Column by Nikita Korolev on the prospects of the video game market

During the session “Russian Game Development and Its Development Trends”, which took place at SPIEF, industry participants were told in plain text that they should not expect investments from the state. If only simply because they do not need it, officials say. “There is everything to ensure that projects develop not at the expense of state investments,” said Maxim Parshin, deputy head of the Ministry of Digital Development.

It may seem that in the case of game development, the authorities acted in the same way as with software developers, who were first promised grants under the ICC and CCR mechanisms, and then, realizing that there was not enough money for everyone, offered non-financial support mechanisms.

But here the situation is different: the state had, has and seems to have money to support video game developers. So, in an interview with RBC, the head of the Internet Development Institute (IRI), Alexei Goreslavsky, said that in 2022, the IRI allocated about 1 billion rubles to support games. He assured me that in 2023 there would be no issues with the financing of projects: “The problem is not the lack of money, but the lack of projects that are not ashamed to support.”

Therefore, apparently, the Ministry of Digital Development is pushing the gaming industry towards private investment, not because there is no money, but because there is a right direction. And now VK looks like the main candidate for the central investor, without which it will obviously be difficult for gamers to develop in the domestic market.

Judge for yourself. Developed platforms for game distribution (VK.Play and potentially RuStore), which work in synergy with the audience of social networks, today only VK has. The 4GAME store owned by Innova looks like a “thing in itself” against their background. Therefore, all domestic developers, young and old, will have to go to VK. Even the large Lesta, which is currently developing new products, will not be able to sell them on its sites, where specific tank and ship audiences are gathered.

VK is the only company that has announced plans to allocate 300 million rubles. investments in game development studios, which in return will receive exclusive conditions when placed in digital game stores. The creation of the game engine required by Russian developers is carried out by the same VK. Yes, and the export corridor for Russian games to China will be controlled by it, if not directly, but through the indirectly controlled association APRIORI.

But there is a flaw in this approach: if Russian developers are forced to work through VK, then foreign ones will not. And until the company figure out how to attract quality foreign content to its site, I, like millions of other gamers, will continue to buy games on Steam. Which, intentionally or due to an oversight of the regulators, has not yet been blocked.