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It is still receiving a significant amount of assistance from China.
It is not a secret that Russia has been gradually working toward weaning itself off of as much Western technology as it can and building its own, and the most recent attempt that Russia appears to be making appears to be tied to video games. According to TechSpot, Anton Gorelkin, who is the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on details Policy, disclosed some details on a domestic video game console that is currently being created by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on December 25. There is a possibility that the hypothetical console will be powered by either Aurora or Alt Linux, which are both Russian derivatives of the widely used Linux operating system. Additionally, the Elbrus CPU.TechSpot reports that the Elbrus processor was developed by the Moscow Center of SPARC Technologies. Its primary purpose was to cater to applications in the defense industry, critical infrastructure, and other areas of research and development. This processor is not up to the standards that are now being produced by Intel, AMD, and Arm, and it will not make it to the level of power that is found in the PS5 or Xbox. Gorelkin emphasized that the system is not designed to play ports of older games, but rather would play "domestic video game products." This is despite the fact that the chipset is not as powerful as it could be. At this point, it is reasonable to assume that Russia will likewise require its very own developer community in order to make these games.
In addition, there is a console that is currently under development called Fog Play; however, it is more of a cloud-based gaming device. Users who possess high-end computers have the ability to rent them out to owners of Fog Play, who then use these PCs to play games with the help of the cloud.
The implementation of these possible consoles is just one component of Russia's larger efforts to achieve technological sovereignty. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the following sanctions imposed by the West, the country has been working toward making this a reality; but, the country's digital isolation is making this endeavor more challenging.
An further step that Russia is taking to develop its own technology is the implementation of Astra Linux in computers used by the government, intelligence agencies, military, and even educational institutions. With this goal in mind, Russia is also attempting to replace the file and website scanner VirusTotal, which is owned by Google, with its own Multiscanner platform out of concern over the possibility of infiltration by the United States government.
Russian technology continues to be strongly dependent on China's, notwithstanding the progress that has been made. There is a significant demand for Chinese cellphones in Russia, and the Middle Kingdom continues to import Chinese electronics and dual-use technologies, despite the fact that it is no longer exporting these products to the United States.
Because it is overly dependent on China and does not possess the ability to make chips on par with those found in the PlayStation 5 or Xbox, it is quite possible that Russia will be unable to attain full technological independence in the video game industry or in other critical fields. Given Russia's strained relations with a significant number of the world's superpowers, the two video game consoles that are produced in Russia are an excellent illustration of the difficulties that the country is currently facing. In the same way that the Elbrus CPU is not going to be able to genuinely compete with the top consoles, it is likely that Russia will continue to strive for technical autonomy.
