Details of Putin’s ‘Sovereign’ Gaming Consoles Unveiled: Includes Elbrus CPU Model and a Chinese Copy — Russian Government Concedes They Can’t Rival PS5 or Xbox

In the realm of sovereign computing, the journey can often lead to one of two paths: either a lack of resources sends efforts spiraling downward, or things veer towards imitating foreign models, abandoning the sovereign goal. Earlier this year, Putin tasked the government with creating a Russian game console, a challenge the industry has tackled in two distinct ways. According to Habr.com, one approach involves developing a homegrown console using a dual-core Elbrus processor. Meanwhile, an RBC report suggests another route focuses on establishing a cloud gaming service from affordable consumer hardware, dubbing it “sovereign.”

Russia’s attempt at creating a gaming console revolves around the Elbrus processor. Originally designed for heavy-duty, mission-critical workloads, the Elbrus flaunts a Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) microarchitecture. However, when it comes to actual performance, benchmarks have repeatedly described it as “completely unacceptable” for most tasks.

The anticipated console won’t be on par with the likes of PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S. Consequently, Russian politicians are urging developers to think outside the box to tackle these performance hurdles.

“I urge my colleagues to treat this task seriously and innovate something truly novel,” expressed Anton Gorelkin, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy. “It’s clear that Elbrus processors aren’t ready to compete with the PS5 and Xbox, so we need an unconventional solution.”

This creative angle might mean scaling down games to suit what Elbrus CPUs can handle, though it’s unlikely that the Russian audience, accustomed to top-tier games, would engage with such ‘simplified’ versions. Alternatively, utilizing cloud rendering and computing could be explored, provided that gamers have access to high-speed, low-latency internet.

Intriguingly, Gorelkin remarked that the console should not solely become a hub for old game ports but should also promote Russian-made video games.

On the topic of cloud gaming, let’s shift gears to MTS, a leading Russian telecommunications firm, which is also developing a console. The company is transparent about its device being a cloud-based gaming service, branding it the MTS Fog Play platform.

This device, equipped with basic hardware, includes an Xbox-like controller and is priced at about $50. Such a low price point clearly indicates that it’s not designed to run even basic Android games independently. Instead, it will rely heavily on the MTS’s Fog Play service, facilitating both remote and rental gaming experiences. Essentially, owners of powerful PCs can rent games through the service, relying on their own hardware.

Neither of these consoles is available to consumers yet, but we’ll be eagerly awaiting performance reports and reviews once they hit the market.