Call of Duty: Modern Warfare PS4 PlayStation 4

Sony has taken the decision to withhold the sale of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare via the PlayStation Store in Russia.

A statement from Activision issued to Eurogamer reads as follows: "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a fictional game that has been thoughtfully created to entertain fans and tell a compelling narrative. Sony Interactive Entertainment has decided not to sell Modern Warfare on the PlayStation Store in Russia at this time. We look forward to launching Modern Warfare digitally in Russia on 25 October on PC via Battle.net and on console via Xbox."

Meanwhile, GamesIndustry has secured a statement from Sony itself on the matter, though it doesn't tell us much. "Sony Interactive Entertainment has decided not to sell Modern Warfare on the PlayStation Store in Russia at this time. We apologize for the inconvenience."

Considering the game is releasing in the country on other platforms, it's a little strange that Sony has refused to sell Modern Warfare digitally. The obvious conclusion we can draw is that the single player campaign, which apparently features conflicts in fictitious countries, runs a little too close to the bone. It wouldn't be the first time the series has caused a stir where Russia is concerned; we hardly need to mention the infamous 'No Russian' stage in Modern Warfare 2 on PS3.

Of course, there could be a far more innocuous reason for this decision, but odds are it's something to do with the content of the story. The phrase "at this time" in both the above statements leads us to believe the Infinity Ward shooter will release in Russia eventually. Will the PS4 release be censored in Russia? The game launches in just two days, and we've hardly seen a smidge of the campaign. It's going to be interesting to see how it all plays out.

[source eurogamer.net, via gamesindustry.biz]