Moscow Game Hub Climbs to Top 3: A New Global Powerhouse Emerges

Moscow has secured a spot among the world’s top three video game development hubs. According to a study by the Russian consultancy Yakov and Partners, Moscow Game Hub achieved a score of 2.18 out of 3, tying for third place with Sweden’s Game Habitat in Malmö. Notably, Moscow earned a perfect score of 3 for its infrastructure.

The study evaluated ten hubs across ten different countries. Moscow outperformed counterparts in South Korea, Spain, Singapore, India, Brazil and Germany. The only hubs to rank higher were the AD Gaming Hub in Abu Dhabi, which scored 2.56, and Shanghai’s Xuhui District, which received 2.48. These results were unveiled during the business program of the second Moscow International Game Week, held in Moscow from October 29 to November 1, 2026.

Spanning 55,000 square meters, Moscow Game Hub offers extensive facilities. These include a 60-camera motion-capture studio capable of tracking finger movements and facial expressions, alongside sound-recording and photogrammetry studios. The site also features a data center and a viewing room equipped with a screen nearly 800 square meters in size.

Currently, Moscow Game Hub hosts 74 resident companies, comprising 61 game studios and 13 animation studios. This represents one out of every five video game firms in Moscow. Together, these residents are working on more than 260 active projects.

In terms of studio support, Moscow tied with Shanghai for second place, earning a score of 2.31 out of 3. Residents benefit from office space at preferential rates. Those participating in the Video Game Factory accelerator can access the hub’s coworking facilities for just one ruble per month, or approximately 0.012 USD. Through the Moscow Video Game Export program, studios are assisted in reaching international markets via business missions and trade shows. In 2025, Moscow-based studios successfully secured 36 export contracts valued at over 12 million USD.

Research conducted by the Agency of Creative Industries indicates that the global video game market expanded by 14% in 2025, hitting a record 202.5 billion USD. During the same period, revenue generated by Russian companies grew by 16%, reaching 2.56 billion USD.

To compile the ranking, Yakov and Partners utilized seven distinct criteria: resident mix, infrastructure and access to computing capacity, studio support, talent availability, quality of life and industry regulation. Of these, the resident mix was weighted most heavily.

The analysts initially reviewed over 100 sites before shortlisting 80 hubs that possessed their own buildings and resident studios, with each site covering no more than 300,000 square meters. From there, they narrowed the selection to 30 of the largest hubs across 17 countries, ultimately finalizing an index of ten hubs, with one representative chosen from each of the ten countries.

Moscow International Game Week is taking place from October 29 to November 1. Organized by the Agency of Creative Industries under the Moscow Department of Culture, the event aims to showcase Russian animation and game projects to an international audience, while highlighting the infrastructure available to help studios expand and reach overseas markets.