Employment in the Russian game development industry has almost returned to the levels of 2020

During a recent press conference, the Creative Industries Agency (CIA) not only announced the revenue of Russian gaming companies but also shared many other interesting facts, including the total number of game development specialists in the country.

The CIA found that by the end of 2025, 11,800 people were employed in the domestic game development industry, which is 11% more than in 2024.

A third of employees in Russian gaming companies are artists and animators. Another 21% are game designers, and 16% are programmers.

Although 11,800 game development specialists is a solid number, just a few years ago employment was significantly higher. There was a sharp outflow of personnel in 2022. According to the CIA, the number of developers in Russia decreased from 17,000 to 13,100 back then. In 2023, the decline continued (employment dropped to 9,200 people), and only then did the situation gradually begin to improve.

As a result, the number of developers in the country is now approximately equal to 2020 when there were 12,300. However, the CIA expects employment to continue growing, projecting that by 2035, 19,000 people will be working on games in Russia.

Below are more statements from the CIA:

• In 2025, there were 623 game companies in Russia, which is 2.2 times more than in 2019;
• Approximately 500 companies are game developers and publishers;
• Last year, Russian studios released 9,200 games;
• The budget for almost all domestic new releases in 2025 is less than 1 million dollars. Only two games had a budget ranging from 1 to 50 million dollars. One of these mid-budget games is Broken Arrow by Steel Balalaika studio.