Video games in Russia
Video games in Russia encompass the development, distribution, and cultural impact of gaming within the country. The industry traces its roots to the Soviet era, with globally influential contributions like Alexey Pajitnov's Tetris, created in 1984.[1][2][3] Since then, the Russian gaming industry has continued to grow, having one of the largest gaming audiences worldwide, with an estimated 65.2 million players by 2018.[4] Despite challenges such as widespread piracy, international sanctions, and government censorship, video games play a important role of Russian culture and economy, driven by esports and local game development.
History
The history of gaming in Russia began in the early 1980s in the Soviet Union, when various personal computers such as the Atari 400/800, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum 48/128 were brought to the country from the United States, Europe, Japan, and China.[1] At the same time, a local brand, Electronika, released a series of portable game consoles which were mostly clones of Nintendo products. By the mid 80s, Soviet programmers and enthusiasts began trying to develop their own games.[5][6] The most famous Russian game designer of this era is Alexey Pajitnov, who is best known for creating Tetris.[2][3]
The Dendy, a Taiwanese hardware clone of the Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System, was released for the Russian market in 1992.[7] By 1994, over one million Dendy units were sold in Russia.[8] The Dendy went on to sell a total of 6 million units in Russia and other post-Soviet states.[7]
In 2010, Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of Russia encouraged Russian video game companies to make video games that were deemed "patriotic," as it was felt that foreign video game publishers made games that were anti-Russian.[9]
In 2024, Valve agreed to take down all banned video game content from its Russian store on Steam in alignment with Russia’s attempts to increase censorship.[10] Russia also banned Discord for allowing “terrorist and extremist activities” to take place on its platform.[11]
Demographics and Popularity
Russia is one of the world’s largest gaming markets, ranking 11th globally in 2018 with 65.2 million players spending $1.7 billion on video games.[4] Among the online population, PC gaming dominates, with 60% of men and 39% of women playing the game. while mobile gaming is nearly evenly split between genders, with 52% of men and 46% of women participating.[4] Console gaming remains less popular, with participation rates of 21% for men and 13% for women.[4]
In 2019, data from VTsIOM revealed additional insights into gaming habits in Russia.[12] One in five Russians actively played video games. [12] Another 33% had played in the past but no longer did, while 48% said they had never played.[12] Participation was highest among younger age groups, particularly those aged 18–24 and 25–34. However, older demographics in ages 45–59 and over 60 were more likely to play every day.[12]
World of Tanks, a Belarusian-made battle simulator, was the most popular game, named by 11% of respondents. [12] Other favorites included the classic card game Solitaire (7%) and the Russian-made mobile game Pirate Treasures (4%).[12]
While many Russians play video games, most Russians are reluctant to spend money on it.[12] Nearly 79% of respondents said they would not pay for games, subscriptions, or gaming equipment. [12] Among those willing to spend, the average monthly expenses they are willing to make was 959 rubles ($14.30).[12]
Popular Culture
Language
The Russian gaming sphere has developed its own set of terms that are widely used across various games through methods such as abbreviation, calquing, and prefixing.[13] In addition, since English is the predominant language in games, gamers use these to further their English knowledge both passively and actively.[13] One such example is the usage of “забуститься” (zaboostit'sya), a term used in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds that means “boost” or climb up a hill in-game.[13]
Regulation
Digital Isolation
