It has been revealed that Vladimir Putin, the long-time Russian President, has a desire to create an independent gaming ecosystem in the country, funding a hardware and software network that would see Russia create its own ‘stationary and portable game consoles’. This news was revealed by sources close to the Russian government and it reportedly tells of a desire to circumvent sanctions and importation bans on ‘foreign’ gaming devices.
Ten-Year Mission
In a series of reports dug up by PC Gamer, it was revealed that Vladimir Putin has stressed his desire to create a gaming ecosystem that is made up of hardware, software, and a cloud-based network to support Russian gamers. During a recent economic summit, Putin ordered his government to start looking into the topic, sizing up the request and feeding back with a timeline – but it has been claimed that ‘creating such a system from scratch will take up to ten years.’
That was a quote taken from a Russian news publication called Kommersant, which added that there is currently ‘no competence’ in the country to create such an ecosystem.
Russia has long been a stalwart presence in gaming, particularly in the realms of competitive gaming – otherwise known as esports. The nation has fielded many a team in titles like Counter-Strike and seen great success in the space, but in terms of manufacturing and development, few topics of note have ever emerged from the country – except Tetris.
In terms of the modern age, the most recognisable game built and marketed by Russians is arguably Escape from Tarkov, an extraction shooter set in a fictional world that’s maintained by a team based in St. Peterburg.
What do you think Russia’s government will cook up in the gaming space?
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