Since the beginning of the year, we spent 135 billion rubles on games and in-game goods

Since the beginning of 2023, Russian gamers have spent 135 billion rubles on video games, and by the end of the year the market size may reach 167 billion rubles. Emma Yusova, the operating director of the online game development school XYZ School (part of Ultimate Education), told Vedomosti about this. According to XYZ School estimates, about 107 billion rubles, or 79% of all funds, passed through official channels, and the remaining 21% (28 billion rubles) through intermediaries and resellers. Users spent this money on purchasing games offline (on discs) and online (for example, through Turkish accounts on Steam), as well as through platforms like KupiKod, where activation keys for various games and in-game goods are sold.

XYZ School received such data as a result of a survey in which 1,200 Russian gamers took part. The school’s press service clarified that gamers in the survey were defined as those who answered that they play video games several times a week. According to the results of the study, it turned out that each such player spent on average 5,400 rubles from January to August. for games. Taking into account the fact that there are approximately 25 million gamers in Russia today (also estimated by XYZ School), the total expenses amounted to about 135 billion rubles, follows from the research results.