More than 100 million Russians play video games, with their total spending amounting to 175 billion rubles a year, according to a study
The Organization for the Development of the Video Game Industry (ODVGI), the company "IFSI," and the research center NAFI sought to understand the state of the gaming market in Russia. To do this, they surveyed 4,600 people from various parts of the country.
"Smuta"
Note: The document with the research results is extensive (176 pages). We've extracted the key data concerning all of Russia, but the report also contains information on individual million-plus cities.
- According to the experts' estimates, 106-110 million residents of Russia over the age of seven play video games at least occasionally — that's 78-81% of the country's population. However, only 17% of them identify as gamers.
- Among men, 82% are gamers, while among women, it is 69%.
- The age breakdown is as follows: 93% of 14-17 year-olds are gamers, 90% of 18-24 year-olds, 77% of 25-34 year-olds, 78% of 35-44 year-olds, 77% of 45-54 year-olds, and 65% of those aged 55 and over.
- Volgograd has a higher percentage of gamers (in percentage terms) than any other Russian million-plus city — 83%.
- In the past year, Russians spent 175 billion rubles on games.
- The average annual expenditure of paying gamers is 5,100 rubles per person.
- One in five gamers in Russia made in-game purchases at least once over the past year. Other common expenses include subscriptions (10%), purchasing digital and physical copies of games (9% and 7%, respectively), and buying game passes (6%).
- 25% of Russian gamers engage in piracy.
- Steam is the most popular digital game store, used by 41% of Russian gamers. Following are RuStore (27%), Google Play (25%), VK Play (23%), App Store (21%), Epic Games Store (16%), PlayStation Store (10%), and Microsoft Store (10%).
- 34% of Russian gamers have been spending less time playing games over the past year. For 57% of people, a single gaming session usually lasts no more than an hour.
- The majority of Russian gamers (62%) prefer to play on mobile devices. Another 30% choose PCs, 6% opt for stationary consoles, and 2% for portable consoles.
- On PCs, the most in-demand genres among Russian gamers are shooters (37%), puzzles (31%), and racing games (26%). On consoles, it's RPGs (36%), racing games (32%), and adventure games (32%). On mobile devices, puzzles (54%), strategies (19%), and simulators (17%) are most popular.
- 57% of Russians are familiar with PC games from domestic or conditionally Russian-associated developers. The most famous projects are World of Tanks, War Thunder, Atomic Heart, "Smuta," and "Space Rangers 2: Dominators."
- 49% of Russian gamers familiar with the aforementioned games have played them.
- 62% of Russians believe that video games can help develop useful skills. Meanwhile, 55% of Russians do not deny that video games can cause addiction, which can interfere with normal life.