Gaming: a multi-billion-dollar industry.

One of the world’s top markets for video games is China, followed by the United States. Although Russia trails behind the global top 10, it’s said to be home to some of world’s leading video game developers.

It is all about escaping reality and assuming the role of another character, either in this world or on fictional planets.

But behind this glittering, noisy, and sometimes the scary world is a huge, multi-billion-dollar industry.

It was learned that thousands of gamers and developers have gathered in the gaming expo to check out the latest and hottest offerings in this booming market.

It’s a market that’s projected to see an almost 10 percent global annual growth this year.

Russia was ranked as the 11th largest video games market in the world in 2018, with an estimated revenue of only 1.7 billion U.S. dollars.

But their game developers are considered the top dogs in the industry.

The grandfather of all modern video games – the Tetris came from Russia almost 30 years ago.

Now, Russian companies see collaborations with Chinese counterparts as key in expanding their success.

Anton Shalaev, senior manager corporate development at Mail.Ru Group said they have  something like a silk road that goes both ways  it can be called the new – ‘gaming silk road’, through which Chinese games will be sold to the west and western ones to china,” said.

At the same time, Russian companies are teaming up with western game makers to test the water for new ideas.