After 18 years of presence, Sony finally shut down its operations in Russia earlier this week. Much like Nintendo, they had already announced their intention to withdraw back in 2023 following the invasion of Ukraine, but it has taken until now to finalise the process and sell off the remaining shares in their local subsidiary, Sony Mobile Communications Rus.
What's happening now is more of a formal conclusion than anything else. Already in March 2022, Sony cut off the PlayStation Store and stopped delivering consoles to the country. That same year, they also ceased releasing films there and removed Sony Music's catalogue from streaming services for Russian users. In 2024, they shut down their official retail stores, and on August 11th it was finally goodbye for Sony Rus.