MOSCOW, 20 July 2022. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) presents the findings of a survey on video games among Russians.

Gaming is for young people

Twenty-three percent of Russians play video games but the gaming audience has its distinct age differences - gamers are often young respondents. Video games are popular with 56% of persons aged 18-24, including 20% of those who play them on a daily basis. In comparison, only 10% of Russians aged 60 and older play video games. Interest in video gaming is also shaped by gender: men are 2.6 times more likely to play games than women (34% vs. 13%).

A rating of devices the gamers use playing video games is headed by computer and mobile phone (44-45%). Sixteen percent of respondents prefer laptops; the number of Russians who use laptops to play video games has decreased by 8 p.p. (24% in 2019). Tablet and game console are least popular devices (5-6% of respondents playing video games every week).

Playing sanctions game

The sanctions that touched upon Russia in spring this year also affected the video game industry. The Russian user has faced restrictions accessing video game stores; the foreign software suppliers have withdrawn from Russia; certain mobile game apps and updates went unavailable. Every second gamer has faced problems in gaming (51%). The more often people play video games, the more often they experience difficulties: 74% of those who play more than four hours a day report problems.

The most common problems deal with difficulties buying games (26%) and completing payments inside the game (24%). Every fifth gamer mentioned unavailable new game releases in Russia (21%). The same number of respondents have noticed high prices for video games supplies and reported a ban on certain games in Russia (19%, each). Those who play using computers (58%) and consoles (85%) have been experiencing more problems than others. Thirty percent of computer gamers reported higher costs of video game parts; console owners faced inability to complete payments inside the game (66%), to pay for the games (41%) and difficulties monetizing on streaming platforms (41%).

Half of gamers who experienced problems did nothing to solve them (48%). Thirteen percent of respondents turned on VPN; 9% used other platforms to make a payment; 6% paid through Kazakhstan; a further 5% tried to make a complaint, to call an operator or to contact customer service. Only 2% of gamers say they stopped gaming; 1% refused to buy anything. Apparently, finding roundabout ways to address the problems remain top priority for gamers.

VCIOM-Sputnik Russian nationwide telephone survey was conducted July 12, 2022. A total of 1,600 Russians aged 18 and over took part in the survey. Survey method: telephone interviews using a stratified random sample based on a complete list of Russian mobile phone numbers. The data were weighted for social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.

July 12, 2022 survey key effectiveness indicators: cooperation rate (COOP1)* = 0.8198; minimum response rate (RR1)** = 0.0249; response rate (RR3)*** = 0.1423.

* The number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews and b) non-interviews with eligible respondents.

** The number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews, b) interrupted interviews after successful screening and c) all the telephone numbers where it is unknown whether the subscribers meet the selected criteria or not.

*** The number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews, b) interrupted interviews after successful screening and c) all the telephone numbers with respect to the assessment of the percentage of eligible cases in the total number of cases of unknown eligibility.