Details Emerge on Putin’s ‘Sovereign’ Gaming Consoles: One Featuring Elbrus CPU, the Other a Chinese Replica—Russian Government Concedes They Can’t Rival PS5 or Xbox

In the intriguing world of technology and gaming, the term “sovereign computing” often finds itself at a crossroads. On one side, it struggles due to limited resources; on the other, it risks becoming just another imitation. Earlier this year, President Putin directed the Russian government to create a homegrown gaming console, and it seems they’ve taken the challenge in two directions. According to Habr.com, one approach is to develop a console utilizing a locally produced dual-core Elbrus processor. Meanwhile, an RBC report suggests another route involves crafting a cloud gaming service using affordable consumer hardware but branding it as sovereign.

The Russian gaming venture is banking on this Elbrus processor, known for its Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) microarchitecture. Originally intended for high-stakes, mission-critical tasks, Elbrus, unfortunately, falls short in performance when benchmarked, being deemed “completely unacceptable” for most common applications.

Expectations for this upcoming console don’t involve rivaling powerhouses like the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S. With this understanding, Russian politicians are urging developers to think outside the box to tackle these performance limitations. Anton Gorelkin, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, conveyed this sentiment: “My hope is that my colleagues tackle this with the utmost seriousness and devise something truly innovative. We all know that Elbrus processors aren’t yet capable of going head-to-head with the PS5 and Xbox, so we need unconventional solutions.”

What might these unconventional solutions look like? Well, they could mean simplifying games to a level manageable by the Elbrus CPUs—a move not likely to appeal to Russian gamers accustomed to blockbuster titles. Alternatively, it could involve leveraging cloud rendering and compute services, relying on seamless broadband connectivity with minimal delay for an optimal experience.

Gorelkin also pointed out that this console shouldn’t just be a platform for nostalgic ports but should play a role in elevating Russian-made video games.

Shifting gears to cloud gaming, let’s delve into the MTS project—a name familiar in Russian telecommunications. MTS doesn’t hide that its “console” is fundamentally a cloud-based gaming setup, identified as the MTS Fog Play platform.

This device comes modestly equipped, bundled with an Xbox-style controller, and bears a price tag of roughly $50. For that amount, it’s not feasible to expect a console capable of natively rendering even basic Android games, so MTS’s solution is to lean heavily on its Fog Play cloud service. Through this service, users can engage in both remote gaming sessions and partake in game rentals; owners of high-end PCs can also rent MTS’s game offerings, continuing to use their existing hardware.

At present, neither the Elbrus-based console nor the MTS Fog Play platform has been released to the public. We’ll be eagerly watching for any performance reviews or benchmarks that emerge once they hit the market.