Chinese exports of video game consoles to Russia have jumped nearly sevenfold since 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to Chinese customs data, raising concerns that such devices could be diverted for military use.
In 2024, China shipped $95.38 million worth of gaming devices, including controllers, to Russia, according to customs data released earlier this month. A Chinese research firm has said the sharp increase indicates gaming equipment is “becoming increasingly popular in Russia.”
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Earlier this year, Japan, Britain and the European Union banned the export of game controllers to Russia, citing concerns that such devices could be repurposed to operate drones on battlefield in Ukraine.
China has opposed Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and continued to trade with it, despite international concern that Chinese exports may be aiding the Russian war effort.
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if the Russians start piloting submarines with ps4 controllers, i hope they put their billionaires in them
As a greenhorn regarding gaming (and drones), is this something similar to what was posted on Telegram not long ago?
On the morning of April 15 [2025], Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti published — and later deleted — two Telegram posts that appeared to show military drone operators directing strikes against Ukrainian territory from a makeshift control center located inside a residential high-rise in Moscow City, the Russian capital’s business district.
Yes, they could make use of the physics engine of the tanks game of Polystation.
That is certainly a much better “good stuff”/weight ratio than washing machines. Would be interesting to see which products it are specifically and what components are relevant exactly.
With gaming still being a hobby most popular with young men it is certainly not plausible that the demand spikes while the customer bases is rapidly dying or getting maimed at the front.
If these consoles are just watered down android phones with gamepad sticks and buttons on their sides, I can see how they are relevant for operating a drone. I’m not in the know too though.
I wouldnt put it past companies to make “consoles”, that only have one shitty game to play, but just the perfect layout and components for something like operating drones if retrofitted.
Drone controllers and devices for denial of service attacks.
since 2022
2022 is also the year the Steam Deck came out and made these things really popular
Hello Saddam importing XBoxes to create a supercomputer 2.0 🤦♂️
It was PS2s.
