“About 50 new members were admitted over the year,” said Vasily Ovchinnikov from RVI about the outcomes of 2025

What was the year 2025 like for the organization?

This year, RVI turned three and it remains a non-profit organization funded by its founders. Although there have been increasing calls to start providing useful services and introducing membership fees. We previously stated that we don't intend to compete with businesses, and we'll strive to maintain that approach, continuing as a traditional business and entrepreneurial association. Membership fees will likely be introduced.

Many believed the organization would not last more than one or two years, but it continues to grow. This year, representatives from major studios and well-known companies, including the 4game platform and the publisher "Buka", joined RVI, having exited other associations. This was an important step and helped solidify RVI's position as a leading industry association, proving its usefulness.

Community growth over the year was natural, with about 50 new members joining. We did not actively recruit new members this year; we simply did our work for our members and the entire industry. We also raised the bar for member requirements — they must now have industry experience beneficial to other members. The industry in Russia remains comparatively small, and a significant number of professionals and market participants are already part of RVI. The focus is now on developers with experience, while new teams can stay connected through the partner project Indie Go.

What accomplishments from the year would you highlight?

We've formed an advisory board comprising renowned and influential experts, including those from development. I believe this is the most significant milestone in RVI's development since its inception as an industry-wide association. Early on, RVI faced some criticism for lacking key players from development and publishing, but that was 2022, and developers and publishers were focused on business survival and defining their positioning and connection with Russia. The situation has changed this year. Among RVI's founders are shareholders and leaders from several top-10 revenue companies in Russia, and with the advisory board, even more such companies influence the association's work.

The advisory board will analyze the industry's state and develop expert recommendations for its development. It will work in regular interaction with RVI leadership and founders, participate in forming the association's strategy, set support priorities for Russian studios, and identify key trends and risks for the market.

Throughout the year, we worked hard to ensure that a rather controversial bill regulating video game development and publishing, proposed by a group of deputies in December 2024, was not hastily passed without thorough consideration. We constantly maintained a critical informational backdrop, prepared and sent critiques and proposals to government bodies, and explained the industry's position to anyone who might influence the deputies' initiative. I believe we succeeded. The bill, as originally proposed, did not reach the first reading in the State Duma within the year, and hopefully, it will remain an unsuccessful initiative.

Significant assistance in this regard was provided by the "Buka" company and its CEO, Alexander Tebuev. They conducted solid legal work on the bill's text and helped RVI formulate a more balanced legal stance. The Indie Go project prepared analytical materials and data used in addressing the bill. Additionally, substantial support came from Roman Lukyanov of Semenov & Pevzner. He immediately publicly opposed the bill as unconstitutional and later proposed a strong argument about its contradiction to the "Creative Industries" law, which became an essential point in our overall stance. Subsequently, we invited Roman to join RVI's advisory board.

At the end of this year, we conducted a large sociological study on video games in Russia, to be published at the beginning of next year — "Gaming in Russia 2026". The first version of the study is still actively used and cited in the industry, government structures, and related fields. It is the only source of reliable sociological data about our industry. The updated version will present many new interesting data, which we will definitely share. The field phase of the study — a survey of over 4,000 Russians — was conducted with participation from and on the platform of the research center NAFI. Later, we will allow data requests for independent studies and enrichment of data for educational and research purposes.

Also in 2025, we published the "Red Book of Developers". A team of authors collected regulatory acts governing the video game industry and presented them in an accessible form for practicing professionals. The initiative received very positive feedback from the professional community. We consistently update and add to it. The project is non-commercial, and we are very grateful to all the authors who contributed pro bono. This was an example of how an industry association should work for us. Special thanks to Maria Polunina, the chief editor of the first book version, for her contribution to industry development. Within this project, we are preparing a "Green Pages" section with practical recommendations and a database on narrative work in games. Its chief editor, Asya Chashchinskaya, assembled a very strong team of authors, and we plan a presentation at the beginning of 2026.

I believe that this year RVI did an excellent job in international cooperation. With RVI's support, the Moscow Agency of Creative Industries (ACI) implemented a record volume of export support for developers, allowing Moscow studios to be represented at top Asian exhibitions such as Tokyo Game Show, G-Star, China Joy, and others. In addition, dozens of projects and studios could participate not only in offline exhibitions but also in corresponding online festivals on Steam, which often ran concurrently. During overseas trips, we participated in the business programs of specialized exhibitions and meetings with government representatives and major businesses. Over the year, cooperation agreements were signed with the new Indonesian association AGKDI (similar agreements had previously been concluded with AGI and APTIKNAS) and the Assoc...