I want to add some other points to this conversation;
1. As mentioned, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and other members of Commonwealth of Independent States will be affected. Most of these countries have better conditions for LGBTQ+ community and don't have any laws that would prohibit the LGBTQ themes among minors. It seems that EA is only capable to ban entire region, therefore these countries are unfairly banned, just because they are in same region as Russia.
2. Hungary has since 2021 very similar law to Russia - LGBTQ themes can't be shared among minors. It would only make sense to ban Hungary as well if we take EA's reasoning seriously - here's the twist, though; as stated with countries of CIS, EA can't ban individual countries, but whole region. Banning Hungary is impossible, because of EA would have to ban all countries that are part of European Union (+ United Kingdom that still remains in this region after Brexit)
3. If we take EA's reasoning seriously, then it would only make sense, that they would ban countries that don't support LGBTQ community at all; most of these countries punish LGBTQ people for their sexuality, gender and gender expression. Malaysia, Morocco, Sri Lanka, China... all of these countries are allowed to have The Sims despite their laws. Not only that though, EA SHOWED support to China and Morocco by including content related to these countries (unlike Slavic content, that still has no representation to this day). I expect someone to argue that China already banned Origin - well, yes, but chinesse players can still access The Sims in different ways and buy those packs, because EA did not ban The Sims in China.
EA's decision not to market the game in Russia does not mean that they will not market it in other countries. It is easy to see what country an IP address belongs to. People in Russia have two options to get the gamepack.
1. Buy a code online from a store outside Russia.
2. Use a VPN to buy the gamepack.
I hope this will help some of you that are affected by this. Both are easy to do with the first option being the easiest if you have a credit card.
VPN is againts EA's terms. Maybe EA could just, you know, stop with these lies
@Floorplan_B I can tell you that not all Westerners support this decision. I would like the answers to the questions posed by @SimNori actually. Let's get to the real reason please. If it is just EA trying to make a point about anti-LGBTQ+ policies, there are better ways to do that. Denying access to the pack does nothing but hurt the people and sends the wrong message. If they're not willing to make it work, it says they don't actually care about the LGBTQ+ people in Russia. If we want to change hearts and minds, we need more exposure, not less.
And let's not forget - EA used the LBGTQ community in the West to throw the LGBTQ community in the East under the train. Nobody gave them the microphone to speak on behalf of the world's LGBTQ community or even the one in the USA. If they actually fought for the causes they claim to believe in - they would never have betrayed the first principles of the LGBTQ community - i.e. that of equality and freedom from discrimination. This is what happens when companies take on hot-button issues. They have no idea how to properly represent what they are claiming to support.
Thank you for your support, unfortunately on Twitter we have to deal with Russophobia from Western gamers under this hashtag and many do not understand why this is a problem. There is only one law in Russia and it prohibits LGBTQ+ propaganda among minors, but the game in Russia has an 18+ rating and does not fall under this law, a scene could be cut in the trailer, but nothing more. The same law exists, for example, in China and this did not become an obstacle to adding.
This is just a marketing ploy disguised as a fight for LGBTQ+ rights. It's just that the developers have chosen the country with which they have the least income, since the price tag of games is very high, and if members of the Russian community begin to express dissatisfaction, then the West as a whole will take it very sharply and will not support it. And so it happened. This is a huge disappointment, I myself wanted to get past this situation, but as soon as I got deeper into the essence, I felt uneasy.
@Floorplan_B написал (-а):
"Also - EA should be reminded that although Russia may be behind on LGBTQ issues"
I want to clarify that the position of the government does not reflect the position of society. We simply cannot influence these laws and violations of human rights and freedoms.