As of 2022, there is a significant digital divide between Russia and the global Internet community in terms of operating systems and social media platforms.[14] The removal of support for operating systems by Apple, Samsung, and Microsoft has limited the availability of new game releases, updates, and online multiplayer functionalities, further isolating Russian gamers from the global gaming community.[14] The Russian government also limits access to YouTube, Instagram, and X, claiming a lack of oversight.[15] Some players note feeling stifled by the government’s crackdown on freedom of speech, expressing that censorship has stripped them of the opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and build a sense of community.[15]
Government
Russian authorities are using specific scenes in video games to spread propaganda through “trending” social media networks such as Vkontakte, Russia’s most popular.[16] For example, the government circulated videos of Minecraft players re-enacting the Battle of Soledar from the invasion of Ukraine on social media networks.[16] The government also boosted engagement on content from World of Tanks, where players celebrated the defeat of Nazi Germany with a recreation of the Soviet Union’s parade of tanks in Moscow in 1945.[16] The government subsidizes Russian game designers who develop patriotic video games, such as Cutting Edge, which features a clash between distinctly advantageous Russian troops and American troops.[17]
Piracy
The International Intellectual Property Alliance 2009 report estimated 282.1 million in market value losses due to video game piracy in Russia.[18] Because many retailers upcharge titles, many Russian gamers resort to purchasing pirated games.[19] In 2022, around 69% of Russian gamers reportedly pirated a video game.[20] Pirated video game content is often accessed through BitTorrent indexing sites and Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) websites on mobile devices.[21] Many internet game cafes and large retail chains also openly carry pirated video game products.[21] Russian law enforcement monitors piracy through raids of disc plants, warehouses, and businesses. [21] However, investigations may take months to over a year due to a large volume of cases and government understaffing.[21]
Arcades
The first Soviet arcade game machines did not contain digital graphics, and the games' interface had to be emulated with help of physical objects.[22][23][24]
Although many Soviet arcade games were simply copied and adapted from Western and European nations, games that did not exemplify Soviet ideals, such as fantasy games, were prohibited.[25][26]
Markets
The video game market in Russia has steadily increased since 2018[20]. In 2020, the volume of the market increased by an estimated 35% while 2021 saw a substantially smaller increase of 7.7%.[20][27]
Impacts of Russo-Ukrainian War
Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many game developers left the video game industry as well as many business partners finding it difficult to interact with Russian companies amidst the ongoing sanctions.[20][28] This led to the market decreasing in volume by 80% with many Russians opting to pirate games to circumvent the sales bans.[20] The Russian government attempted to support the video game industry during this time by distributing grants to game developers.[20][27] One of the motivations behind these grants was to promote patriotic values in video games.[29]
Esports
Growth of Esports
Russia has emerged as one of esports markets, second only to Sweden.[30] Major tournaments attract large crowds, with fans paying up to 9,900 rubles ($175) for three-day passes.[30] Esports infrastructure includes 3,000 computer clubs operating across 89 regions and growing by 15–20% annually.[31]
Esports was officially recognized by the Russian government in 2001.[32] Although it was temporarily removed from the National Sport Register in 2006 due to administrative changes, it was reinstated in 2016 [32][33]. In By 2017, esports was granted equal status with other officially recognized sports.[33]
Virtus.Pro, one of Russia’s professional esports teams, has earned nearly $9 million in Dota 2 prize money and led the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region during the 2017/2018 Dota Pro Circuit season.[34] The team also won the regional League of Legends championship against M-19, securing a prize of 1.5 million rubles ($26,300).[30] Virtus.Pro invested in infrastructure, including bootcamps and game houses, to support player development and Russia's growing esports scene.[30]
The Russian Esports Federation (RESF)
The Russian Esports Federation (RESF), established in 2000, has organized over 1,000 competitions and awarded more than 300 million rubles in prize money.[31] In 2024 alone, the federation conducted up to seven online tournaments daily.[31] Major events under the Russian Esports Federation (RESF) include the Russian eSports Cup, the Championship of Russia, Russian Cup, RESF Open, BRICS Championship, Open Esports Student Games (OXY), All-Russian Student Esports League, National Student Esports League, School Mindsports & Esports League, Russian Electronic Football Cup, and the Electronic Football Championship of Russia.[31] The Russian eSport Cup featured games like Dota 2, League of Legends, FIFA, and Hearthstone.[33] Also, the National Student eSport League brought together university teams from across Russia, involving 102 teams from 91 universities.[33]
Esports Media and Trends
Unlike in countries such as China and South Korea, which heavily emphasize video streaming, esports media in Russia is shaped by a hybrid model that blends traditional text-based journalism with video content.[32] Platforms like Cybersport.ru exemplify this approach, having over 43 million visitors annually and generating approximately 200 million views.[32] Russian esports media also incorporates "creolization," a strategy that blends verbal and visual elements to enhance audience engagement.[34] This includes features such as hashtags, hyperlinks, sponsor logos, and interactive components like memes and call-to-action buttons.[34]
War Influence in Games
- IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad: Simulates airplanes on the Eastern Front of World War II.[35]
- The Truth About 9th Company: Simulates the Battle for Hill 3234 from the Soviet War in Afghanistan. The 2008 World Russian People’s Council deemed the game effective in promoting patriotism and educating younger generations on Russian military history.[35]
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War: Before launch, the game was advertised with clips of real footage from the Cold War, including a teaser voiced over by KBG defector Yuri Bezmenov and news clips from the 1960s.[36]
- Company of Heroes II: Based on the Eastern Front of World War II . The release was censored for being “anti-Russian” and portraying Russian soldiers as war criminals.[37]
Russian game developers
![[icon]](/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2020) |
| Company | Location | Founded |
|---|---|---|
| 1C Company | Moscow | 1991 |
| Eagle Dynamics | Moscow (Founded)
Switzerland (Current) |
1991 |
| GFI Russia | Zelenograd | 1996 |
| Nival | Saint Petersburg (Founded) | 1996 |
| Saber Interactive | Saint Petersburg (Founded),
Fort Lauderdale, FL (HQ) Multiple offices (Worldwide) |
2001 |
| Ice-Pick Lodge | Moscow | 2002 |
| Nevosoft | Saint Petersburg (Founded)
Moscow (Other offices) |
2002 |
| Targem Games | Yekaterinburg | 2002 |
| Unigine Corp | Tomsk (Founded)
Clemency, Luxembourg (HQ) Multiple offices (Worldwide) |
2005 |
| Allods Team | Moscow, Voronezh, Bishkek | 2006 |
| ZeptoLab | Moscow
Barcelona (HQ) |
2008 |
| Pixonic | Moscow (Founded)
Limassol (HQ) Multiple offices (RU & Europe) |
2009 |
| Lazy Bear Games
(Ex-GameJam. Renamed in 2015.) |
Saint Petersburg (Founded) | 2010 |
| Alawar | Novosibirsk | 2011 |
| Brainy Studio | Perm | 2013 |
| Hungry Couch Games | Moscow | 2019 |
| Moon Moose | Saint Petersburg | 2019 |
| SoftLab-NSK Ltd.
(See RU wiki) [lower-alpha 1] |
Novosibirsk | 1988 |
| G5 Entertainment AB | Russia (Founded)
Stockholm (HQ) Multiple offices (RU, UA & worldwide) |
2001 |
| Deus Craft | Novosibirsk | 2003 |
| Game Factory Interactive Ltd.
(Founder & as developer) |
Moscow (Founded)
Multiple offices (Worldwide) |
2003 |
| Sigma Team
(See Simple wiki) |
Novosibirsk | 2003 |
| Katauri Interactive
(See RU wiki) |
Vladivostok (Founded)
Kaliningrad (Current) |
2004 |
| KranX Productions
(See RU wiki) |
Kaliningrad | 2004 |
| Haggard Games | Rostov-on-Dov | 2005 |
| Trickster Games | Russia | 2005 |
| CarX Technologies | Moscow (Founded)
Multiple offices (Worldwide) |
2006 |
| Destiny.Games | Moscow | 2008 |
| 101XP.com
(Also online games) |
Moscow (Founded) | 2009 |
| Game Garden | Moscow (Founded)
San Francisco (HQ) |
2009 |
| Colibri Games [lower-alpha 2] | Russia (Founded)[38][39][40] | 2010 |
| Flashback Games | Saint Petersburg [42][43][44][45] | 2010 |
| 8floor Ltd | Russia
London (HQ) |
2011 |
| NeoDinamika | Kaliningrad | 2011 |
| Clarus Victoria | Moscow (Founded)
Multiple RU areas |
2013 |
| Four Quarters | Russia | 2013 |
| LLC Blini Games | Saint Petersburg | 2013 |
| Tequilabyte Studio | Tomsk | 2013 |
| Tortuga Team | Kaliningrad | 2013 |
| Do My Best Games | Moscow | 2014 |
| Fair Games Studio
(Also GD Forge) |
Kazan | 2014 |
| Glyph Worlds | Krasnoyarsk (Founded)
UA (Another office) |
2014 |
| Nearga Team | Moscow (Founded)
Multiple offices (Worldwide) |
2014 |
| Morteshka | Perm | 2015 |
| SK Team | Moscow (Founded)
Multiple RU, UA & BY areas |
2015 |
| Ktulhu Solutions | Moscow | 2016 |
| Owlcat Games
(See RU wiki) |
Moscow
Nicosia (HQ) |
2016 |
| RtsDimon | Chelyabinsk | 2016 |
| Rumata Lab | Nizhny Novgorod | 2016 |
| Unfrozen Studio | Saint Petersburg
Limassol (HQ) |
2016 |
| Alter Games | Moscow | 2017 |
| Dark Crystal Games | Saint Petersburg (Founded)
Varna (HQ) Multiple RU areas |
2017 |
| Mighty Morgan | Saint Petersburg | 2017 |
| Mundfish | Moscow
Rockville, Maryland (Corporate) |
2017 |
| RedRuins Softworks | Moscow | 2017 |
| Tiamat Games | Moscow | 2017 |
| Wild Forest Studio | Nizhny Novgorod (Founded)
Multiple offices (Europe) |
2017 |
| Mono Studio | Samara (Founded)
Brooklyn (Office) |
2018 |
| Zelart | Volgograd | 2018[46] |
| BitLight Games | Russia | 2019 |
| Black Caviar Games | Krasnodar | 2019 |
| Rummy Games studio
(Ex-MV Games. Renamed in 2020.) |
Moscow | 2019 |
| Different Sense Games | Saint Petersburg | 2020 |
| Door 407 game studio | Zelenograd (Founded),
UK (HQ) |
2020 |
| Frozen Line | N/A | 2020 |
| Kinderril Games | Russia | 2020 |
| MadRock Games | Moscow | 2020 |
| Magic Hazard | Kyiv & Russia | 2020 |
| Mihanikus Games | Moscow | 2020 |
| Mr. Pink | Russia | 2020 |
| uglycoal | Russia | 2020 |
| Game Art Pioneers | Moscow | 2021 |
| Company | Location | Founded |
|---|---|---|
| Nikita Online | Moscow (Founded)
Rostov-on-Don (Another office) |
1991 |
| MY.GAMES
(Also casual dev) |
Moscow (Founded),
Mountain View, CA (2nd main branch) Amsterdam (HQ) Multiple offices (Worldwide) |
2009 |
| Battlestate Games | Saint Petersburg | 2012 |
| GFA Games | Moscow | 2016 |
| Company | Location | Founded |
|---|---|---|
| HeroCraft | Kaliningrad (Founded) | 2002 |
| Elephant Games | Yoshkar-Ola (Founded)
Yerevan (HQ) Multiple RU areas |
2003 |
| Ciliz Co. Ltd. | Saint Petersburg | 2006 |
| DominiGames (Smolyanskiy O.V) | Voronezh | 2006 |
| Daily Magic Productions | Seattle (HQ, Founded)
Kaliningrad (Regional) Extra office (UA) |
2009 |
| Game Insight | Moscow (Founded) | 2009 |
| Red Brix Wall | Saint Petersburg
Nicosia (HQ) |
2017 |
| Company | Location | Founded | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gameplay First LLC | Russia (Maybe Moscow) | 2018 | Co-development |
Defunct video game developers in Russia
| Company | Location | Founded | Closure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creat Studios | Saint Petersburg (Founded)
Canton, Massachusetts (HQ in 2005) United States (Another office) |
1990 | 2012-2013 (Stopped making games. Started making websites.)
2021 (Closed) |
| Lesta Studio (Till buyout by Wargaming) | Saint Petersburg | 1991 | 2011 (Buyout) |
| Russian Soft | N/A | 1991? | 1991? |
| DOCA Studios | Zelenograd | 1992? | 1997? |
| Akella | Moscow | 1993 | 2012 |
| StepGames Inc. | Moscow | 1994 | 2012 |
| K-D Lab Game Development
(See RU wiki) |
Kaliningrad | 1995 | 2012 (President also setup KranX) |
| New Media Generation | Moscow | 1995 | 2015 (Game distribution ceased in 2010) |
| S.K.I.F. (Ex-SBG Studio) | Moscow | 1996 | 2001 (Former staff setup Primal Software) |
| ITEM Multimedia, Ltd. | Moscow | 1997 | 2014 (Inactive afterwards. Studio was 1st closed in 2004, reopened in 2010.)[47] |
| Saturn Plus | Voronezh | 1997 | 2011 (Closed. Liquidated in 2016.) |
| Apeiron | Saint Petersburg | 1999 | 2010 (Inactive afterwards)[48][49] |
| Burut Creative Team | Voronezh | 1999 | 2013 |
| Elemental Games | Vladivostok | 1999 | 2015 (Some staff members moved to Katauri Interactive) |
| Russobit-M (Founder & as developer) | Moscow | 1999 | 2013 |
| Avalon Style Entertainment (Till buyout by 1C Company) | Moscow | 2000 | 2011 |
| Quazar Studio | Timashevsk | 2000 | 2009 |
| IgorLab Software | Russia | 2001 | 2012 (Inactive afterwards) |
| Primal Software | Moscow | 2001 | 2008 (Inactive afterwards. Studio was setup by former staff of S.K.I.F.)[50] |
| Revolt Games | Moscow | 2001 | 2014 (Inactive afterwards) |
| SkyRiver Studios | Samara | 2001 | 2008 (Studio lead disappeared) |
| VZ.lab | Saint Petersburg | 2002 | 2010 |
| Alawar DreamDale (known as Dream Dale until 2007) | Irkutsk (HQ), Donetsk (second studio) | 2002 | 2015? (Inactive since 2011; Donetsk studio closed in March 2014) |
| SkyFallen Entertainment | Voronezh | 2002 | 2012 |
| TrashMasters Studios (Also 'TM Studios') | Moscow | 2002 | 2012 |
| .dat media LLC | Russia | 2003 | 2011 |
| СНК-Games (Also 'SNK-Games') | Moscow (Founded)
Multiple RU areas |
2003 | 2016 |
| DTF Games
(See RU wiki) |
Saint Petersburg | 2003 | 2004 (Ceased game development after 2004. Reverted to parent company's web publication.) |
| Orion Software | Russia | 2003 | 2015 |
| SPLine Inc. | N/A | 2003 | 2012 |
| DayTerium | Kaliningrad | 2004 | 2015 (Changed to movie distribution) |
| Dynamic Pixels | Moscow | 2004 | 2019 (Team moved to Eerie Guest Studios in 2020) |
| EleFun Games | Novosibirsk | 2004 (Est.) | 2017 (Inactive afterwards) |
| IceHill Entertainment | Yekaterinburg | 2004 | 2010 |
| Litera Laboratories | Voronezh | 2004 | 2017 (Inactive afterwards) |
| World Forge | Voronezh | 2004 | 2009 |
| 4Reign Studios | Kursk | 2005 | 2009 |
| I-Jet Media (Founder & as developer) | Yekaterinburg | 2005 | 2007 |
| Phantomery Interactive
(See RU wiki) |
Saint Petersburg | 2005 | 2010 (Inactive afterwards) |
| Yard Team | Russia | 2005 | 2014[51] |
| Quant Games LLC | Moscow | 2007 | 2010 (Inactive afterwards. Studio was setup by former staff of S.K.I.F. & Primal Software)[52] |
| General Arcade | Singapore (Founded) | 2012 | 2022 (RU branch closed early 2022. Co-dev, porting services.)[53] |
| Uroboros Games | Saint Petersburg | 2016 | 2020 (Former staff setup Different Sense Games) |
| Cracked Heads Games | Yakutsk | 2017 | 2019 (Inactive afterwards) |
Video game publishers in Russia
| Company | Location | Founded | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art Vostok | Omsk (Founded)
Limassol (HQ) |
2019 | Publisher & dev. Co dev (2d/3d). |
| AtomTeam
(aka. Atent Games, Ltd) |
Tomsk (Founded)[54] | 2014 | Publisher & dev |
| Cats who play CJSC | Moscow | 2006 | Publisher & dev |
| Efril | Temryuk | 2016 | Publisher & dev |
| Flox Studios Ltd
(Ex-Snow Arc Studio Ltd in 2012 to 2015) |
Moscow (Founded)
London (Another office) |
2012 | Publisher & dev |
| HypeTrain Digital | Russia (Founded) | 2015 | Publisher |
| Innova | Moscow (Founded)
Luxembourg (HQ) |
2006 | Publisher |
| Konfa Games | Saint Petersburg | 2017 | Publisher & dev |
| LLC Noostyche | Samara | 2014 | Publisher & dev |
| META Publishing | Moscow (Founded)
Nicosia (HQ) |
2019 | Publisher |
| Moregames Entertainment | Moscow | 2005 | Publisher & dev |
| Motorsport Games | Miami (HQ)
Moscow (Dev office) Multi offices (Worldwide) |
2018 | Publisher, dev & eSports organizer |
| Nostalgames Studio | Russia (Founded) | 2014 | Publisher & dev. Ex-Kremlingames (2014-2024). |
| Playkot | Saint Petersburg (Founded)
Limassol (HQ) |
2009 | Publisher & dev. Mobile games. |
| RainStyle Games Limited | Voronezh (Founded)
Limassol (Game dev's HQ) |
2019 | Publisher & dev. Offshoot from defunct RainStyle production (2010-2022).[55] |
| Snowbird Games | Moscow | 2008 | Publisher & dev. Firm was set up by former staff of Snowball Interactive/Studios. |
| Solarsuit Games | Tomsk (Founded)
Königsberg (HQ) Multi offices (Europe) |
2018 | Publisher & dev |
| Soviet Games | N/A | 2014 | Publisher & dev (Core & mobile games) |
| Synthetic Domain | Sakhalin (Founded)
GE (HQ) |
2018 | Publisher & dev (Turn-based Tactics) |
| WallRus Group | Moscow | 2017 | Publisher & dev |
| Yandex.Games | Moscow (Founded & HQ) | 1997 (Company) | Publisher |
Defunct game publishers from Russia
| Company | Location | Founded | Defunct | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOKA Studios
(Ex-Doka in 1987 to 1997. Ex-DOKA Media in 1997 to 2005) |
Moscow | 1987 | 2001 | Publisher & former dev. Ceased publishing games in 2001. |
| IDDK Group | Moscow | 1995 | 2012 | Ceased publishing games. |
| Snowball Studios | Moscow | 1996 | 2010 | Old 1996 name: "Snowball Interactive". Publisher, dev & localizer. Merged with 1C-SoftClub. |
| Discus Games | Russia | 2000 | 2008 | Publisher, distribution & dev. Inactive afterwards.[56] |
| Media-Service 2000 | Moscow | 2000 | 2009 | Ceased games publishing in 2006 & game sales in 2008. |
| Gaijin Entertainment | Moscow & Belarus (Founded),
Other RU places (Till early 2010's) Hungary (HQ)[57] Offices in Europe & worldwide (Current) |
2002 | 2015 | Moved HQ and development staff to Hungary & other EU countries. |
| Playrix | Vologda (Founded) | 2004 | 2022 | Closed down offices in RU & BY. |
| LLC Intenzibne | Magas | 2012 | 2020 | Publisher & dev. Inactive afterwards. |
| Azur Games | Moscow (Founded) | 2016 | 2022 | Closed down offices in RU. |
Notes
- ↑ SoftLab-Nsk Ltd. is a graphics studio formed by a scientific institute. It has two functions - one for making hardware/software for multimedia & TV broadcasting; the other one for VR systems, imaging systems for training simulators and computer games. They released 4 trucking sims on Windows in 1998 to 2009, but no more new commercial game.
- ↑ Not the same as the German developer Kolibri Games
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Goodfellow, Cat (18 December 2014). "Beyond Tetris: a brief history of patriotic video gaming in Russia". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Автор "Тетриса" о простоте и гениальности своей игры". Look At Me. June 6, 2014.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Goodfellow, Cat (December 18, 2014). "Beyond Tetris: a brief history of patriotic video gaming in Russia". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Russia Games Market 2018". Archived from the original on November 29, 2020.
- ↑ "Какими были первые советские персональные компьютеры". Российская газета. 4 December 2019.
- ↑ "Советские компьютерные игры". Форум Альтернативной Истории (ФАИ).
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Приставка Dendy: Как Виктор Савюк придумал первый в России поп-гаджет" [Dendy Prefix: How Viktor Savyuk Came Up With The First Pop-gadget In Russia]. The Firm's Secret (in русский). 9 August 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
- ↑ "Полугодовые итоги по бизнесу Dendy — К "русскому Nintendo" добавилась японская Sega" [Talk of Japanese competitor Sega entering Russian market] (in Russian). Kommersant. July 19, 1994. Retrieved 2010-03-26.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
- ↑ "Russia attempts to turn the patriotic tide by funding new video games". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
- ↑ "Gaming platform Steam agrees to remove banned content in Russia, censorship agency says". The Kyiv Independent. 2024-10-15. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
- ↑ Times, The Moscow (2024-10-15). "Steam Removes Banned Content in Russia, State Regulator Says". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 12.8 Times, The Moscow (August 19, 2019). "1 in 5 Russians Are Gamers, Poll Says". The Moscow Times.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Khaibullova, Maria; Kozina, Anna (2023). "Gaming Slang: The Influence of Video Games on the Russian language". Technology and Language. 4 (1): 63–65 – via Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Satariano, Adam; Hopkins, Valerie (2022-03-07). "Russia, Blocked From the Global Internet, Plunges Into Digital Isolation". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Sonne, Paul (2025-01-31). "Kremlin Chokes YouTube Service, but Russians Find Ways Around It". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Myers, Steven Lee; Browning, Kellen (2023-07-30). "Russia Takes Its Ukraine Information War Into Video Games". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
- ↑ "Russia considering crackdown on "destructive" video games". www.intellinews.com. 2025-01-16. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
- ↑ Tsotsorin, Maxim. "Piracy and Video Games: Is There a Light at the End of the Tunnel?". www.semanticscholar.org. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
- ↑ "Welcome To Russia, Where Most Of Your Friends Are Video Game Pirates". Kotaku. Archived from the original on November 1, 2012. Retrieved 2013-05-07. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 "Computer and video games (Russian market)". TAdviser.ru. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 "RUSSIAN FEDERATION INTERNATIONAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ALLIANCE (IIPA) 2009 SPECIAL 301 REPORT ON COPYRIGHT PROTECTION AND ENFORCEMENT" (PDF). iipa.org. February 17, 2009. Retrieved April 10, 2025. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Музей советских игровых автоматов открылся на новом месте". The Village. August 11, 2011.
- ↑ "Russians recall bygone era with Soviet game museum". Reuters. June 14, 2007 – via www.reuters.com.
- ↑ "Russian video arcade captures dying culture". Salon. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
- ↑ "Video of Russia's Vintage Soviet-Era Arcade Games". Travel. 2025-04-10. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
- ↑ Winet, Kristin (2015-09-01). "The Alternate Universe of Soviet Arcade Games". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 "Mobile Games (Russian Market)". TAdviser.ru. February 3, 2025. Retrieved 2025-04-01.
- ↑ Rapoza, Kenneth. "Video Game Companies Leave Russia In Search Of 'Next Level'". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-04-03.
- ↑ "Russia considering crackdown on "destructive" video games". www.intellinews.com. 2025-01-16. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 Bodner, Matthew (2017-06-16). "Game On: Russia's Cyber Athletes Have Asian Rivals in Their Sights". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 Karakolevska, Ana (2025-03-27). "25 Years of the Russian Esports Federation | IESF Member". IESF. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 Chernyavskaya, Alina G. (2021-12-15). "ESports: a Review of Foreign and Russian Media Resources". RUDN Journal of Studies in Literature and Journalism. 26 (2): 325–330. doi:10.22363/2312-9220-2021-26-2-325-330. ISSN 2312-9247.
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 Supervisor95196 (2017-06-26). "Russian e-Sports Federation, accreditation in the Ministry of Sport". IESF. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 Boguslavskaya, Vera (2020). "Visualisation of digital media discourses: a case study of Russian language esports media" (PDF). SKASE Journal of Theoretical Linguistics. 17 (5) – via Gale Literature Resource Center i.
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 Goodfellow, Cat. "Patriot games: a brief history of Russian video gaming". New East Digital Archive. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
- ↑ Kim, Matt (2020-08-19). "Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War Confirmed". IGN. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
- ↑ Brooks, Jeffrey; Dralyuk, Boris (April 2016). "Parahistory: History at Play in Russia and Beyond". Slavic Review. 75 (1). doi:10.5612/slavicreview.75.1.77. ISSN 0037-6779.
- ↑ "Colibri's dev". Indie DB. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ↑ "Colibri's dev". Mod DB. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ↑ "Colibri's FILE Festival page". Electronic Language International Festival. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ↑ "Colibri dev's Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ↑ "Flashback Games' About Us". Flashback Games' official website. Archived from the original on January 9, 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Flashback Games founder's Steam bio". Steam. Valve. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ↑ "Flashback Games' OGDB page". Online Games-Datenbank (in Deutsch). Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Flashback's Panzer Corps 2 review". 4Players (in Deutsch). Funke Digital GmbH. Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Ellie Harisova (21 December 2020). "(Zelart) "There Is No Light: Environment Design in a Dark 2D Action-Adventure"". 80 Level. Archived from the original on October 23, 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "ITEM Multimedia's official website". www.item2m.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Apeiron's MobyGames bio". MobyGames. Atari SA. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- ↑ "Apeiron's official website". apeiron-games.ru. Archived from the original on March 17, 2010. Retrieved 12 September 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Primal Software's official website". www.primal-soft.com. Archived from the original on March 10, 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Yard Team' official website". www.yardteam.org. Archived from the original on January 28, 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Quant Games' official website". www.quantgames.com. Archived from the original on July 20, 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "General Arcade's official site". generalarcade.com. Archived from the original on February 14, 2022. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
- ↑ Kompanets, Alexander. "AtomTeam founder's LinkedIn bio". LinkedIn. Microsoft. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ↑ "RainStyle production's official website". rainstyle.ru. Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Discus Games' official website". www.dgames.ru. Archived from the original on March 19, 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Hungarian translation: Gamers have always been the soul of video game development". 24.hu (in magyar). September 18, 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
