This instruction was given by Russian President Vladimir Putin to the government following a meeting on the socio-economic development of the Kaliningrad region.
"To consider the issue of organizing the production of stationary and portable video game consoles and game consoles, as well as creating an operating system and a cloud—based system for delivering games and programs to users," the list of instructions on the Kremlin's website says.
Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, was appointed responsible for the execution of the order. It must be completed by June 15, 2024.
There are no further details in the document.
Recall that the largest console manufacturers Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo curtailed their activities in Russia in 2022. Soon after, their consoles were included in the list of goods allowed for parallel import into the country.
In December 2023, Putin already approved a number of instructions affecting the gaming market. In particular, he instructed to classify video games, check content for compliance with laws and keep records of financial transactions in video games from foreign developers.