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2024

The Russian game console market grew by 29.5% to 31.67 billion rubles

At the end of 2024, the Russian game console market showed significant growth in monetary terms, an increase of 29.5% compared to 2023. The total sales amounted to 31.67 billion rubles, while a year earlier this figure was 24.46 billion rubles, representatives of the M.Video-Eldorado group told TAdviser on January 29, 2025. At the same time, the number of consoles sold remained at the level of the year before last - 1.45 million units in 2024 and 1.45 million in 2023.

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Фото: vecstock на Freepik

Sony remained the leader of the Russian market, which not only retained the championship, but also increased its share in monetary terms - from 63.7% to 71.6%. In pieces, its share increased from 18.6% to 29.5%, which indicates increased demand for the PlayStation console.

The second place in monetary terms is occupied by Microsoft, whose share has almost halved - from 16% to 8.9%. In quantitative terms, the share decreased from 7.1% to 4.8%.

Nintendo showed mixed results: in pieces its share increased slightly (from 4.5% to 4.9%), but in money there is a slight decline from 6.5% to 5.3%. This may indicate the stability of sales of portable solutions and less active device updates, analysts say.

As Sergey Mezin, head of the Development of Games and the Gaming Community Department of the M.Video-Eldorado group, shared, one of the main trends in 2024 was the growing popularity of Steam Deck. Valve's console has strengthened its position in the Russian market, showing sales growth of more than 70%, beating Nintendo in terms of sales in cash and approaching Xbox sales. This confirms the high interest of the audience in portable gaming devices capable of running modern PC games, the expert believes. In total, more than 43,000 Steam Deck units were sold in 2024.

"Steam Deck is especially in demand among gamers who are accustomed to the Steam ecosystem and appreciate the ability to configure flexibly. Its success is also associated with the expansion of accessibility - now the device can be found not only in specialized stores, but also in mass retail, "said Sergey Mezin.

At the same time, retro-consols such as SEGA and Dendy continue, according to him, to maintain their niche in the market. Despite the dominance of modern gaming systems, Dendy, Mega Drive and other old brands still find their buyers, albeit in small quantities. This indicates an ongoing interest in retro-branding, which remains popular among collectors and nostalgic users.

MTS launched its own MTS Fog Play game consoles on the market

Telecommunications company MTS presented on December 27, 2024 the first specialized game console in Russia for cloud gaming MTS Fog Play worth ₽4990, which provides access to a library of more than 2 thousand computer games. Read more here

There was information about the first Russian game console with the Elbrus-2C3 processor

In early August 2024, the technical characteristics of the Russian game console became known. It is reported that the device will be based on the domestic microprocessor "Elbrus-2C3" of the company "MCST."

Externally, the console resembles a desktop computer of a small form factor. In the front there are USB ports, and the upper panel is perforated, which helps to circulate air. Games such as Doom 3, Quake 3, Seriogs Sam, CS: GO, GTA Vice City, Morrowind, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., War Thunder and others are ported to the device.

The applied Elbrus-2C3 processor combines two general-purpose MCST Elbrus cores with a clock frequency of 1.6 to 2 GHz, one 2D graphics accelerator core MCST MGA and six 3D graphics accelerator cores Imagination PowerVR. Supports working with RAM DDR4-2400 ECC. Implemented hardware support for dynamic binary translation of machine codes x86 (x86-64) without recompiling programs, as well as hardware support for virtualization to increase the efficiency of equipment use. The chip can be used to run x86 applications for Windows and Linux operating systems. There are three display controllers, two 2.5GBase-T/ 1000Base-T controllers, and a SATA 3.0 controller. Elbrus-2C3 is included in the Register of Electronic Products of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

It is noted that the Russian game console can be used as a home media center, for organizing video conferencing and solving other problems. For example, bank terminals can be created on the basis of the device, as well as interactive panels. Other details as of the beginning of August 2024 were not disclosed. It is expected that the novelty will enter the market approximately in 2028.^[1]

A game console has been created in Russia

On March 29, 2024, it became known that Russian specialists from the Don State Technical University developed a game console called PlaySpace. It is considered as a domestic alternative to Sony PlayStation. Read more here.

Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed to organize the production of game consoles in Russia

The President Russia Vladimir Putin instructed To the Government of the Russian Federation to organize the production of game consoles in the country. This was reported on March 27, 2024 on the Kremlin website.

