Company of Heroes 2's Russian distributor halts sales (update)

Company of Heroes 2 has drawn the ire of numerous Russian players for its portrayal of the Soviet Union in World War II, and the game's distributor in the region, 1C-SoftClub, announced today that the complaints caused it to stop selling the game.

"In connection with appeals of people who consider unacceptable number of episodes of the game, the company 1C-SoftClub chose 26 July 2013 to stop selling PC game Company of Heroes 2 (developer - Relic Entertainment, publisher - Sega) in the territory of the Russian Federation and CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States, a group of former USSR countries]," said 1C-SoftClub in a news post on its website, as translated by Google. "At the moment we are analyzing the situation and [informing] the developer and publisher of Company of Heroes 2."

1C-SoftClub is a distributor, publisher and developer of games for Russia, the Czech Republic and Eastern Europe, and the company was distributing Company of Heroes 2 in the region. Game franchises developed and published by 1C include IL-2 Sturmovik and Men of War.

Residents of Russia and former Soviet countries have slammed Company of Heroes 2 and developer Relic Entertainment for what they see as a game full of Western bias and myths about the Soviet contribution to World War II.

A representative for Sega told Polygon, "Sega and Relic are aware of the press stories circulating concerning Company of Heroes 2 and the historical context of the game from a Russian perspective. At this time we cannot offer any further comment, however we are taking this issue very seriously and are investigating these concerns thoroughly with all relevant partners."

Update: A Sega representative emailed an updated statement to Polygon on Aug. 7, saying, "Sega and Relic are working closely with their Russian distribution partner Softclub 1C over claims concerning Company of Heroes 2 and the historical context of the game from a Russian perspective. Whilst investigations [into] these concerns are ongoing we would like to express our regret at any offense caused to those affected by these claims."