Kaspersky: in Russia, more than half of gamers consider working in the gaming industry

According to a survey by Kaspersky*, more than half (63%) of Russian gamers aged 18 to 24 came to the idea of building a career in the gaming industry. Another 17% have already been or currently are involved.

At the same time, 40% of young people are sure their parents will be proud of them working in the gaming industry. However, 11% still mentioned their parents will most likely be disappointed with this decision.

“People interested in gaming today have a lot of opportunities to make their living from their hobby. It’s about esports competitions, streaming, and, of course, developing games. From this point of view, Russia is a promising country and there are many ways for both artists and programmers. The gaming industry is a large and successful business, this is a place for creativity and self-realization of various specialists. And we share the position of those 40% who believe it is useful to talk more about games with parents, even if you are already an adult. Unfortunately, not everyone understands what opportunities emerge for these young people who have decided to devote their lives to gaming, ” says Maria Namestnikova, Head of Global Research & Analysis Team at Kaspersky, Russia.

If we are talking about esports alone, then according to our research, almost every third (29%) respondent is supported by parents in his plans to build a career in this field. At the same time, 29% also said that they did not talk to their parents about it at all, because they know they would not approve such a choice.

“As for esports, the level of public and professional approval has increased significantly over the past five years. According to our data, today every third applicant in Russia is sure that esports helps in their professional development, and more than half of top managers and business owners believe that esports has a positive impact on employee productivity. Therefore, even if you do not make a career in esports, leaving it just as a hobby, competitive video games can still be useful in your work, ” says Yaroslav Meshalkin, Chief Strategic Communications Officer at ESforce Holding.

Kaspersky advises both amateur and professional gamers:

• to install a reliable security solution with a game mode that allows it to work efficiently without affecting performance, such as Kaspersky Total Security;

• to create separate complex passwords for each of your game accounts. You can store them using a special program – a password manager;

• not to download unofficial game releases from dubious sources and double-check the release dates of official releases.

*The survey was conducted by Savanta company on behalf of Kaspersky Lab in November 2020. In Russia, 509 respondents were interviewed. The results above summarize PC players only.