According to reports from NME, the videogame publisher Valve has stopped paying Steam revenues to developers in Ukraine.
Valve: “We are unable to make payments in Ukraine”
We have been accustomed for weeks to reading about the sanctions by Western companies against Russia. However, today’s news seems to be different: the interruption of payments to Ukraine. According to reports from NME Valve Corporation, an American video game developer and distributor, it has suspended payments to Ukrainian video game developers. The suspension, reportedly, would affect the proceeds from sales of the games on Steam. The news comes directly YellowAfterlife, Ukrainian game designer, who published the email with which Valve announced the stop to payments.
In a new development, Valve completely ceases sending developer/publisher payments to Russia, Belarus… and Ukraine
This doesn’t impact me personally (since I’m not the “owner” of any paid titles), but for anyone relying on Steam as their source of income in these trying times, pic.twitter.com/Ix6YnJM0Xj
— Vadym 🇺🇦 (@YellowAfterlife) March 18, 2022
“His banking information has been suspended – the email reads – due to the current situation. We are unable to make bank payments in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine ”.
YellowAfterlife states that “this maneuver has no impact on me personally (since I am not the ‘owner’ of any paid title)”. But that could make life difficult for “anyone who uses Steam as a source of income in these troubled times”.
The move leaves Ukrainian developers stunned and indignant
It would therefore seem a problem of a technical nature, rather than a sanctioning stance. However, the move has caused discontent in Ukraine, where several game developers are making their voices heard. One of these, Stas Shostak, also published the e-mail he received, commenting: “Is Ukraine also now sanctioned or is it you who are idiots?”
In a later comment Shostak also wrote, “Just the same night Steam suspended payments to Ukraine, a Russian rocket hit my city. It’s metaphorical and somewhat ironic, isn’t it? “
Words of indignation also come from Ternox Games, an independent Ukrainian developer, who wrote: “my country was attacked by Russia and for this reason you have decided to deprive me of a source of income?”