Russian Steam users have begun to express their dissatisfaction with the automated removal of Elden Ring from their accounts. According to reviews on many different forums, it all follows a similar pattern: the player gets “thrown out” of the game at some point, and the funds are returned to their wallet.
At the same time, the problem appears to be limited, affecting only those who purchased the game between February 24 and February 25 using a Russian bank card. Elden Ring purchased has not yet been refunded back to users who purchased the game on pre-order or the day it was released.
Steam abruptly decreased the number of payment methods available to Russians on March 2 without warning. Except for PayPal and utilizing an internal wallet, the Valve store has ceased accepting any payment methods from Russian residents. The company has not officially commented on the situation, although some reports suggest that it may have occurred as a result of sanctions issues with the bank that handles payments for the site in Russia.