Putin’s Ambitious Gaming Console Plans Unveiled: One Features Russian-Made Elbrus CPU, the Other a Chinese Imitation — Russian Government Concedes Inability to Rival PS5 or Xbox

In the realm of sovereign computing, efforts often falter due to resource constraints, or end up mimicking existing models, losing their sovereign essence. Earlier this year, when President Putin directed the government to create a Russian gaming console, the industry decided to tackle the task from two angles. According to a report from Habr.com, one approach involves designing a console around a locally developed Elbrus processor, while another strategy sought to establish a cloud gaming platform using affordable consumer hardware, as noted by RBC.

Russia’s new gaming console, built on the Elbrus processor, utilizes a Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) microarchitecture typically designed for intensive, mission-critical tasks. However, in terms of gaming performance, benchmarks suggest that Elbrus falls short, being “completely unacceptable” for most applications.

This fledgling console isn’t expected to match the prowess of gaming giants like the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S. To counter this, Russian officials are encouraging developers to think outside the box to tackle the performance limitations head-on.

Anton Gorelkin, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, expressed his hopes that this challenge will be met with full responsibility, aiming for truly innovative solutions. “It’s clear to everyone that Elbrus processors aren’t yet capable of competing directly with the PS5 and Xbox,” he stated, underscoring the necessity for unconventional solutions.

Possible approaches might include simplifying games so they can run on Elbrus CPUs or leveraging cloud rendering. This would require gamers to have impeccably fast and low-latency broadband connections to enjoy the games smoothly, which might not appeal to a Russian audience accustomed to high-quality gaming.

Gorelkin also highlighted the importance of the console in promoting domestic video games, rather than just serving as a platform for old game re-releases.

Turning our attention to cloud gaming, MTS, a major Russian telecom company, has jumped into the fray with their cloud-based gaming service, named the MTS Fog Play platform. Unlike traditional consoles, this device employs basic hardware, comes with a controller similar to those of Xbox, and is quite affordable at around $50. Given the low cost, the console itself won’t handle even basic Android games, relying instead on the MTS Fog Play cloud service to stream games. This service supports both remote gaming and game rentals, allowing those with high-end PCs to rent games while utilizing their own hardware.

Though neither console is ready for market release just yet, we’re eager to monitor their performance once they hit the shelves. Keep an eye out for those benchmark comparisons when they finally do.