FIFA 23 won't feature any Russian clubs

FIFA 23 will not include any Russian football clubs, including the national team, due to the invasion of Ukraine.

The removal: It's consistent with how EA initially reacted to the war.

• EA Sports confirmed the decision to exclude Russian clubs to Eurogamer.
• This may not be a surprise to some considering that the developer removed Russia from FIFA 22 towards the beginning of the invasion. It also halted sales of its games and content in the nation and ally Belarus.
• "EA Sports stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and like so many voices across the world of football, calls for peace and an end to the invasion of Ukraine," the company told Eurogamer.

The wider response: EA isn't alone in standing against Russia.

• A host of major game developers have taken a stance against the country since the invasion began, including Microsoft, Ubisoft, Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, and Supercell.
• This was also the case in esports. CIS organization Natus Vincere cut Russian players who weren't willing to relocate, ESL ruled against Russian organizations Gambit and Virtus.pro, and tournament organizer BLAST decided to exclude Russia-based teams from its events for the foreseeable future.
• Seemingly as a response to the mass exclusion it's faced in gaming, it was recently reported that Russian developers are looking into creating their own engine to develop games that may be funded by the state.