Research: In 2025, the volume of the Russian gaming market will amount to 200 billion rubles, with a third coming from Moscow
The company Strategy Partners, alongside the Agency of Creative Industries (ACI) and the RVI Association, conducted a large-scale study of the Russian gaming market, with a particular focus on Moscow.
Below are the key figures.
- The Russian market is steadily growing. It is forecasted that its volume will reach 200 billion rubles this year—7% more than in 2024.
- Experts identified mobile games as the main growth driver, but it won't stop there. The development of the indie segment in the country and increased interest from Russian gamers in projects by domestic teams will also play a role. Additionally, the market will grow partly due to experiments with blockchain games and import substitution, as many gaming companies have transitioned to Russian solutions for distribution and monetization.
- According to approximate estimates, in 2025 Moscow will account for 17-35% of the total volume of the Russian gaming market. This amounts to 33-70 billion rubles.
- In 2024, the gaming industry's contribution to Moscow's economy amounted to 37.7 billion rubles. Of this, 17.2 billion rubles was the direct contribution to Moscow's gross regional product, 15.8 billion rubles were indirect effects from companies' expenditures, and another 4.7 billion rubles were induced effects from employees' spending.
- The top three Moscow gaming companies by revenue in 2024 were Lesta Games (25 billion rubles), Astrum Entertainment (9.4 billion rubles), and Innova (2.85 billion rubles).
- Currently, Moscow gaming companies employ 5-10 thousand full-time employees. Including freelancers and the self-employed, the number of game development specialists increases to approximately 40-50 thousand.
- The average salary of Moscow developers is 170-180 thousand rubles.
- In the report, experts also provided an updated forecast for the Russian gaming market for 2030. They shared a previous one a year ago. Their estimates have become more optimistic. While analysts previously expected the market size in 2023 to range from 203 to 327 billion rubles, they now anticipate it to be between 213 and 371 billion rubles.