Page 214 - RusRPTAug24

9.1.7 TMT sector news
Censorship and bigger profits loom in Russia’s video game industry. A confluence of anti-Western policymaking and fighting over market share makes it more likely that future regulations on some video games in Russia will expand censorship and raise prices. Russia’s existing ratings for video games are more basic and less informative than markings placed on games in Europe and the US, but expanded notices proposed by Alexander Malakhov, the head of the Center for Strategic Research’s Digital Development division, would warn buyers (and parents) when games contain violence, obscene language, in-game purchases, sexual content, and more. Amid discussions about reforming Russia’s video game ratings, Russian Association of Video Game Distributors and Importers President Yasha Haddaji (who’s also the former head of the Russian division of Nintendo) advocated the creation of a registry of video games imported to Russia, supposedly to help combat “gray importers” (distributors who bring in products without paying the necessary customs duties and taxes). The registry proposed by Haddaji would give regulators another tool to promote “approved” content in video games while also driving some smaller distributors out of business by erecting bureaucratic obstacles that raise operating costs and prices on games sold as physical media.
Russia passes new cryptocurrency law in effort to dodge Western sanctions. Russia on July 30 passed a law that will allow businesses to use
214 RUSSIA Country Report August 2024 www.intellinews.com