Russia is willing to pay $100 million to create a Call of Duty rival

Russia is looking to spend more than $100 million to develop a AAA first-person shooter that directly competes with Activision's Call of Duty.

Russia is willing to pay $100 million to create a Call of Duty rival
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Tech and Science Editor
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TL;DR: Russia plans to invest $128 million and offer tax incentives to develop a domestic AAA military shooter rivaling Call of Duty. This initiative aims to counter perceived Russophobia in existing games by creating a patriotic alternative, supported by government ministries and aligned with broader goals to boost Russia's gaming and tech industries.

Russia wants to produce its own Call of Duty competitor and is willing to spend as much as 10 billion rubles, or $128 million, to make it happen.

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The $128 million budget was put forward by Russian government ministries that are also offering additional tax breaks, financial support, lowered insurance premiums, VAT exemptions, and other various incentives that will be provided to any Russian game development studio that is willing to take on the task of creating a shooter that rivals Activision's Call of Duty.

Russia's desire to have its own domestically produced gaming monitors has been an open objective for quite some time, with even Vladimir Putin ordering Russian tech companies to create a variety of consoles that rival consoles made by Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo.

"If the IRI receives an application for the allocation of funding for the development of a game on a topic corresponding to that indicated in your letter, it will be considered in the established procedure within the framework of the current competitive mechanisms," stated the Ministry of Digital Development

The idea of creating a Russian AAA military shooter that is on the same scale as Call of Duty was first suggested by the State Duma deputy Mikhail Delyagin, who recently accused the creators of the Call of Duty franchise of having "Russophobia" as Russians "always" are the "bad guys" in the games. Russia wants to fight this branding of Russia with its own game, presumably where players fight against America, Britain, and Ukraine.