May Putin's vision of a Russian PlayStation materialize?
Due to Western tech companies no longer providing their products to Russia, the Russian government is trying to create their own gaming console. However, this plan faces numerous obstacles. Experts doubt the Russians' abilities and think there might be other motives.
The deadline is quickly approaching: President Vladimir Putin's administration has until June 15th to present its plans for a Russian gaming console that can compete with Western companies. Additionally, a decree issued by the president requires the development of Russian operating and cloud systems.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, many tech companies have implemented sanctions on the Russian market. For instance, Playstation manufacturer Sony stopped selling devices such as the PS5 in Russia. Recently, in March of this year, internet companies Microsoft, Amazon, and Google extended their sanctions and cut off access to their cloud services.
In an interview with ntv.de, Philipp Dietrich, an expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations, believes it's highly improbable that Russia will develop a gaming console with modern games, high-resolution graphics, and good performance comparable to current Playstations and Xbox in the foreseeable future. He imagines Putin and his team can only create a basic console with a few indie games featuring poor graphics and technology from 2010.
The desire for independence
The Russian games console market has been relatively small until now. According to Statista, sales reached approximately 80 million dollars in 2024. In contrast, the US market generated around 7 billion dollars. In 2024, the whole gaming industry in Russia is forecast to reach a turnover of 2.3 billion dollars. "The war had a significant negative impact on the market. Now, Russians are buying Steam games in Kazakhstan and Turkey or in Argentina via VPNs and with cryptocurrencies," says Dietrich.
Putin may not appreciate this situation at all. Expert Dietrich suggests the goal is to achieve more independence. Independence, both regarding the internet and technology. "Russia has been working on disconnecting its internet from the outside world for years." However, gaming online is popular among Russians. One in five Russians play regularly. If the internet were disconnected, it could lead to widespread connectivity issues and cause displeasure from the population. "He might think he can bypass the problem with a national alternative," says Dietrich.
On the other hand, Dietrich believes Putin might want to encourage the Russian IT industry to create its own products. "Lucrative deals could stimulate the industry. But this would require a significant investment." So far, Russia has struggled with these goals. "The domestic IT industry is heavily dependent on foreign components, and that won't change soon."
Similar plans were already in place in late 2022
Russia can't produce modern chips used in gaming consoles on its own. Dietrich doubts that Russia will be able to develop processors that can keep up with Western ones in the future. Regardless of the sanctions, Russia continues to import microchips from abroad. It is also possible for the new "Russian" console to bring everything into the country through unofficial channels. "But then the console wouldn't be Russian; it would just have a Russian name and a Russian outer casing. This wouldn't benefit the Russians strategically at all," says Dietrich.
Russia plans to invest around 40 billion dollars into the domestic chip industry by 2030. Although it sounds like a lot, Dietrich remarks that it's not. "Catching up and establishing our own production seems almost impossible." Even in ten years, Russia likely won't have established its own high-tech chip production.
The first plans to develop Russia's own game engine apparently emerged as early as the end of 2022. So far, nothing has transpired. In addition to desiring independence over the internet and technology, Dietrich suspects another reason behind the ambitious plans: Corruption. According to Dietrich, it's not unusual for projects to be presented loudly and supported with substantial funding only to disappear into the background quietly, with the money having already vanished.
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In light of the ongoing sanctions imposed by technology groups such as Microsoft and Google, Microsoft's cloud services are now unavailable in Russia. With Sony also stopping sales of their PlayStation devices in Russia, there's a growing demand for Russian companies to develop their own gaming console to become less reliant on Western technology.
Despite President Putin's ambitions to create a Russian gaming console capable of competing with Western companies, experts like Philipp Dietrich doubt the feasibility of such a project, citing Russia's lack of advanced technology and resources in the field.
Source: www.ntv.de
