Over the past five months, Russian courts have received at least eight cases involving violations in the collection of personal data by major foreign video game developers. All of the cases were initiated by Roskomnadzor. The outlet Verstka drew attention to this.
Companies already fined
Fines of 2 million rubles each were imposed on Take-Two (GTA, Red Dead Redemption and others), Electronic Arts (Need for Speed, Battlefield and others), and Battlestate Games (Escape from Tarkov).
What the penalties are for
The ruling against Battlestate Games says the company collected the personal data of Russian citizens without ensuring that it was stored and processed on servers located in Russia.
Which cases are next
Administrative punishment was also assigned to the Chinese game developer NetEase Interactive, which publishes Marvel Rivals. In addition, Lesta, known for the game World of Tanks, received a warning under the article covering violations in the collection of personal data.
In the near future, courts are expected to review cases against Epic Games (Fortnite, Gears of War), Digital Extremes (Warframe), and Embracer Group (Tomb Raider, Deus Ex).
Proposals to regulate games
Earlier, Yana Lantratova, head of the State Duma committee on the development of civil society, proposed introducing distribution certificates for video games similar to those used for films. The Association of Professionals of the Game Operation and Development Industry said that if such certificates were introduced, foreign developers would refuse to work with the Russian audience.