Vladimir Putin has recently approved a list of development plans, among whose main objectives is, surprisingly, the creation of a Steam-like ecosystem that includes a portable device. The Steam Deck now has competition from the Motherland.
As part of a new nine-point plan delivered by Putin to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, the new Russian gaming platform should include desktop and laptop hardware, an operating system, and a cloud gaming system.
The plans, discovered by PCGamer, indicate that PM Mishustin has a “execution period” until June 15 to evaluate and organize the production of gaming machines and the ecosystem.
“I order to make the competition to Steam”
From an automatic translation of the official instructions, we know that this nine-point plan was rushed after a meeting held in January on the economic development of Kaliningrad. The third point on the list refers to the development of a new gaming ecosystem.
“Consider the issue of organizing the production of video game consoles and fixed and portable gaming consoles, as well as the creation of an operating system and a cloud system to supply games and programs to users,” says the instruction approved by Putin.
We see that Prime Minister Mishustin only has to consider and create outlines of plans for the gaming ecosystem before the execution period, which is set for June 15, 2024. Of course, preparing significant plans remains a big task.
Local media have already reflected on the feasibility of Russia creating a viable gaming ecosystem from scratch. Apparently, industry figures in Russia agree that a reasonable timeframe would be five to ten years. However, given the lack of experience and time constraints, the platform could be up to 15 years behind in terms of technological advancement compared to platforms like Steam at the time of its launch.
With American technology banned (AMD, Intel and Nvidia) Russia can only dream of designing and manufacturing hardware and software that can compete with anything current. Most likely their project will be 20 years behind.
