Main conclusions

60% of Russians regularly or occasionally play video games. Compared to 2018,  the number of gamers in our country has increased more than 3 times. How much time and money Russians spend on games, who plays most often, how often games lead to problems in school or quarrels in the family – the results of a sociological study conducted by the [Organization for the Development of the Video Game Industry] show  in collaboration with NAFI Analytical Center.

The full study is attached above.

More than half (60%) of Russians aged 18 and older say that they regularly or occasionally play video games (about 88 million people). Another 21% of respondents note that, although they do not play themselves, their family members spend time playing video games.

Young people under 24 are most often interested in video games (73%). The share of men in the Russian gamers is higher than women, and is 54% (46% of women playing).

On average, Russian gamers who devote time to video games occasionally spend 3-5 hours a week watching them. Those who play almost daily spend 3-4 hours a day on it.

The most popular devices for gaming are a phone or tablet (74%). Almost every second (48%) prefers to play on a desktop computer or laptop. Game consoles are less common, they are used by only 9% of Russians playing.

22% of Russians who are addicted to video games themselves, or have gamers among family members, have made purchases in video games over the past month, made money to the game account, or purchased items in the game.

Russians who have purchased video games (or bought a subscription to them) for themselves or their family members over the past year spent an average of 1,900 rubles on games for a smartphone or tablet, 3,500 rubles on PC and laptop games, 2,200 rubles on console games.

Details about how video games affect health, what stereotypes about gamers are common in society, how the gaming space is used for manipulation and fraud, as well as data on many other aspects of gaming. 

Vasily Ovchinnikov, General Director of the Video Game Industry Development Organization (VIDO):

“The impact and social effect of video games is no longer possible to ignore. Despite the negative stereotypes about gaming, for 60% of the population it is a regular or occasional leisure, in a country where half of the population is over 40 years old. And now this market is a serious sector of the economy, surpassing the film and music industries in fees. Taking into account the global trend towards the “growing up” of the audience of games, they are becoming more complex, deeper and more controversial, many of them are already being compared with works of fiction, theater and cinema, and in some cases video games act as new media.

Against the background of international restrictions, the domestic game dev is going through a difficult transformational period, but I believe that even now, it has great potential. In our study, in addition to sociology, we collected the opinions of various experts about the industry, and based on them we formed conclusions and recommendations that can be further discussed, clarified and supplemented, and we will be glad to continue this work we have just begun on the development of the video game industry.”

Guzelia Imayeva, General Director of the NAFI Analytical Center:

“Due to their versatility and high adaptability, it is such complex creative industries as gaming that become drivers of economic development in difficult periods. Today we see how representatives of the video game industry are striving to master new markets, develop a segment of not only mass, but also niche games, actively attracting various target audiences.

The data collected and analyzed by our experts during the research are the basis for an objective assessment of the economic potential of the video game industry and the state of the domestic gaming market, making forecasts of market dynamics in the short and medium term, as well as choosing the optimal directions for further development.”

Methodology:

The All-Russian representative survey was conducted in April 2022. 1,600 people aged 18 and older were interviewed in 53 regions of Russia. The sample is based on official statistics from Rosstat and represents the population of the Russian Federation by gender, age, level of education and type of settlement. The statistical error of the data does not exceed 3.4%.

full version of the research:https://disk.yandex.ru/d/WhDIeiHEJmvscg