The "situation" is not as easy to assign "good" and "bad" as many wish. I see so many wrapping themselves in flags and making statements that are false (albeit pushed by media) -- hurtling toward a new Cold War. It's hard to stay from posting data that shows them wrong. I can only hope that due to the gravity of the situation they will spend time outside of mainstream media to educate themselves on the facts behind the situation...

... but besdies that...

... the people are innocent... and assigning "guilt" to people for the actions of their leadership is shortsighted.

The Ukrainian government has done a lot of terrible things, but I do not blame the Ukrainian people. The Russian government has done a lot of terrible things, but I do not blame the Russian people.

It's time to stop demonizing the people. People are just people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHylQRVN2Qs

If GOG is truly removing people from this community (which I have not looked into... yet... but I will) , I have no problem removing GOG from my life.

This situation is NOT A GAME.

Because the world is black and white and nations are all hiveminds.......Italy has that mafia by that logic we should ban all Italians until they rise up and get rid of it.

Heaven forbid you might not be able to buy new games for a while while your country is going to war...

Meanwhile I'm wrapping myself in a blanket to save on energybills

I doubt this.
But… you know, sanctions. I think developers of said games will be blocked from revenues instead. Otherwise, it would be unwise to give money to enemy game developers (who, without any doubt, would just give their funds to "aggressors").

Apart from the fact that many Italians did (and many were killed precisely because they fought against the mafia). A world war is quite another thing. If my government invaded another nation, I would take to the streets and resist. Gog has only temporarily banned the purchase of new games, an all in all light measure that also serves to push the russian community to protest against putin (like all restrictions right now).
And if a world war doesn't break out it will be a small price ...

@GOG

You don’t punish the citizens because of choices made by the dictator.

Also either political topics are off limit, or they are fair game.

GOG has truly have become a disappointment to me. Joining the boycott over this.

This is pretty much the way I feel about this move too. I have great sympathy for the Russian citizens who do not support this war, but I would hope they understand and know who to blame.

I don't support a lot of the actions of my own government and if they started another war I would certainly understand why other countries (and companies in those countries) would choose to sanction us.

So, gog, when the next time another country invades someone, like for example the US of A - just for "humanitarian reasons" and to "bring democracy" of course - and you don't also suspend their sales, can we then start to call you hypocrites?

Do you know much about the situation in Ukraine?

Or you could...you know....give the Falklands back to it's rightful owners.

The geopolitical realities of this keep getting ignored.

Gog is a Polish compagnie. Ukraine is right next door to them. Their reaction makes complete sense.

We like to think that all countries are equal, but they really aren't. Depends on where you live.

If someone invaded Mexico, Poland wouldn't care that much. The US might.

For you as an individual I do feel sorry you are in this mess.

But there is a problem.

An autocratic system like the rule of Putin in Russia does not so much rely on a population instilled with his propaganda. Much more it does rely on apolitical people who feel totally disconnected from the doings of their leader. This is what gives him the freedom to act.

If you take the idea of democracy to its extreme it is not just the political class being responsible for the people but also the people being responsible for politics. It may look like blaming the people. But blaming someone is slightly different from holding someone responsible. Only Putin can be blamed. But the people in his country are kinda in this together with him whether they like it or not.

It's a Western perspective of course and - as I did say - I'm taking it to an extreme here. Though this is exactly what Putin did to us now, in the EU. His actions did spark fear and anger in the hearts of most people around here. Within days it made us reevaluate what's important to us. Just days before Putin's invasion we were still bickering with the Polish on how a democratic system is ought to be working. This is all gone now. Putin did unite Western countries with their thoughts and actions in a way that seemed impossible to ourselves.

GOG is owned by a company in Poland. They act like it. To me personally it seems very relatable.

I cannot ask you to put yourself in danger.

But really, Russians must understand Putin is the president of their country. He's not the president of Mars. Oh, someone find a way to make that happen...

People in Russia at some point must find ways to express their dissatisfaction with the doings of the political class. I know this is tough in an oppressive environment. Everyone must be cautious not to get themselves into trouble. But if they don't learn how to show resentment to where it belongs things will never ever change.

Withdrawal of people from the polity is the lifeblood of figures like Putin.

I'm kinda sure you won't like this answer much. But there's no other way to me feel about it in this very situation.

Where was your dissatisfaction of your political class when Ukraine soldiers and nationalists killed people of Donbas? Guess what? No one cared. Just like no one cared about Iraq, Serbia, Libya etc. Start with yourself first. You have a lot of NATO related illegal invasions to protest.

I'm British and I agree with this.