According to Russian news outlet DTF, Call of Duty Modern Warfare has been withdrawn from sale on the PlayStation Store in Russia. Although the anticipated Call of Duty Modern Warfare Open Beta launched worldwide yesterday, Russian players are unable to access the beta client as of writing.
Sony Support’s Russian branch confirmed the game would not release on the platform at all moving forward. Sony has canceled all preorders and removed all editions of the game from its Russian digital storefront. Users who preordered will receive automatic refunds in due course.
Retail versions for the game have been unavailable in the country ever since publisher Activision announced Call of Duty Modern Warfare’s release on Oct. 25 back in May, spurring earlier rumors that problems were afoot.
Asked for the reasoning behind the ban, Sony Support said to direct questions towards Activision.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare preorders on both the Microsoft Store and Battle.net are still available within Russia. We don’t yet know if this will remain the case moving forward.
DTF contacted Activision for comment, and the publisher said :
“Unfortunately, Sony Interactive Entertainment is not able to support the early access to Modern Warfare beta on PS4 in Russia. Additional information will be announced later. This will not affect our plans for testing beta on other platforms next weekend.”
Activision stopped short of clarifying what has caused the ban and whether we can expect a full release of Call of Duty Modern Warfare on PlayStation 4 in Russia come next month.
As for the reasons behind the removal from the PlayStation Store, speculation is understandably rife. Theories gravitate around the ultra-realism Call of Duty Modern Warfare portrays, alongside uncomfortable depictions of elements of the Russian military within the game. These may have pushed authorities within the country to force a ban, although why only on Sony’s platform specifically is unclear.