The European Union (EU) is preparing a new round of sanctions against Russia, with the latest package featuring a ban on game console sales to the country.

Russian game distributor calls EU's proposed ban on console sales to Russia "empty gesture"

Image: PlayStation 5 Pro

The EU plans to add consoles such as PlayStation and Xbox to the list of sanctioned products banned from sale to Russia, according to the Financial Times. They could be included in the upcoming 16th package along with restrictions on imports of Russian aluminium and liquefied gas.

Kaja Kallas, the European Commission’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, believes that the country’s armed forces use video game hardware to control drones.

“We are really looking into all the types of things that help Russia to wage this war to put them on the sanctions list,” Kallas told reporters. “Even the consoles for video games, because apparently these are the ones that they operate drones with.”

While semiconductors and other components from some home appliances can be repurposed for missiles and drones, it is unclear how exactly Russia’s armed forces use hardware from game consoles for such purposes.

Kallas didn’t elaborate in her statement, while Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft didn’t respond to the FT’s requests for comment.

It is also unclear what kind of console sales the EU refers to. All three major platform holders — Microsoft (Xbox), Sony (PlayStation), and Nintendo — suspended sales of their products in Russia in March 2022. So their consoles, video games, and other software/hardware have been officially unavailable in the country since the beginning of its full-scale war with Ukraine.

Russian retailers have since found various ways to bypass sanctions and other restrictions, using parallel import schemes and operating in the “gray zone” to supply consumer electronics and other goods. According to the FT, China sold more than $120 million worth of game consoles to the country last year, up from less than $30 million in 2022.

It is worth noting that there is not a single console manufacturer based in Europe, and US (Microsoft) and Japanese (Sony, Nintendo) companies have already cut official business ties with Russia. The FT noted that the purposed ban would target EU traders, including second-hand sellers, who send consoles to Russia.

Yasha Haddaji, CEO of Russian game distributor/importer Achivka (Ачивка) and former head of Nintendo Russia, told RBK (in Russian) that “game consoles imported to Russia don’t even transit through the European Union, so this statement either shows a complete lack of understanding of the games industry or is another empty gesture.”


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