Associations of video game developers APRIORI and RVI have written an industry development plan for the government

Two Russian associations of video game developers, APRIORI and RVI, have prepared proposals for the government on the development of the industry in the coming years. The first association focuses on educational programs and the replacement of foreign software. The second is more concerned with economic problems: they propose to launch preferential lending to studios and mechanisms for promoting games on social networks. Lobbyists are unanimous in the idea of ​​studying the financial performance and impact of video games on the audience: this data is needed to “protect the reputation of the industry in the public field” and attract investment. Now, market participants admit, there is virtually no analytical information about it.

“Kommersant” got acquainted with the “Action Plan for the development of the high-tech direction “Video Game Industry””, prepared by the Association of Game Operations and Development Professionals (APRIORI, it includes VK, Astrum, Innova, etc.). According to two Kommersant sources in the market, the document was sent for approval in December to the Ministry of Digital Development, as well as to a number of companies. “We have developed a draft version of the road map; it is now under discussion with major players in the Russian market. The document was also sent to the Ministry of Digital Development for consultation with ministry experts,” Alexander Mikheev, head of APRIORI, confirmed to Kommersant. The Ministry of Digital Development did not answer Kommersant.

Some of the initiatives in the document are devoted to staffing the industry. Thus, APRIORI proposes to create a rating of existing educational programs in the field of game development, to develop curricula in the areas of “game design”, “game graphics”, “game development”, etc. In the “Technology” block, the association writes about the need to release an engine for mobile games, create a platform for placing orders for the development of projects for export, etc.

The Organization for the Development of the Video Game Industry (RVI, among the founders is the founder of Kanobu Gadzhi Makhtiev, co-founder of PvP.Tools Vasily Ovchinnikov, General Director of Hobby World Mikhail Akulov, etc.) told Kommersant that they had prepared their own package of proposals for the development of the industry, which by the end of the year they will be sent to the Ministry of Digital Development and the Ministry of Economy. The document (available to Kommersant) lists mainly economic support measures. These include preferential lending to large studios, the creation of a specialized venture fund and mechanisms for promoting domestic video games in Russian social networks.

The authors of both concepts agree on one issue – the lack of research, both on the current state of the industry and its future, and on the impact of video games on users. In particular, APRIORI proposes conducting annual research on the topic of “the impact of video games on children and adults.” RVI also considers it necessary to conduct an annual analysis of the state of the Russian video game market, foreign regulatory practices and promising markets.

Now in Russia there is practically no research on the impact of video games on the audience, because of this the industry “cannot defend itself from attacks in the public field,” explains Kommersant’s interlocutor at APRIORI, who participated in the preparation of the document: “Relatively speaking, after any tragedy with With the school shooting, we see public accusations that video games are to blame for the situation, this negatively affects the image of the industry. The lack of reliable scientific data does not give us the opportunity to build a counterargument.”

The lack of economic data on the state of the industry (indicators on market volume and segmentation, ARPU, size of the paying audience for games, etc.), Kommersant’s source adds, hinders the attraction of investments.

There is virtually no data on the current state of the Russian market right now, agrees the head of the RVI Vasily Ovchinnikov. “We approached Russian and foreign analysts with a proposal to prepare a study on how foreign markets have grown due to the flow of Russian users into them. We received refusals due to the fact that analytical companies cannot develop methodologies for calculating indicators,” he explains. “Only by receiving real and detailed indicators of the state of the industry and audience can the industry plan its development. Otherwise we will continue to move blindly.”

Nikita Korolev