Parts of Russia are already available in Euro Truck Simulator 2, but the Heart of Russia DLC announced last March would have opened up more of the country, including the capital Moscow, to its many players. However, the situation changed drastically three months ago. “On the 24th of February 2022, our Heart of Russia team was some 6-8 weeks away from completing work on the highly anticipated new DLC,” SCS wrote in a post on its website. “We all felt really good about the result; a lot of effort had been invested in making this new region look truly fantastic in the game. We were absolutely sure that our community, especially those in Russia, would really appreciate that.” “Then, all of a sudden, the entire world was rocked by the news that Ukraine had been invaded by Russia. We were in shock.” The company says it tries to remain as apolitical as possible when developing its games, but the direct connection Heart of Russia has with Russia itself, and as so many are suffering in Ukraine, it was decided to put the DLC’s release on hold. SCS did suggest that Heart of Russia could be released at some point in the future, “when the time comes for Ukraine to rebuild and heal.” SCS Software has contributed to charities providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine through the sale of its Ukrainian Paint Jobs Pack DLC, which has been bought by over 85,000 people. Back in early March, EA Sports announced it was removing all Russian teams from NHL 22 and FIFA 22. The gaming giant had announced a partnership with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) in December to add international teams to NHL 22, including Russian and Belarusian teams that were removed. FIFA 22, meanwhile, had included CSKA Moscow, Lokomotiv Moscow, Spartak Moscow, and Zenit Saint Petersburg, all of which have been dropped. Elsewhere, it’s also been reported that the Russian version of Gotham Knights has been cancelled.