Consider organizing the production of stationary and portable game consoles and game consoles, as well as creating an operating system and a cloud system for delivering games and programs to users, - said in the list of instructions that were given following the results of the meeting held by the head of state in January 2024 on the socio-economic development of the Kaliningrad region.

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Фото: Unsplash

The government must fulfill the order concerning the possible organization of the production of game consoles in the Russian Federation by June 15, 2024. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has been appointed responsible.

Vladimir Putin instructed to organize the production of game consoles in Russia after the world's largest manufacturers of these devices - Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo - stopped official deliveries of their products to the Russian market. At the same time, game consoles are actively imported via parallel imports, and their sales are growing rapidly. So, according to M.Video-Eldorado estimates, in 2023 Russians spent twice as much on the purchase of these devices as in 2022.

In February 2024, the Organization for the Development of the Video Game Industry (RVI) announced that it would prepare a plan for the development of video games in Russia for a five-year period for the Government of the Russian Federation. The roadmap was drawn up, among other things, taking into account proposals from executive authorities, state organizations and the professional gaming community. The plan consists of 83 points, including educational, export, technological. In accordance with this plan, the Russian game console will be released in 2026-2027. ^[2]]

2023: Sales doubled to 1.3 million units

The volume of the Russian game console market in 2023 reached 1.3 million units, doubling in comparison with 2022 thanks to portable and retro models. Such data from analysts of the retailer M.Video-Eldorado were released in mid-January 2024.

It is specified that this estimate includes all types of consoles, including retro consoles (modern imitations of old consoles) and covers the entire market, and not only M.Video-Eldorado stores. In the money sales of game consoles in the Russian Federation at the end of 2023 amounted to 23 billion rubles.

The volume of the Russian game console market in 2023 reached 1.3 million units

Representatives of the Marketplaces also indicated an increase in demand for game consoles. According to Yandex Market, in 2023 the number of consoles sold increased 2.7 times compared to 2022. Avito noted that sales of new goods in the category of game consoles increased by 34%, and used ones - by 13%, in just a year approximately 1.25 million console purchases were recorded.

The most promising area is portable consoles, according to experts interviewed by Kommersant. Such devices are less reflected in the market structure than classic consoles, says the founder of Kanobu Haji Makhtiev:

But their share will grow year on year, because gamers are constantly striving to improve the gaming experience through new platforms.

According to Makhtiev, the dynamics of the market in the Russian Federation was primarily affected by the "normalization of user experience."

Adherents of traditional consoles have already debugged payment schemes, but the need to take unnecessary actions repels up to 30% of the potential audience. As for retro-consols, their popularity is growing not only in Russia, but throughout the world - they are often bought impulsively or as a gift, market participants say.^[3]

2021

2020

In the second quarter, demand for Gaming products increased by 300%

AliExpress Russia Analysts noted an increase in user interest in Gaming products. Demand for goods from this category increased by 300% in the second quarter compared to 2019 data. This became known on July 23, 2020.

The sales rating was topped by consoles from Playstation - the PS Pro 1 Tb GOW + HZD and PS Slim 1 Tb GOW + TLOU + DG consoles. Next comes the Xbox One S 1 Tb console. The most popular of the accessories is the gamepad for the Playstation Dualshock 4 Gamepad. PlayStation virtual account recharge cards are in high positions in sales - users are increasingly preferring to buy games online.

Experts noted that two factors influenced the popularity of goods: the introduction of a self-isolation regime, which affected the interest of users in games, as well as the shortage before the imminent change of the generation of game consoles from the main players in the industry. In fact, isolation revived the gaming market, historically low between April and September. In addition, according to analysts, the trend will continue until the devices are released. This year is iconic for game console manufacturers, who have already announced the main characteristics of the next generation and are taking a step towards digital content and abandoning physical media.

It is also worth noting the growth of the Accessories subcategory - the demand for such goods increased by 40%. Experts attributed the trend to the general shortage in the market of accessories for game consoles during this period: for example, to the lack of gaming joysticks^[4]

Over the past year, Sony PlayStation 4 Pro has become the most popular console among Yandex.Market users

On June 10, 2020, Yandex.Market announced that it had studied the demand for game consoles and games and learned that it was popular among Russians from June 8, 2019 to June 7, 2020. The study used data from the service on user transitions to online stores during the specified period.

