The European Union is considering a total ban on the sale of video game consoles to Russia. The Financial Times reports a proposal by Kaja Kallas, vice-president of the European Commission, aimed at limiting the misuse of these platforms in a war context. Sony, Microsoft and PlayStation have ceased their operations on Russian soil since the evolution of the conflict with Ukraine in 2022. But that has not prevented the marketing of second-hand consoles or on the black market. Europe therefore wants to put an end to all forms of purchase to avoid any excesses related to these machines.
Peripherals that can be dangerous
Kaja Kallas would like to add PlayStation and Xbox consoles to the long list of restrictions imposed on Russia, because according to the vice-president, the country uses them to control drones. The diversion of these platforms initially intended for entertainment is not an unprecedented practice in the context of this conflict. In 2023, a first image of a Steam Deck on the battlefield had been published by the Ukrainian page TPO Media. A New York Times investigation published in July 2024 also confirmed this misuse.
This phenomenon is not unique to the war between Russia and Ukraine, as the U.S. military has been experimenting with controlling weapons with gamepads for several years now. The Steam Deck operating system – based on on Linux – is more open than that of classic consoles and therefore facilitates the installation of third-party programs for military purposes. It is therefore worth wondering why Valve's PC console is not on the European Commission's watch list.
Video games and the conflict
Since 2022, many video game productions have been affected by the conflict in Ukraine. At the start of the invasion, Nintendo, for example, decided to indefinitely postpone the release of its war simulation Advance Wars 1+2 Re-boot Camp, out of respect for the seriousness of the situation. Last December was also the scene of strange accusations. Russia accused the Ukrainian game STALKER 2 of secretly collecting data in order to facilitate the recruitment of soldiers. As such: not a single form of culture is spared in times of war, not even video games.
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