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Video games in Russia

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Video gaming in Russia is one of the world's largest markets for video games.[1] One of the greatest issues with the Russian video games industry is piracy.[2] The Russian game market more than doubled in the past five years to more than $2 billion in 2019.[3] Russia has the largest video games market in Europe, with an estimated 65.2 million players as of 2018.[4]

In 2001, Russia became the world's first country to officially recognize competitive video gaming (known as "eSports," or "computer sports", or "cybersport" in Russian) as a sport.[5]

History

The history of mass videogaming in Russia (back then USSR) takes its roots in the early 1980s when personal computers of different models (Atari 400/800, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum 48/128) were brought to the country from United States, Europe, Japan and China.[6] At the same time, a local company, Electronica, released a series of portable game consoles which were mostly clones of Nintendo products. By the middle of the 80s Soviet programmers and enthusiasts began to try to develop their own games.[7][8] The most famous Russian game designer of that era is Alexey Pajitnov, who created the worldwide megahit Tetris.[9][10]

In 2010 Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of Russia encouraged local video game companies to make video games that were patriotic as it was felt foreign video game publishers made games that were anti-Russian.[11]

Arcades

The first Soviet arcade game machines did not contain digital graphics, and the games' interface had to be emulated with help of physical objects.[12][13][14]

Game press

There were many video game magazines in Russia from the early 90s to the mid 2000s. Their quantity significantly decreased due to the massive spread of the Internet and the following boom of illegal content downloading. As a result, most of the existing magazines were discontinued due to a massive commercial loss. The most known Russian video game magazine is currently Igromania.

Game developers from Russia

Company Location Founded
Ice-Pick Lodge Moscow 2002
1C Company Moscow 1991
Alawar Novosibirsk 2011
Nival Saint Petersburg 1996
Playrix Vologda 2004
Unigine Corp Tomsk 2005
World Forge Voronezh 2009
ZeptoLab Moscow 2009
Gaijin Entertainment 2002
Battlestate Games St. Petersburg 2012

Demographics and Popularity

One in 5 Russians self report that they play video games, according to the Moscow Times.[15] But according to VTSIOM, 58% of Russians expressed the view that videogames are harmful.[16] Video games enjoy mass appeal in Russia.[4][17][18] Males make up 58% and females 42% of gamers.[19] Russians tend to be impulse buyers.[20] According to Newzoo 60% of PC gamers are male and 46% of mobile gamers are female.[21][22]

According to Json the biggest growth in gaming in Russia was mobile and PC games in 2016.[23]

References

  1. ^ "Russia to Become the Third Biggest European Market for Video Games". SuperData, a Nielsen Company.
  2. ^ "Welcome To Russia, Where Most Of Your Friends Are Video Game Pirates". Kotaku. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
  3. ^ "Yandex: Russian game market doubled in five years to $2 billion". January 22, 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Russia Games Market 2018".
  5. ^ "Competitive video gaming now officially a sport in Russia". East-West Digital News. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  6. ^ Goodfellow, Cat (18 December 2014). "Beyond Tetris: a brief history of patriotic video gaming in Russia". Retrieved 2 January 2017 – via The Guardian.
  7. ^ "Какими были первые советские персональные компьютеры". Российская газета.
  8. ^ "Советские компьютерные игры". Форум Альтернативной Истории (ФАИ).
  9. ^ "Автор «Тетриса» о простоте и гениальности своей игры". Look At Me. June 6, 2014.
  10. ^ Goodfellow, Cat (December 18, 2014). "Beyond Tetris: a brief history of patriotic video gaming in Russia" – via www.theguardian.com.
  11. ^ "Russia attempts to turn the patriotic tide by funding new video games". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
  12. ^ "Музей советских игровых автоматов открылся на новом месте". The Village. August 11, 2011.
  13. ^ "Russians recall bygone era with Soviet game museum". June 14, 2007 – via www.reuters.com.
  14. ^ "Russian video arcade captures dying culture". Salon. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
  15. ^ Times, The Moscow (August 19, 2019). "1 in 5 Russians Are Gamers, Poll Says". The Moscow Times.
  16. ^ "Majority of Russians think video games do more harm than good – poll". RT International.
  17. ^ "Video Games Drive Media Market Growth". Moscow Times. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
  18. ^ Goodfellow, Catherine (2015). "ONLINE GAMING IN POST-SOVIET RUSSIA: PRACTICES, CONTEXTS AND DISCOURSES" (PDF). www.research.manchester.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  19. ^ "An Insider's Guide to the Russian Game Industry | ironSource". Ironsrc.com. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  20. ^ "Game Insight: Shedding light on Russia's game trends". Russia Beyond the Headlines. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
  21. ^ "Russian Game Industry Survey 2019". russia-promo.com.
  22. ^ "White Paper: Guide to Online Games Promotion in the Russian Market". russia-promo.com.
  23. ^ "Research of the global and Russian gaming market, 2016 - Контент и мобильные приложения | RUSSIAN ANALYTICS". json.tv.
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