A group of Russian companies has submitted their suggestions to the Russian State Duma regarding changes that should be made to the bill, which regulates the gaming industry in the country. In their view, a significant portion of the requirements needs to be changed.
Among the authors of these proposals are gaming associations APRIORI and AII, which include companies like VK, Astrum Entertainment, and Innova. MTS and the law firm "EBR" also shared their comments.
There are many amendments to the bill. The document reviewed by the App2Top portal consists of 40 pages.
Here are the main suggestions:
- change several terms and even the title of the bill to avoid "harmful" analogies with gambling;
- remove requirements that mandate game distribution services to always maintain access to projects. The authors of the document note that it is impossible to comply with these requirements. Hacker attacks, technical issues, and even game patches can lead to failures;
- make the labeling mechanism more flexible. For instance, the proposed descriptors should be "synchronized" with foreign ratings like PEGI and ESRB, to prevent foreign companies from having to relabel content;
- establish a special commission for video game expertise rather than assigning it to accredited experts. The commission should include representatives from gaming companies. Additionally, developers should be given the opportunity to contest the experts' decisions in a pretrial manner;
- make the provision regarding the authorization of Russian players mandatory only for companies with a legal entity in Russia and entrepreneurs who are Russian citizens;
- retain IT tax benefits for gaming companies.
It should be noted that the company "Buka" previously prepared its comments on the bill. More details about their suggestions can be read in this material.