According to Yandex.Market experts, the self-isolation regime provoked an increase in demand for goods for gamers. A special excitement in 2020 occurred at the beginning of April - in the midst of self-isolation - then the service experts recorded a peak in demand for many gaming products: consoles, laptops, game chairs, mice, virtual reality glasses, and so on. In the second half of March 2020, interest in gaming products increased by about 2 times. According to service experts, such a sharp increase in demand is usually observed in the second half of the year - on the eve of Black Friday and the New Year, but in 2020, Russians began to show active interest in the category in March.

For the period from June 8, 2019 to June 7, 2020, Sony PlayStation 4 Pro became the most popular console among Yandex.Market users. The top 3 most popular models were occupied by Sony models. In fourth place was the Nintendo Switch hybrid console, and only then - stationary Xbox consoles.

In general, the top 10 most popular game consoles for the period from June 8, 2019 to June 7, 2020 looks like this:

• Sony PlayStation 4 Pro.
• Sony PlayStation 4 Slim 1 ТБ.
• Sony PlayStation 4 Slim 500 ГБ.
• Nintendo Switch.
• Microsoft Xbox One S 1 ТБ.
• Microsoft Xbox One X.
• Microsoft Xbox One S 1 ТБ S All Digital.
• Nintendo Switch Lite.
• Sony PlayStation 4 1 ТБ.
• Sony PlayStation Portable Slim & Lite (PSP-3000).

As with many gaming products, Market experts recorded an abnormal surge in interest in consoles in early April 2020. Russians were especially interested in discounted offers - the number of transitions to such offers in online stores has grown 4 times since the end of March 2020. Service experts attributed this to the fact that many bought consoles for the period of self-isolation and did not want to spend a lot of money.

The most popular game for the period from June 8, 2019 to June 7, 2020 on Yandex.Market was FIFA 20. The second place was taken by Red Dead Redemption 2, and the third - Grand Theft Auto V. Most often, Russians were interested in action (35% of user transitions fell on games of this genre), then sports (10%) and only then shooters (9%).

In general, the rating of the top 10 most popular games among Russians looks like this:

• FIFA 20.
• Red Dead Redemption 2.
• Grand Theft Auto V.
• Minecraft.
• Death Stranding.
• Days Gone.
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
• Spider-Man (2018).
• FIFA 19.
• God of War.

Those who prefer to play on a computer most often chose a gaming laptop from June 8, 2019 to June 7, 2020 ASUS TUF Gaming FX505 with an average cost of about 60 thousand rubles.

The most popular model in the category "Virtual Reality Glasses" was the Oculus Rift S. The second place was taken by the helmet from Sony - PlayStation VR (CUH-ZVR2), and in third place were virtual reality glasses for the VR Box VR 2.0 smartphone with an average cost of about 750 rubles.

2019

For nine months, sales amounted to 400 thousand devices in the amount of 7.3 billion rubles.

On November 18, 2019, M.Video-Eldorado Group announced the results of the development of the game console market for nine months of 2019. Sales amounted to 400 thousand devices in the amount of 7.3 billion rubles, which is a year-year more than 10% in pieces and 6% in money. The average cost decreased by 4% to 18.5 thousand rubles. One of the market drivers was the boom in sales of reissued 8- and 16-bit retro consoles, which took a quarter of the market, sales of these consoles doubled over the year.

Console sales are growing due to the lower cost of the PS4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One, as well as the release of more affordable models of the Xbox One S without a drive and Nintendo Switch Lite.

According to the results of three quarters, reissued retro consoles, which gained popularity in the late 80s and early 90s of the last century, demonstrated high dynamics. The demand for such consoles in comparison with the three quarters of 2018 increased by 75% in pieces and 40% in money. Together, the Sega and Dendy consoles, the Nintendo Classic Mini: NES and PS Classic, occupy a quarter of the market in physical terms. The average price of such devices is only 2,800 rubles, they are purchased for nostalgia for childhood hits, or as the first console for their child. About 18% of the entire console market was occupied by retro devices from only Sega and Dendy, and the most popular models with built-in games were SEGA Magistr Titan 3, SEGA Retro Genesis HD Ultra, Dendy Magistr Master and Dendy 255 games + light pistol.

