Netflix has removed itself from the iPhone App Store and Google Play in Russia in the wake of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
After announcing it was suspending its services in Russia on March 6, the streaming giant banned new subscribers from signing up and said it would cancel existing users’ subscriptions.
“Given the circumstances on the ground, we have decided to suspend our service in Russia,” a Netflix spokesperson told Polygon earlier this month.
Now, it seems Netflix has finally removed its apps from Russian devices—just as it unveiled three new free videogames for its subscribers in the rest of the world.
(Image: Sidhe)
Netflix subscribers outside of Russia can now install ‘Netflix Games’ and download free games straight to their phones.
The titles include ‘This IS A True Story’, a narrative puzzle game about water poverty in Africa; fast-paced Playstation 3 brickbreaker ‘Shatter Remastered’, and ‘Into The Dead 2: Unleashed’, a spooky-looking zombie survival shooter.
All you need is a Netflix subscription to play the new games—unless you’re in Russia, in which case you probably need to install a VPN.
The announcement that Netflix is pulling out of Russia follows a ban by the Kremlin on all Meta products, including Facebook and Instagram.
(Image: Prodigy Design Limited)
Russian prosecutors insisted extremist materials were posted on Facebook and Instagram and that Meta called for “participation in mass uncoordinated actions”, as well as calls for violence against Russian citizens. Meta denied the claims.
In response, Russian developers are creating their own clone of Instagram.
‘Rossgram’ will launch on March 28 and is designed to work almost exactly like the real thing.
Photos of the new social media platform suggest it will look very similar to Instagram, with a near-identical colour scheme and layout.
