Video games industry in Russia - statistics & facts
Russia has the fifth-largest revenue from digital video games in Europe, standing at over two billion U.S. dollars in 2023. The market faced an exodus of Western publishers in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Companies like Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, CD Project, Game Insight, and Rovio suspended their operations in the country. As a result, the Russian video games industry lost around 36 percent of its revenue in 2022; however, it was expected to increase gradually in the coming years and reach 1.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2029.
Following a decrease after the exit of several international publishers, the Russian gaming market is expected to grow in the following years, with online and mobile gaming projected to continue expanding and attracting new users.
Key segments of the Russian video games market
Online games lead the market with an estimated revenue of 750 million Russian rubles in 2024. Almost half of Russians play games on PCs and laptops, one of the highest shares worldwide. The domestic game development industry was mostly represented in the second-leading mobile segment, with major publishers including KamaGames and MyTona. My.Games, previously owned by VK, was sold to Alexander Chachava, Leta Capital's managing partner, in 2022. Also in that year, Sberbank closed its gaming unit SberGames reportedly because of the sanctions.Which gaming apps are popular in Russia?
Casual games were the most popular genre of mobile games in Russia, accounting for more than 40 percent of the total time spent on gaming apps. Royal Match, a casual free-to-play (F2P) game published by Dream Games from Turkey, was the highest-earning mobile game based on in-app revenue in 2023. Other popular mobile games were Gardenscapes and Homescapes developed by Playrix, a company headquartered in Ireland and founded by Russian brothers Igor and Dmitry Bukhman.Russian game purchasing behavior
Most Russians purchased video games once every six months or more rarely, while the share of those who spent money on new games once a month was below 20 percent, according to data from 2022. In total, 16 percent of Russians downloaded paid games, while 14 percent made in-game purchases. To acquire hard copies of physical games, most customers went to an e-commerce platform Amazon or electronic retailers Eldorado and DNS.Following a decrease after the exit of several international publishers, the Russian gaming market is expected to grow in the following years, with online and mobile gaming projected to continue expanding and attracting new users.
