Modern Trends in the Game: Russian Gamers' Inner World

Key insights

6 takeaways

01
Russian team Team Spirit won the Dota 2 International World Championship in October 2021, with a prize of $18,000,000. The document links this win to the emergence of the term "millionaire gamer".See it on page 2
02
The Russian market covers about 2% of the global video game market, compared with 18% for the European market and 24% for the US market.See it on page 3
03
The authors state that the unmet need for games with Russian history and culture is due to economic factors.See it on page 3
04
The authors argue that the perception of Russian gamers as toxic is based on positive reasons, linked to the Russian character and a trend toward individualism.See it on page 3
05
The document states that Russians usually do not read game instructions, whereas gamers from other countries typically study the rules before playing.See it on page 4
06
The document states that many Russian gamers perceive gaming as a method of personal development, where achievements can raise a person's status in their own perception.See it on page 4

Summary

The document, "Modern Trends in the Game: Russian Gamer's Inner World," by Stanislav Shukhno of Ipsos in Russia and Ekaterina Alekseeva of Ipsos UU, examines how Russian video gamers think and behave. It places video games alongside esports, pop culture and emerging metaverses, and argues that games allow players to try new roles and engage with cultural contexts.

The document's example is the October 2021 win by the Russian team Team Spirit at the Dota 2 International World Championship, with a prize of $18,000,000, after which the term "millionaire gamer" emerged. It also includes a Google Trends comparison of search queries for Metro: Exodus and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare between Russia and the USA, from September 2020 to September 2021, normalised to 100%.

The authors state that the Russian market covers about 2% of the global market, compared with 18% for the European market, 24% for the US market and 50% for the Asian market. They attribute the unmet demand for games with Russian history and culture to economic factors.

The authors describe Russian gamers as emotionally engaged and exacting, and argue that the "toxic" reputation Russians have abroad rests on positive reasons linked to the Russian character and a trend toward individualism. They also note that Russians usually do not read instructions, and that many view gaming as personal development.

The authors conclude that there is an unmet need for games based on Russian history and culture, which they link to economic factors.