Russia is venturing into creating its own gaming industry, complete with consoles.
Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to explore this avenue, mentioning in particular the development of fixed and portable consoles, as well as an operating system and cloud infrastructure for game distribution.
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This move comes as major gaming companies like Sony Group Corp. SONY, Microsoft Corp. MSFT AND NintendoADR NTDOY stopped sales to Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
Despite this, local sellers continue to find ways to import foreign consoles.
Putin now perceives it as an opportunity to cultivate a domestic industry amid Western sanctions.
According to local media reports, (via PCMagUK) Putin said during a socioeconomic meeting: “The government should consider the issue of creating a video game industry in Russia, including the production of stationary and portable game consoles.”
The government has until June 15 to review the proposal, with the Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin supervise the effort. However, challenges loom, including skills shortages and the need for advanced chips, which could be limited by the United States. Building a console ecosystem also requires a vibrant developer community.
Reports from the Kommersant newspaper suggest that VK, a Russian technology company, could lead the effort, although creating consoles from scratch could “take up to 10 years,” the article adds.
Alternatively, Russia could explore collaboration with China to produce a portable console similar to Valve’s Steam Deck.
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