January 30, 2023

Game Over


Game Over
People playing video games in Russia.  Kommersant, Telegram

The prosecutor's office has been tasked with creating a list of banned video games on Russian territory.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine last February, the government's fear of losing legitimacy has led to censorship. According to Kommersant, the latest target is video games.

The director of the government's information technology department, Yevgeny Komar, sent a letter to multiple branches of government, including the Ministry of Education, stressing that video games have a negative influence on kids (here's one example).

According to government officials, some popular video games have "hidden inserts" and are "a mode of information propagation, because they influence one's mind and subconscious." According to the Russian website Anketolog, western games such as "FIFA," "Grand Theft Auto," and "The Sims" are some of Russia's most popular banned games. 

Komar proposed creation of a list of permitted and banned games and asked that any online game be accessed "through a Russian system of identification and authentication." If the measure is approved, computers sold in Russia would have a pre-installed parental control program.

 

You Might Also Like

Eat. Bake. Protest.
  • January 25, 2023

Eat. Bake. Protest.

How a woman from Moscow turned a cake business into an anti-war protest and helped charities.
Memes For Our Times

Memes For Our Times

We explain ten recent memes that best capture the current sociopolitical mood across a large subset of Russian society.
Meduza Declared Undesirable
  • January 27, 2023

Meduza Declared Undesirable

On January 26, Russia’s Prosecutor General declared the popular publication Meduza an “undesirable” organization.
Moleshine, Anyone?
  • December 22, 2022

Moleshine, Anyone?

A mole-infused moonshine drink has burrowed through the Russian internet.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955