Russia's video games market grew 35% in 2020

International video games brand MY.GAMES (part of Mail.ru Group) has reported that the Russian video games market saw annual growth of 35% in 2020 to reach 163.4 bln rubles, which is a 2.5-fold increase in the growth rate seen in 2019 (14% to 121.3 bln rubles).

The mobile games segment grew faster than the others, accounting for 41.1% of the market’s volume while in 2019 that share was only 30.4%. PC remains the most popular platform in Russia (50.1%) followed by mobile (41.1%) and consoles (8.8%). Free-to-play is still the leading format for games, accounting for 83.3% of the market, and this share is not dramatically different compared to previous years (83.1% in 2019 and 78.7% in 2018).

Mobile games grew 39% to 67.1 bln rubles in 2020. Among the most popular genres were action, shooters, puzzles, RPGs and simulators (including farming). Strategy games were the only genre to report a decrease in revenue.

The volume of the PC games market increased 34% to reach 81.9 bln rubles (versus a 1% growth in 2019 to 61.3 bln). F2P PC games increased their share by 31% and continue to lead in revenue, reaching 66.4 bln rubles in 2020, while B2P games made far less – only 17.5 bln.

The console market grew 20% to 14.4 bln rubles (while 2019 saw this sector contract by 12% to 11.9 bln rubles). Premium games posted an 18% annual increase to 9.7 bln rubles, while F2P games grew by 27% to 4.65 bln rubles.