[GameSpot] - Valve Says It's Dealing With Blocked Payments To Game Devs In Ukraine and Russia

[343iBot]

Valve has confirmed it is currently working on a solution for Ukrainian and Russian game developers who are blocked from accessing their Steam income.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, which has resulted in economic sanctions, Valve said that the bank it uses for its business in the region has implemented new regulations--meaning game developers in Ukraine and Russia are unable to access payments.

Hey @valvesoftware @Steam are you okay?
My country was attacked by Russia and because of this you decided to deprive me of a source of income? pic.twitter.com/xkcZMxdzP0

— Ternox Games STONKS-9800, Taimumari, Bakumari (@Taimumari) March 17, 2022

Stas Shostak, a Ukrainian developer who has been affected by the sanctions, took to Twitter to share an email he received from the Steam publisher.

"This past week, our bank notified us that they will begin requiring that we provide intermediary bank information for all wire payments to accounts in Russia and Ukraine," the email reads. "In addition, they will no longer be allowing payments to Belarus.

"We are working to understand all the new requirements, create a path to collect this information from you and send it to the bank. This will take us some time to complete, but will not be available for the payments to the affected accounts due at the end of March."

Valve confirmed to PC Gamer that the email is legitimate, while also stating that "any outstanding account balances will be paid as soon as they can be sent. We know this is super frustrating for all involved, and are hoping to find a better resolution soon."

However, two weeks since the initial Twitter post, Shostak isn't certain his payment will come through for April. "I'm not sure about April," he said to PC Gamer. "Will they really sort it out between the banks, or will Ukraine still be cut out just in case? All my Ukrainian game dev friends report the same situation. Some (me included) are just waiting for the next month, some decided to open accounts in foreign banks to be completely sure they get the next payment."

As the Russian invasion escalates, more tech companies and developers have announced how they are seeking to help the people of Ukraine.

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