Sony became the leader in the Russian console market in monetary terms with a share of about 60% in units and 75% in money, almost all sales are made to the PlayStation 4 console. The platform continues to hold the championship thanks to the growing number of gaming exclusives and the ecosystem of additional accessories. In second place in natural sales was the Japanese company Nintendo, which first came out on second place in May 2019. Nintendo's growth is helped by the popularity of the Nintendo Switch universal console. Demand for it increased by 72% in pieces and 92% in money. In September 2019, the company released the Nintendo Switch Lite, a compact and lightweight console that allows you to play anywhere and costs less than the "older" version.

In monetary terms, Microsoft is ahead of Nintendo, the Xbox One S and Microsoft Xbox game consoles are popular . In the second quarter, the company presented a fully digital console without an Xbox One S All-Digital drive.

{{quote 'author=notes the head of the Entertainment and Photo/Video department of the M.Video-Eldorado Group Oleg Reznikov' The console gaming segment continues to grow intensively and is being developed due to a wide range of form factors that will satisfy the necessary requirements of buyers. We see how double-digit growth is shown by inexpensive consoles with a set of retro games, portable consoles that can be played on the road are in increased demand, and with the growing availability of 4K TVs and the emergence of a large amount of content, sales of consoles such as Xbox One X and PS 4 Pro are increasing. Over the three quarters, the demand for game consoles in the M.Video-Eldorado Group exceeded the market pace in physical terms and turned out to be higher than the market in money, showing an increase of 8%. In early November 2019, we launched the Eldorado gaming club, now called EldoPlay. Here users will find reviews of the main novelties of the gaming industry, draws, good deals and current pre-orders, }}

In the first 5 months, sales of game consoles increased by 11% in pieces and 7.5% in money

On June 28, 2019, the M.Video-Eldorado group announced the results of the development of the Russian game console market for January-May 2019. Game lovers purchased 215 thousand consoles in the amount of 3.9 billion rubles, which is 11% more in pieces and 7.5% in money than in the same period a year earlier. Demand for the Nintendo Switch console increased by 80% in pieces and 60% in money, allowing the Japanese company to outperform Microsoft's Xbox in May . In May alone, the growth was 2.5 times in pieces and 2.2 in money compared to the same month in 2018. Switch's share of Nintendo's total sales is about 85% in pieces and 95% in money, the rest coming from the New 2DS XL and New 3DS XL handheld consoles, as well as the Nintendo Classic Mini NES and SNES retro consoles. The top 5 most popular Nintendo Switch game releases included four of the Super Mario media franchise: Super Mario Bros. Ultimate, Super Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart 8 и Super Mario Party. The third in terms of sales was the adventure game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

{{quote 'author=notes Oleg Reznikov, Head of Entertainment and Photo/Video Department of the Dorado M.Video Group|The advantage of the Nintendo Switch console lies in its universal form factor. You can play comfortably both at home and on the road, without any restrictions. The distribution of the console is also influenced by a large selection of games and a regularly replenished assortment of the most popular multi-format titles. Nintendo Switch prefers to buy bundled with one or more games. So, according to the results of five months of 2019, the most popular bundle was the Nintendo Switch game console and the game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. We are also seeing increased demand for Nintendo Labo add-ons, interactive figures and amiibo maps that perform a learning function, complement the gameplay and make it even more interesting. Their sales in M.Video and Eldorado stores more than doubled compared to January-May 2019, }}

The drivers of the game console market remain the latest generation models from Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft, while the average cost of consoles decreased by 5% and reached 18,150 rubles, which was influenced by the growing popularity of retro consoles PlayStation Classic, Sega and Dendy. The leader is Sony PlayStation with a 55% share in pieces and about 70% in money. Sales of the category in M.Video-Eldorado Group exceeded the market pace.

2018

The driver of the growth of the Russian video game market was games for consoles

According to analysts from M.VideoDorado"-," the growth driver of the Russian retail market for console computer and games in 2018 was made by games for PS4 consoles Xbox One , and Nintendo Switch, whose share reached 80% in pieces and 90% in money. The demand for console games increased by 13% in unit terms and 16% in monetary terms to 2.1 million units and 4.4 billion. With rubles the growing console market, the share of PC games has dropped to 5%. More. here

Growth by 26% in units (up to 640 thousand) and 30% in money (up to 12.5 billion rubles)

At the end of 2018 Russian , the market volume of all consoles amounted to about 640 thousand units and more than 12.5 billion, rubles which exceeded the previous year's figures by 26% in pieces and 30% in money. This was TAdviser reported on March 15, 2019 in the group "-," M.VideoDorado a retail company by and. to trade electronics household appliances

Traditionally, the peak of sales of game consoles in 2018 fell on the fourth quarter, and the demand for consoles in December exceeded about 2.5 times the average of other months. PlayStation 4 took about 60% of the market in physical terms, Xbox One remained in second place, and Nintendo Switch was the third most popular gaming system with almost double sales growth.

