- The Russian President has devised plans for an in-house gaming ecosystem.
- These plans are being led by the prime minister.
- Building a system from scratch could take up to a decade.
The Russian government has been directed by Vladimir Putin to investigate the possibility of developing several domestic consoles. The devices are likely intended to compete with the likes of PlayStation and Xbox in the Russian market.
President Putin has already authorized a list of nine orders to be followed up on after chairing a conference in late January that was centered on the socioeconomic development of the Kaliningrad area.
Among them is the development of a whole digital entertainment platform, which bears a striking resemblance to what Valve has produced in the last several years.
Why it matters: Russia’s end goal seems to be an ecosystem of in-house producers across all industries to ensure it remains unchallenged.
Additionally, the Russian President gave the go-ahead to plan a proper cloud and operating system for the consoles.
The prime minister of Russia was appointed as the person in charge of these plans, and their deadline is June 15, 2024. A spokesman for the Kremlin affirmed that the directives aim to strengthen the domestic gaming market in Russia.
The Russian-language newspaper Kommersant has also looked into the viability and has talked to certain developers already in the country. Their reasoning essentially boils down to this: building a system from the ground up may take five to ten years.
Despite this effort, it would be about fifteen years behind other systems in terms of technology.
If the Russian government hopes to compete with established console manufacturers, such as Microsoft and Sony, it will undoubtedly have its work cut out for it.
With the recent leaks of Microsoft’s next Xbox Series X model and the PS5 Pro, it appears that both firms are moving full steam ahead with their new consoles, even if the next generation is a few years away.
Still, if the sanctions last for years to come, a homegrown console would be far more likely, given that prior sanctions forced Microsoft and Sony to restrict the sale of their goods in Russia.
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