Expert ruled out problems with the supply of consoles when sanctions against Russia are imposed

The possible introduction by the European Union of a ban on the sale of game consoles in Russia will not create additional problems for supplies to Russia, according to Vladimir Prokuronov, head of the Game Industry Association (GIA). He told Izvestia on February 19.

On that day, Reuters, citing European diplomats, reported that representatives of the European Union (EU) agreed on the 16th package of sanctions against Russia, which includes a ban on the sale of game consoles, joysticks and controllers for flight simulators to Russia.

Prokuronov clarified that after the previously imposed restrictions, the consequences for Russian players have already come. Consoles come into the country through gray import channels. Officially, neither Microsoft nor Sony are not engaged in the delivery of such goods. At the same time, parallel imports are in effect.

"I think parallel imports will also continue to work. And the blocking of consoles by their manufacturers is possible only in the case of digital versions of consoles without a disk drive. Now our territory is already blocked in Playstation and Xbox, all players use disks," Prokuronov said.

He also specified that Russian players still mostly prefer personal computer, and the share of console players is extremely small.

"Perhaps the cost for the end consumer will increase, but formally the restriction does not create a more difficult situation for suppliers. I assume that the consoles in offline and online stores will remain, as the large sellers have established supply chains, at the moment both consoles can be easily bought in any online electronics retailer. And we have no branded stores for the third year already", - concluded the expert.

Earlier, on January 28, the head of the Russian Association of Distributors and Importers of Video Games (R.A.D.I.) and CEO of Achivka, Yasha Haddaji, told Izvestia that if the EU bans sales of game consoles to Russia, it will not affect Russian gamers. He also suggested that console prices would not rise at the same time.