Leevi: Sanctions are preventing lots of Russian banks from working on western shops, only a matter of time before sanctions hit all Russian banks. So if you can't pay for anything, then you can't buy anything from digital stores.
True, but each stick has two ends - western countries still need to buy some things from us. Therefore, they need to have some means to transfer payments. I, somehow, doubt it'll be galleons, filled to the brim with gold coins. I think we already passed that moment of humankind history long ago. Arrr!
As for "internal" market, our Mir system works just fine. I forgot when I used my Visa for anything, but buying games here.
Leevi: And hyper inflation makes things hard even if the payments wouldn't be blocked.
It depends. Because we were buying games before regional prices were introduced.
Many people are buying consoles and games, and they cost more than PC versions (yes, strange shift in pricing model, where consoles are "the premium" and PC is "mass-market"). Well, those people who could find current-gen consoles, that is.
Leevi: Remedy has offered to take in the developers they had working for them, I would be surprised if they don't take that offer. I very much doubt there is enough market inside Russia (or in other countries Russia can trade, like North Korea, Belarus, China) for AAA level developers, so best developers will leave if they can.
*Arches an eyebrow*
There is seems to be misconception when it comes to being "best" developer and having the "most" monies.
Usually there is a inverse correlation, the more "interesting" job is, the lower salaries are, and vice versa. Therefore, most monies are within "fin-tech" area, be that banks, stores, some logistical systems, commerce - that sort of thing. It's fairly boring, and mind-numbing work. Not really a rehashing JSONs, but as someone, who had being paid for watching paint dry, I wouldn't call that job even remotely interesting.
I may be wrong, but I think it is very wrong to estimate salaries in isolation from other factors. Yes, maybe in "flat rates" some spherical Andrei will have smaller salary than some spherical Andrew, if you convert their salaries to a single currency. But what about proportions of their income and their spendings, as well as some benefits, provided by either employer or government? Let say Andrew earns 2500 buckazoids, while Andrei earns 1000. But, after all regular expenses (rent, utilities, food, medicine, etc) Andrew has only 10% of his income on his hands, while Andrei has 25%? And he has government healthcare insurance, government pays for education, yadda-yadda-yadda.
Last, but not least, there is a deficit of cadres. Everywhere. Those cadres who really knows their craft, not just "soft skills" allowing them to change their workplaces more frequently than they change their FFP masks, before their colleagues and employers figure out that "eye-tee specialist" they paid an extra knows nothing and left before doing something useful, with promotion and salary raise for some other company. So, I sincerely doubt that "best" are going to leave anywhere.
Leevi: Lots of people trying to get out of Russia, black market prices train tickets from Russia to Finland are 6500€ I hear (all tickets sold for a long time, and originally they cost only 100€)
O_O Where in Heavens you picked that up? Current train ticket Saint-Petersburg/Helsinki costs from 3500 Roubles, that's roughly 30 Euros. Yes, it's not for tomorrow's train, only in two weeks, but, well, I've seen reports on people selling their places in queues for new iphones. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Leevi: Maybe Russian companies can produce some games for domestic market, but I don't think there will be much money in that. Russians are likely to just pirate western games instead.
*shrugs* Any development is a compromise. Not just game development, any development. According to those articles I've read, our devs do make enough money, but on mobile market. I don't play mobile games, so I can't speak here from personal experience.
Yes, it was an "open market", no one knows, what will happen next. But, despite the fact Apple and Google do controlling vast majority of OSes(wes (probably will never be bored out by that drunken witchers cutscene)) on smartphones, they are not the only ones.
Maybe we will see some form of unified game engine, that will trivialize development, allowing one studio to work on it, while others will concentrate on creative parts. Like I said, I'm not clairvoyant.
But I think western game developers and publishers do want to get moar money on their bank accounts, so they will find some ways to sell us their stuff. Thomas Dunning and all that.