Game — not over: "Igroprom" exhibition opens in Moscow
""Igroprom-2026", an all-Russian exhibition and festival, opened in the Moscow cluster of Video Games and Animation in "Skolkovo" on September 18. The first day was devoted to the business program — only developers, publishers, investors, industry representatives and holders of special tickets worth more than 10 thousand rubles could enter the site. """""" correspondent was among the first visitors of the festival, tested the main domestic novelties — "Gardariki", "Banner of Victory" and "Quantum control" — and found out that China accounts for 60% of the games from foreign developers.
What surprises Igroprom-2026"?..........."
The festival has been held in Moscow for the fourth year in a row: at first it existed in an online format, and since 2023 it has turned into a full-fledged offline platform for Russian and Belarusian developers. This year, the organizers have assembled dozens of gaming booths, virtual reality and flight simulator areas, an esports playground, an exhibition of retro games, booths with board games, and even Russia's first printed almanac dedicated to participating projects.
Although the mass attendance will begin only on September 19, by the evening of the first day the central alley was already full. Queues were forming at some stands, and there was practically no free space left around the main stage.
One of the most discussed projects was the sci-fi shooter "Quantum Control", which was welcomed by the booth at the very beginning of the exhibition. The authors from the Russian studio "GetDevelopment" showed an early version of the game, and they plan to release a demo version before the end of this year. At the same time, the project will be fully released no earlier than 2029. The team deliberately sets a long development cycle, hoping to bring one of the largest Russian shooters to the market.
No less a stir was caused by "Gardariki", an epic fantasy that was shown behind closed doors. One of the key motives of the project will be the Christianization of Russia, and Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich will be one of the important figures in the universe of the project.
"We deliberately organized a technical screening behind closed doors to show the progress made over the year and get an honest reaction from experts and media representatives," said Evgeny Bochkarev, General Director of Klokwork Drakkar Studio.
According to him, Christianization in the game is not a violent repainting of the map or a cudgel, but a process of salvation, protection and the establishment of order. The player will be able to show mercy, help pagan communities and protect people from fear and deception, which will make the world's attitude towards the character unique.
We also managed to play the newest version of "Victory Banner", the first symbiosis of strategy and action in the history of the Russian Federation with a focus on historicity and realism. The author allows you to command troops from a bird's-eye view, as well as transfer to any tanks, crews, or stand behind machine guns. The game transforms from a "Front Edge" analog to Call of Duty or Warthunder in a second. At the same time, each combat unit has limited ammunition, removable modules, and even its own inventory.
— The first historical mission of the game will appear in the upcoming demo. Let's start with the episode of the battle on the Buinichi field," said single developer Dmitry Agapov. He noted that the demo of the project will appear this fall.
The authors of the cooperative video game SOS OPS! "Izvestia" was informed that since its release in November 2023, it has sold 1 million copies. This makes it one of the most popular Russian games in its niche.
The festival has also become a platform for new announcements. The "Mariupol" real-time strategy game, dedicated to the events of a special military operation, as well as the children's scientific and educational game "Robot Fedya" were presented here.
There was also a place for unusual entertainment. For example, one of the stands offered to complete the Super Mario level on a real drum kit, and the film crew of the festival filmed visitors using FPV drones, stylizing the flights to match the dynamics of shooters like Doom.
What did the developers talk about?
The first day was devoted not so much to games as to the future of the Russian industry. "Igroprom" and the Institute for Internet Development (IRI) signed cooperation agreements on the main stage. The lectures discussed the financial logistics of projects, the entry of Russian studios into foreign markets, the development of historical games, the evolution of mechanics, and indie pitching of young teams. The participants discussed what conditions are necessary for the further development of the industry and how to build a support system that would take into account its specifics.
— The line between the responsibility of the state and business is rather arbitrary here: this is a common job. The task of the state is to create clear rules, and when developing regulation, it is important to maintain a dialogue with the industry and take into account the specifics of video games. It is only through such a dialogue that it is possible to build working support and regulatory mechanisms," said Vladimir Voloshin, Director of the Department of Digital Development and Data Economics at the Ministry of Economic Development.
Andrey Voronkov, Deputy General Director of the IRI, told "Izvestia" that such sites are especially important for small studios.
"Igroprom helps the audience notice projects of various levels, from large studios to indie teams that find it especially difficult to promote their games." In addition, developers get the opportunity to share experiences and receive feedback from players," said Andrey Voronkov.
According to Vasily Ovchinnikov, General Director of the video game Industry Development organization, after the adoption of the industry development strategy, the main issue now is its practical implementation.
"""""We have gathered representatives of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, "Rostelecom", RuStore, "Yandex Games", "Fogame", CarX Technologies and other market participants at one table. We discussed specific measures to support studios, the access of Russian games to the audience, the development of digital distribution and the removal of barriers that prevent teams from growing," said Vasily Ovchinnikov.
Alexander Egorov, head of VK Play media and A PRIORI expert, believes that Russian gaming events are gradually becoming a place for the first screenings of future projects.
— It is very nice to see that the first screenings and projects appear at gaming conferences, which players can touch before others. Such events become points of attraction for the entire industry," said Alexander Egorov.
One of the important participants was the largest Russian application store RuStore. His press service told "Izvestia" that the gaming catalog of the site has already exceeded 60 thousand games from 70 countries. Tanks Blitz, Vita Mahjong, "The World of the Housebreakers", BLACK RUSSIA and Doomsday are the leaders in the number of downloads, and the highest average check — about 1 thousand rubles — is for shooters. At the same time, the revenues of Chinese publishers in the app store have quadrupled over the past year, and the service continues to expand its work with users from the CIS countries.
The next important event of the festival will be the "Our Igroprom" ceremony, which will be held on the evening of September 19th. The winners will be determined based on the results of a two—stage vote. First, the projects were evaluated by industry experts, then the players themselves made their choice. "The program" announced 16 main nominations, special awards from partners and musical accompaniment from the string ensemble "Zhivoy Arkanum" and the rock band "Square Man".
The event is held as part of the large-scale program "Igroprom without Borders: the Year of the Video game industry 2026" with the support of the PFCI (Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives).
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