Ukrainian gamers who play on PlayStation consoles may not be able to wait for the 007 First Light game about a young James Bond. Studio IO Interactive has removed its games from sale in Russia, Belarus and some temporarily occupied regions of Ukraine, but it seems that the PlayStation Store is not making exceptions for Ukrainians from other regions.
Ukrainian gamers who play on PlayStation consoles may not be able to wait for the 007 First Light game about a young James Bond. Studio IO Interactive has removed its games from sale in Russia, Belarus and some temporarily occupied regions of Ukraine, but it seems that the PlayStation Store is not making exceptions for Ukrainians from other regions.
This was pointed out by Ukrainian player Yuriy Lupul, who asked for clarification from IO Interactive representatives on the Steam forum.
«Good afternoon. I’m looking forward to the Bond game, as I’m a big fan of the franchise in general. But I’m worried about whether the game will be available on the Ukrainian Playstation Store. We see that other IO Interactive games, such as Hitman, are currently unavailable there. My question is: why? When will the games be available for purchase again?», — wrote Yuriy, who added that he also hopes for the appearance of Ukrainian text localization.
In response, an IO Interactive representative recalled that the company’s game catalog became unavailable «in some countries in order to comply with international sanctions imposed on these territories». «Thus, from January 1, 2025, our catalog has been removed from the Steam, Epic, Xbox, Nintendo and PlayStation stores,» he noted.
Previously, players noticed that the game Hitman World of Assassination is not available in the Ukrainian PlayStation region. At the same time, most Ukrainians can purchase the project on other digital services.
In April, dev.ua contacted IO Interactive for clarification of the situation. According to a company representative, this is a consequence of compliance with international sanctions on certain territories:
«While our commitment to the gaming community to deliver impactful games and a player-centric approach remains unchanged, we recognize the importance of adhering to legal requirements to comply with relevant regulations in this matter,» noted IO Interactive representative Adrian.
It is likely that the PlayStation Store functionality is unable to distinguish between players from different territories of Ukraine, which is why Hitman World of Assassination is not available to all Ukrainians. If IO Interactive does not change its policy, a similar situation may occur with 007 First Light, which is scheduled for release in 2026.
Yuriy Lupul is convinced that IO Interactive mistakenly believes that international sanctions have been imposed on Ukraine.
«Are you sure you didn’t mix up the country? Ukraine is not subject to any international sanctions», — he wrote on X (Twitter), mentioning the Ministry of Digital Transformation and its head, Mykhailo Fedorov, in his post.
