Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly instructed his government to explore developing video game consoles in Russia.
Per RT, Putin’s order was issued following a meeting earlier this week, in which he instructed the government to “weigh requirements for organizing production of both stationary and portable game consoles in Russia”.
The deadline for executing the order has reportedly been set for June 15, 2024.
As part of the order, the president also called on the Cabinet of Ministers to look at developing an operating system and a cloud system for delivering games to users, according to a statement published on the Kremlin’s website.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained that the president’s order to consider the creation of a Russian console was aimed at developing Russia’s native gaming industry.
Several high-profile gaming companies ceased operating in Russia in 2022 following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Sony, Microsoft, EA, Activision Blizzard, Nintendo and more all removed themselves from the area due to the geopolitical climate.
As reported by PC Mag, Russian newspaper Kommersant reports that Putin has likely entrusted the Russian technology company VK to carry out the plan.
However, the newspaper states that market participants say that “there is no competence to produce their own PlayStation and Xbox consoles, and creating such a system from scratch will take up to ten years.”
It claims a more realistic option is for Russia to source video game hardware from China to create a portable console similar to Valve’s Steam Deck.