all of the proceeds of the first 48 hours of its Game2Give drive to humanitarian aids efforts in response to ongoing conflicts.’
Our hearts are with our friends and families affected by the events in Ukraine.
— Bungie (@Bungie) February 25, 2022
We will be donating 100% of the proceeds of the first 48 hours of our Game2Give drive to humanitarian aid efforts in response to ongoing conflict.
The list of supports grows every minute ever since the first bomb attack in Ukraine. And we will continuously follow the progress of the Russian-Ukraine conflicts and how the global gaming community reacts to the situation.