The Moscow Exchange aims to engage game developers in an IPO
Russian gaming companies are in no hurry to conduct initial public offerings (IPOs) on the stock market. The Moscow Exchange hopes to change this and intends to encourage them to enter the public arena.
“World of Ships”
These plans were revealed by Natalia Loginova, Director of the Issuer Relations Department of the Moscow Exchange, at the "Media Days" seminar.
As Loginova pointed out, game developers are quite well-represented on stock exchanges in other countries. For example, over a hundred gaming companies have conducted IPOs in Poland alone, and about 30 in the United States. Considering that there are 173 studios and publishers in Russia as of 2025, there could also be significant demand for IPOs among them.
"We have many good, interesting developers who have cash flows and talented, creative teams. We want them to be able to raise capital in the stock market for their growth," said Loginova.
According to Loginova, the Moscow Exchange is already in discussion with a certain Russian game association, some of whose members are potentially capable of going public. The name of this association is not specified, as there are several in Russia.
Furthermore, the Moscow Exchange plans to create a council within the "Innovation and Investment Market" sector that will focus specifically on the gaming industry. This council will include game development specialists who will help the exchange establish criteria for selecting potential issuers.
Currently, any company wishing to conduct an IPO on the Moscow Exchange must meet at least three requirements: they must have been in operation for at least three years, have a revenue exceeding 1 billion rubles, and plan to raise a minimum of 300 million rubles through the share issuance. Not every developer meets these criteria. According to Smart Ranking agency data, in 2024, only eight companies managed to surpass the billion-ruble revenue threshold, among them "Lesta Games," Astrum Entertainment, and CarX Technologies. The situation may have changed somewhat by 2026, but likely not drastically.