- Category
- Latest news
Russia Scrambles to Build Its Own “Roblox” as Kremlin Says Children Begged for the Game Back
- Authors
![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
Russian officials say the country must rush to develop a domestic version of the Roblox game after the American gaming platform was blocked nationwide, following allegations by Roskomnadzor that the platform “justified extremist and terrorist activities,” according to Russian state media TASS on December 10.
The Kremlin received a wave of messages from children upset by the ban—a detail confirmed publicly by Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
Every article pushes back against disinformation. Your support keeps our team in the field.
“There must immediately, as soon as possible, appear our analog,” said Vladislav Grib, deputy secretary of Russia’s Civic Chamber. “This is important for our children. We must respect their opinions and their needs.”
Grib argued that before blocking foreign digital services, the state should invest billions of rubles into Russian equivalents. “Let’s always give an alternative when disabling something and develop a Russian platform,” he said.
The Roblox ban appears to be only the beginning. Moscow is now targeting one of the biggest gaming franchises in the world—Call of Duty. State Duma lawmaker Mikhail Delyagin said he has formally requested that Roskomnadzor investigate the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series for “Russophobia” and prohibit access to the games inside the country.
“When I tried to play the Modern Warfare series, starting from the very first, I was shocked,” Delyagin said. “Almost the entire time you have to shoot specifically Russian soldiers. This is a very unpleasant experience for any citizen of our country, some kind of terrible masochism.”
Meanwhile, domestic gaming projects that were supposed to serve as Russian alternatives have struggled, according to The Moscow Times. The much-publicized historical game Smuta, backed by the state-supported Internet Development Institute and reportedly funded with nearly 500 million rubles in public money, has been widely criticized for its quality.
Duma deputy Vitaly Milonov said he receives constant complaints about the game, adding, “It is simply impossible to release such a low-quality project unintentionally.”
Another government-supported venture — the Nau Engine open-source game engine meant to rival Unity and Unreal — has also faltered. Russian studios continued to build on Western platforms, and Nau Engine’s legal entity, N-Dzhinn LLC, entered liquidation in August.
Earlier, reports emerged that Russia turns video games into instruments of ideological control, propaganda, and youth militarization. Gaming—once seen as pure entertainment—has become one of the Kremlin’s most effective tools to normalize violence and spread its imperial worldview.
-457ad7ae19a951ebdca94e9b6bf6309d.png)
-72b63a4e0c8c475ad81fe3eed3f63729.jpeg "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")
