Putin’s ‘Sovereign’ Gaming Console Initiatives Unveiled: One Powered by Homegrown Elbrus CPU, the Other a Chinese Replica — Russian Government Concedes Inability to Compete with PS5 or Xbox

In the realm of sovereign computing, the venture often veers off course, mainly due to insufficient resources or resorts to the route of imitation, undermining its independence. Earlier this year, after Putin tasked the government to create a homegrown gaming console, the Russian tech sphere appeared to take a dual-path approach. On one hand, there’s an initiative to forge a unique console utilizing the domestic Elbrus processor, as detailed by Habr.com. Concurrently, RBC reveals plans for a cloud-based gaming platform, leveraging cost-effective consumer technology, which is positioned as sovereign.

The Elbrus processor at the core of this console is designed with a Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) microarchitecture, originally intended for top-tier, critical tasks. However, when it comes to gaming performance, Elbrus hasn’t impressed, with various benchmarks deeming it inadequate for most functions.

In a candid remark, Anton Gorelkin of the State Committee on Information Policy stated, “It is obvious to everyone: Elbrus processors [cannot] compete equally.” This new console isn’t anticipated to match the performance of heavyweights like the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S. Consequently, Russian officials are urging developers to devise something innovative to tackle these performance limitations.

Gorelkin expressed hope that his colleagues would approach this challenge with the foresight to conceive something exceptional. “Elbrus processors are not yet at the level required to compete equally with the PS5 and Xbox, which means the solution must be unconventional,” he emphasized. Possible innovative strategies might involve simplifying games to a level that fits Elbrus’s capabilities, although the Russian gaming audience, accustomed to high-caliber titles, may not embrace such ‘simplified’ offerings. Alternatively, a cloud-based approach, leveraging remote rendering and computing, would require top-notch internet connections to ensure a seamless gaming experience.

Interestingly, Gorelkin stressed the importance of the console serving not just as a means to revive old games but also as a launchpad for promoting homegrown video games.

Turning to cloud gaming, there’s another player in the field: MTS, a major Russian telecom firm, is working on a console. Dubbed the MTS Fog Play platform, it unabashedly presents itself as a cloud-powered service. With a price tag of around $50, this console borrows design cues from Xbox controllers. At this price, it’s unlikely to handle even basic Android games natively, so it leans heavily on the MTS’s Fog Play service for game streaming. This service supports both remote gaming and game rental concepts, allowing users with robust PCs to engage with MTS’s gaming library without relying on the console’s limited hardware.

Neither of these consoles has hit the shelves yet, but we’re eagerly monitoring the scene and will share insights as benchmarks become available.