The CEO of the Institute for Internet Development (IRI), Alexey Goreslavsky, discussed the topic of "import substitution" of video games in Russia at the RIGF 2026 forum. He is convinced that although it is a challenging task, it is entirely achievable — and can be accomplished in the coming years.
"Zemsky Sobor"
As an example of successful promotion of Russian content, Goreslavsky cited the situation with TV series. He referenced data from a VTsIOM survey, which showed that by 2025, 85% of Russians were watching domestic series, while interest in foreign shows had dropped to 40%. A similar trend is observed in the blogosphere, according to the head of the IRI.
"In gaming, complete import substitution has not occurred yet. But we are hopeful this will be corrected in the 3-5 year horizon. This is mainly because games are a far more capital-intensive challenge, meaning transitioning an entire generation to Russian games is exponentially more difficult than working even with film and series. But practice shows that nothing is impossible," stated Goreslavsky.
In recent years, the IRI has been actively funding game developers. In the summer of 2025, the organization announced that it plans to spend 3.4 billion rubles over the next three years to support Russian game development.
One of the most well-known projects released with the organization's support is "Smuta." It is known that the IRI allocated at least 490 million rubles to its creators. The IRI also funded the development of "Saturn," "Frontline," "Sparta 2035," and many other games.