In a direct communication from Playrix - the creator of successful mobile titles such as Gardenscape - it has been announced that the company intends to close all of its offices based in Russia and Belarus. It also notes that staff from these offices will be relocated to other countries.

While the company has offices and staff across the globe, the vast majority are based in Russia and Ukraine. Of the 4000 staff that the company has, 3000 of them were based in the region directly affected by the conflict, with 1500 of them based in Ukraine and a further 1500 in Russia. Notably, the Ukrainian teams are not being relocated, indicating that this is a specific withdrawal from the Russian and Belarusian economies.

Relocation

The statement confirms the previously reported news , clarifying that "Due to the continued aggression against Ukraine and in order to maintain its operations, Playrix announces it is pulling out of Russia and Belarus. Since the beginning of the war, the company has suspended its commercial activities in Russia and Belarus, opened additional offices in Europe, and relocated hundreds of employees.

The new measures include:

Closing all the company's offices in Russia and Belarus
Shutting down all operations of its studios in Russia and Belarus
Relocating remaining staff from Russia and Belarus to other countries.

Playrix is committed to keeping its operations in Ukraine and providing continuous support to all of its 1,500 employees there."

Playrix are not the first company to take such measures since the conflict began. Azur Games previously sold off their assets in the country, and several others including Rovio and Wargaming have pulled out of operations in the country. Ukraine's Vice Pime Minister Mykhailo Federov made an appeal to the games industry to close studios in Russia back in March of this year, and since then many big names in gaming, such as Epic, EA and Microsoft have done exactly that.

Success from its titles such as Township, Fishdom, and the Scapes franchise saw Playrix land on our top 50 game makers list. 

Edited by Gemma Witchalls with updated information from Playrix October 12, 2022