The largest growth dynamics - 45% per year - was shown by reissued retro consoles, which became popular in the late 80s and early 90s of the last century. The Russians purchased about 100 thousand PlayStation Classic, SEGA Mega Drive Gopher, Nintendo Classic Mini NES and SNES consoles with pre-installed games.

According to M.Video-Eldorado, the massive distribution of inexpensive retro consoles and the positive dynamics of the latest generation Switch console, which also has reissued retro games, helped the Japanese company Nintendo to increase its market share by almost one and a half times at the end of 2018. The highest positive dynamics was demonstrated by SEGA Mega Drive Gopher. Competition for Nintendo and SEGA consoles is Sony's PS Classic released in December 2018.

Against the background of the development of augmented and virtual reality technologies, cloud gaming, demand for consoles for playing on 4K TVs, the positive dynamics of the 8- and 16-bit consoles segment looks paradoxical. The Russians highly appreciated the reissued consoles, which will help to return to childhood for a short time and again plunge into the world of hits on which they grew up. In addition, they are distinguished from modern consoles by a relatively small price, - said Oleg Reznikov, head of the Entertainment and Photo/Video department of the M.Video-Eldorado group.

Of the retro game consoles, the most popular at the end of the year was the Nintendo Classic Mini: SNES, the demand for it grew slightly. At the same time, sales of its predecessor - Nintendo Classic Mini: NES - in physical terms almost tripled. The set-top boxes come with an HDMI cable, USB power cable and controllers. Among the innovations is a function with which you can rewind up to five minutes of gameplay since the last save. There are 30 embedded games available for owners of the eight-bit Nintendo Entertainment System, including The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, PAC-MAN, Super Mario Bros. and others. In the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, the manufacturer installed 21 games, such as Super Mario Kart, Contra III: The Alien Wars, Donkey Kong Country.

Sales of SEGA Mega Drive Gopher handheld consoles almost quadrupled. Devices from the Genesis series are equipped with a small LCD screen, a built-in speaker, a capacious battery, a USB connector, 20 classic games and a microSD card slot to increase their number.

In early December 2018, Sony introduced its retro PlayStation Classic console. The novelty exactly follows the design of the famous original, released 25 years ago, but is 45% smaller. 20 famous games are available to console owners, including Grand Theft Auto, Final Fantasy VII, Tekken 3, Metal Gear Solid, Wild Arms, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six. The miniature set-top box comes with two wired controllers, an HDMI cable for connecting to a TV and a virtual memory card to save progress when switching between different games. The console finds demand from those who want to feel nostalgic, while since the release, the cost of new items has been gradually decreasing.

620 thousand devices sold in the amount of 12.5 billion rubles

On January 19, 2019, the United Company Svyaznoy|Euroset announced an analysis of the Russian game console market in 2018. From January to December 2018, sales of game consoles grew year-on-year by 31% in unit terms and by the same amount in monetary terms.

In total, at the end of 2018, 620 thousand devices were sold in the amount of 12.5 billion rubles. The largest increase in pieces and money was shown by the Nintendo Switch - 87% and 79%, respectively. The leader in the market remains Sony PlayStation 4, which occupies 62% of the entire market in natural terms. In second place is the Xbox One with 12%, and the top three is closed by the Nintendo Switch - 6%.

author '= David Borzilov, vice president of sales for the combined company Svyaznoy-Euroset ' The gaming industry is gaining popularity around the world. It is on this wave of success in many countries that esports have already been equated with a traditional sport. We see that gaming consoles and PCs are fighting for gamers, and the latter are more preferable for users. However, consoles are able to give gamers a completely different user experience, which affects the development of popularity of this category of goods.

The most popular bundle in 2018 was the PS4 SLIM + Gran Turismo Sport + God of War + Horizon Zero Dawn + 3 Month plus member.

Notes