By the end of 2024, it was announced that the upcoming Russian gaming console would be equipped with an “Elbrus” processor. It was initially assumed that one of the existing processor models would be chosen for the console, but it did not satisfy the requirements of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The APRIORI Association, the Internet Development Institute (IRI), and the legal company “EBR” want to find out what Russian developers think about support for the game development industry in the country. They have launched a special survey.

This morning, on March 10th, it became known that the Institute for Internet Development (IID) proposed that BRICS countries collaborate to regulate the gaming industry. Anton Gorelkin, a member of the Russian State Duma and Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Information Policy, commented on this idea in his Telegram channel.

The Internet Development Institute (IRI) believes that BRICS countries should collectively engage in regulating the gaming industry. This is stated in a recent study by the organization, reviewed by our colleagues at Forbes.

The authors of the bill regulating the gaming industry in Russia show little interest in the opinions of independent developers. This is the perspective of former Moscow City Duma deputy Yelena Yanchuk. She decided to conduct her own survey among indie teams.

Deputy Head of Roskomnadzor, Vadim Subbotin, shared in an interview with TASS that the agency supports the December draft law on video games, at least the part concerning the necessity of game labeling.

The discussion surrounding the gaming law in Russia continues. The Video Gaming Industry Development Organization (VGIDO) proposed at a meeting in the State Duma to divide the December bill proposal into two separate laws, one of which they are prepared to handle personally.

European authorities have adopted the 16th package of sanctions against Russia. The App2Top editorial team reviewed the documents on the Council of the European Union website and did not find the previously promised ban on the supply of gaming consoles to the country.

Forbes has compiled a list of the Russian internet companies with the highest market value at the beginning of 2025. This year, “Lesta Games” — the owner of the games “World of Warships,” “World of Tanks,” and Tanks Blitz — made it into the top ten.

Anton Gorelkin is a State Duma deputy and one of the authors of the bill “On the Development and Distribution of Video Games in the Russian Federation.” He shared his thoughts on the proposed amendments in his Telegram channel.

At the end of last year, Russian legislators proposed mandating games with an authorization option to offer several choices for Russian gamers — such as authorization via phone number, through the Gosuslugi service, or using biometric data. The sociological agency “Veber” discovered through a survey that Russians themselves do not support this idea.

Proposals for refining the much-discussed bill “On the Activity of Developing and Distributing Video Games in the Territory of the Russian Federation” continue to pour into the State Duma. Recently, the Organization for the Development of the Video Game Industry (ODVGI) sent lawmakers its amendments.

XYZ School analyzed the state of game piracy in Russia in 2024, reports the newspaper “Vedomosti” citing the research.

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.

Recently, “Buka” presented a list of amendments and recommendations for the draft law “On the Activities of Developing and Distributing Video Games in the Russian Federation,” which was submitted for consideration to the State Duma on December 12 by a group of deputies and senators led by Anton Gorelkin. The App2Top editorial team spoke with Alexander Tebuev, CEO of “Buka,” about why the company prepared comments and whether they will be considered by lawmakers.

Last year, residents of Russia spent 12% more on games from Google Play and the App Store than in 2023, reports the newspaper “Vedomosti,” citing data from the analytics company Sensor Tower. In total, their expenditures amounted to $247.2 million.

Last year, Russians spent 29.5% more on purchasing consoles than in 2023, according to estimates by the retail chain “M.Video-Eldorado.” The company calculated that their total spending reached 31.67 billion rubles.

The analytical platform AppMetrica told the news media App2Top that between December 28 and January 8, there were “60 million anonymized identifiers” recorded in games within Russia.

The European Union authorities plan to include PlayStation and Xbox consoles in the next package of sanctions against Russia. This was reported by the Financial Times, citing a statement from Kaja Kallas, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.