Marketplaces Capture 70% of Russia's Board Game Sales as Market Heads to 41.2 Billion Rubles

Marketplaces accounted for roughly 70% of board game purchases in Russia in 2026, a study by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry's E-Commerce Development Council found, as reported by Izvestia. Over the same year, the market is expected to grow 12% and reach 41.2 billion rubles.

The legal board game market reached 36.8 billion rubles in 2025, up 15% year on year. Compared with 2020, the market has expanded 2.7 times. Analysts expect the growth rate to slow gradually going forward.

Why marketplaces took the lead

Online platforms have become the dominant sales channel for board games. The shift is dramatic: between January and May 2021, online channels accounted for only 43% of purchases.

The average ticket (the value of a single purchase) tells a mixed story. On digital platforms, it stood at 813 rubles in 2025, down 4% from the previous year. In specialized brick-and-mortar stores, the average ticket was far higher, at 2.1–2.2 thousand rubles. Marketplaces win on traffic and convenience, while specialty retail retains higher-value buyers.

Adults drive demand

One key growth factor is the expanding adult audience. Ekaterina Kosareva, managing partner at VMT Consult, estimates the ratio of children's to adult board game sales at 1:4. The most in-demand categories are party games, detective games and family games.

Data from Wildberries, however, adds nuance to that picture. In the first half of 2026, children's board games generated the largest share of sales on the platform. Their sales in physical units rose 6% year on year. Turnover of 18+ category games grew 4%, but their share of total sales remains small.

What holds the market back

Experts identify three brakes on growth:

• rising production costs;
• competition from other forms of leisure;
• the spread of counterfeit products.

Counterfeiting carries a measurable price. The CCI estimates the value of counterfeit board game listings on digital platforms reached 2 billion rubles in 2025.

What does this change for retailers?

For specialty retailers, the numbers define the challenge: marketplaces control the traffic and the low-ticket segment, leaving physical stores with a shrinking but higher-spending customer base. The 4% decline in the online average ticket signals price pressure that branded publishers and specialty chains will have to answer with premium and curated assortments.

For the market as a whole, the 12% growth forecast for 2026 — down from 15% in 2025 — marks the start of the deceleration analysts predicted, with counterfeit suppression and production economics now the sector's central issues.