Russia is developing a new game console to reduce its reliance on Western technology. The government has initiated two projects, with one featuring a console powered by the Russian-made Elbrus processor.
This initiative is part of a broader effort to boost the country’s tech industry and create a domestic gaming ecosystem, including an operating system and cloud services.
The Skolkovo Foundation is leading the development of one of these consoles, which will run on either Aurora OS or ALT Linux, though the software decision is still pending.
However, the Elbrus CPU, which lags behind the performance of consoles like the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, will not compete in terms of raw power.
Instead, the console is expected to offer some other “groundbreaking” feature, though specifics have not been disclosed.
The Elbrus-8SV processor, which was tested in gaming scenarios last year, struggled to deliver smooth performance, often running games like The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind at only 30 fps.
Meanwhile, Russian telecom company MTS is working on a budget-friendly streaming console priced under $50, which will focus on accessing the MTS Fog Play cloud gaming platform.
This console will feature basic hardware, but further details are still unclear.
