Putin orders reboot of Russian gaming industry

President Vladimir Putin has instructed the government to weigh requirements for organizing production of both stationary and portable game consoles in Russia, according to a statement published on the Kremlin’s official website on Wednesday.

Putin’s order was issued following a meeting on the socio-economic development of Kaliningrad Region. Aside from consoles, the president also called on the Cabinet of Ministers to consider developing a special operating system and a cloud system for delivering games and programs to users. 

The deadline for executing the order has been set at June 15, 2024. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has been designated as the person responsible for overseeing completion of the task.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained that the president’s order to consider the creation of a domestically-produced console is aimed at developing Russia’s native gaming industry.

The Organization for Developing the Video Game Industry (RVI) presented a five-year roadmap to the government in February that laid out an 83-point program for developing video games in Russia.

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RVI said this year it plans to re-establish relations with various funds and organizations in international gaming that have ties to Russia and establish ways to consistently support the development of video games inside the country. The organization has also said the creation of a full-fledged game console is planned for 2026-2027.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, Russia concluded its first Games of the Future tournament, which took place in the city of Kazan between February 21 and March 3. The ‘phygital’ (physical + digital) format of the competition combined traditional sports and cybersports in a unique mix in 21 combined disciplines. They included phygital football, hockey, and basketball, as well as more traditional cybersports and high-tech contests such as drone racing, competitive programming, and robot battles.

The first ever iteration of the tournament involved more than 270 teams from 107 countries and was watched by a “global audience,” according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko.