According to RT, President Putin mandated an assessment of domestic game console production, both tethered and handheld, earlier in the week. The directive entailed a deadline set for June 15, 2024. Additionally, the president urged the Cabinet to explore the creation of a proprietary operating system and a game delivery cloud service, as announced on the Kremlin’s official website. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, clarified that this initiative is aimed at bolstering Russia’s local game development sector.

In the wake of Russia’s military actions in Ukraine in 2022, major gaming enterprises, including Sony, Microsoft, EA, Activision Blizzard, Nintendo, withdrew their operations from Russia due to geopolitical tensions.

PC Mag conveyed that according to the Russian newspaper Kommersant, reports indicate Putin has possibly designated VK, a Russian tech company, to implement this venture. Nonetheless, Kommersant also points out that industry insiders argue against Russia’s ability to independently produce consoles rivaling PlayStation and Xbox, suggesting that building such technology from the ground up could take a decade. A more feasible strategy, according to the newspaper, might involve Russia importing gaming hardware from China to develop a handheld device akin to Valve’s Steam Deck.