Playrix today announced it is fully withdrawing from Russia and Belarus, “due to the continued aggression against Ukraine and in order to maintain its operations.”
The Russian-founded global mobile gaming giant will “close all the company’s offices” and “shut down all operations of its studios” in Russia and Belarus. The remaining staff will be “relocated from Russia and Belarus to other countries.”
Meanwhile, Playrix is “committed to keeping its operations in Ukraine and providing continuous support to all of its 1,500 employees there.”
This past spring, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Playrix had already suspended its commercial activities in Russia and Belarus, opened additional offices in Europe and relocated hundreds of employees. But the company — which had much of its staff split between Russia and Ukraine — was torn by “uncontrolled hatred between employees,” as reported by Forbes, who interviewed company founders Dmitry and Igor Bukhman.
These were criticized for not speaking out against the war strongly and early enough, and for initially discouraging employees from donating to Ukrainian causes, due to draconian Russian laws that criminalized such actions.
Founded in Vologda, Russia, in 2004, Playrix moved its headquarters to Dublin 10 years later. The Bukhman brothers emigrated from Russia to Israel in 2016. They are now billionaires living in London,
Playrix is valued at $16 billion with $2.7 billion in annual revenue, reports BeyondGames.biz.
