Public chamber finds thousands of gaming addicts in Russia

Some 600,000 Russians are addicted to computer games, spending between 20 and 50 hours weekly glued to computer screens. Natalia Markova, director of the Communicative Research Center at the Russian Academy of Sciences and expert with the Federation Council, released such data in her report presented at a recent session of the Public Chamber for Culture Development. "This means that such people are basically lost to society. Their health is undermined, they are unable to start a family. Eventually they drop out of the demographic process," she said. Such words are essentially a verdict to gamers. It will be recalled that similar legislative initiatives have been put forward in neighboring Ukraine. The Russian Ministry of Education has already announced that it is drafting a bill that would introduce mandatory ratings for games depending on the level of their cruelty.