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Russia Increasingly Blocks Access to Major International Gaming Platforms
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Major international video game web pages and digital storefronts have experienced a significant drop in availability across Russia.
Data collected by the internet censorship monitoring service OONI reveals that connection issues have hit leading digital platforms, including Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, Epic Games, and Origin, according to Verstka on May 25.
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The disruptions have also impacted Pogo, a browser gaming portal owned by the American publisher Electronic Arts. Concurrently, technical connection anomalies surged during user attempts to load online multiplayers like Rift, Guild Wars, and RuneScape.
According to metrics, Steam availability in Russia fell by approximately 5%, Xbox dropped by 9%, Epic Games went down by over 10%, and Origin saw a decline of nearly 11%. The most severe connection disruptions occurred with the online game Rift, where connectivity anomalies soared from a previous baseline of 4% up to 50%.
Connection stability for Guild Wars also decreased significantly, dropping by 30%. Apart from this case, the connectivity issues across other international gaming services and digital storefronts began emerging in February 2026. Similar technical disruptions have not been documented in other countries, including the United States.
Analysts at RKS Global have attributed these network anomalies to deliberate connection blocks, suggesting that certain platforms might have been targeted due to regulations regarding gambling or betting advertisements.
However, official public databases did not show an identical spike in recorded block listings. Consequently, experts have suggested that state authorities might be deploying Technical Measures for Countering Threats (TSPU).
These specialized hardware tools allow specialized entities to filter web traffic and deliberately restrict resource access speeds behind the scenes.
At the same time, regulatory pressure on foreign interactive entertainment publishers has intensified. Since late 2025, regulatory agencies have initiated multiple administrative legal cases against large publishers over alleged violations of personal data collection rules, specifically citing Article 13.11 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses.
Furthermore, monitoring systems detected a sudden rise in irregular connection checks directed at the network infrastructure of Electronic Arts and another major interactive media manufacturer, Blizzard.
The latter was previously penalized in 2025 for violating regulations tied to online information dissemination rules under Article 13.31 of the Administrative Code.
In March 2026, Russia actively implemented a nationwide “white list” system that restricted internet access exclusively to government-approved websites, applications, and key communication nodes. The approved lists encompassed essential digital services such as banking apps, marketplaces, mobile operators, email providers, and digital cash registers.
Andrei Svintsov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma’s Information Policy Committee, confirmed the sweeping measure, claiming that the infrastructure would be fully operational within two to three weeks and that authorities were actively mapping network routes to avoid severe transition problems.
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