Study: more than a quarter of gamers in Russia buy games through intermediaries

After February 2022, Steam and other major foreign stores stopped accepting payments from Russia. XYZ School looked at how it affected Russian gamers.

▪️81% of XYZ School gamers surveyed confirmed that it has become more difficult for them to buy games. Most experienced difficulties buying games on Steam (56%) and PS Store (20%).

The most popular way to circumvent restrictions is to purchase keys through intermediaries. It is chosen by 27% of the surveyed gamers. Also, the top 3 methods included replenishing the store’s wallet through third-party services (26%) and changing the region / using a VPN (19%).

41% of gamers spent no more than 5 thousand rubles buying games using similar methods. 20% of gamers spent 5-10 thousand rubles, 10% of gamers — 10-20 thousand rubles, and 5% of gamers — more than 20 thousand rubles.