State Duma deputies proposed identifying gamers through State Services

A group of deputies and senators, including members of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy Anton Gorelkin and Anton Nemkin, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Education Yana Lantratova, who, as well as senators Artem Sheikin, Liliya Gumerova and Natalya Kuvshinova, prepared a draft federal law “On development activities and distribution of the video game in the Russian Federation.

The document proposes the implementation of requirements for video game publishers, organizers of video distribution platforms and users. In particular, the administration of services has a temporary opportunity for publishers to inform users about the content of games. For example, let’s notify players that the game contains obscene language, scenes of war, violence, alcohol or smoking, and that some elements of the game may cause “fear, horror or panic,” and so on.

When authorizing users, publishers will be required to identify them using a subscriber number, the Unified Identification and Authorization System (USIA, the State Services portal) or the Unified Biometric System. All distributors of video games in the Russian Federation must identify the user, regardless of the country of origin – that is, the measure will affect even Steam and GOG.

The authors of the new initiatives are also conducting an examination of video games, the results of which will determine that they contain elements of information prohibited for distribution in the Russian Federation.

One of Kommersant’s interlocutors said that it is unlikely that they (Steam and GOG) will comply with the requirements of the law, which, in turn, could serve as a pretext for blocking them.

General Director of the Association of Professionals in the Operating and Game Development Industry (including VK Play, Astrum Entertainment, United Games) Alexander Mikheev considers this measure premature. [Коммерсантъ]