The British government is banning the export of video game controllers to Russia, claiming these can be repurposed for piloting drones on the frontline in Ukraine.
The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has implemented a new package of more than 150 new trade measures against Russia that came into force this week.
“We’re also banning outright video game controllers going to Russia, preventing them from being used to pilot drones on the frontline, meaning gaming consoles will no longer be repurposed to kill in Ukraine,” said Minister of State Stephen Doughty.
The majority of video games and their controllers are, however, made in China, like a great deal of other tech hardware and components, with some PlayStation consoles produced in Japan. Banning the sale of handheld controllers from the UK might stop them being re-exported to Russia, but if the warmongers in Moscow are determined to get their hands on them, they can simply ask their allies in China.
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We have asked the FCDO if they have figures on how many video game controllers are exported from the UK, but have not yet received a response. We also asked the Department for Business and Trade the same question, but it said it didn’t have this information.
There is also the question of whether video game controllers are of any use for controlling drones. They typically link to the console via a cable or a Bluetooth connection, both designed for close proximity use. Drone controllers are usually designed for high precision and use more powerful radio technology with a range of many miles or kilometers.
“It may be more a case of games controllers connecting via USB or Bluetooth to the actual drone control system, which will be a more specialized unit that will be able to translate and retransmit the commands coming from the game controller,” said Andrew Buss, Senior Research Director for Digital Infrastructure Strategies at IDC.
“This would be similar to the Oceangate Titan submersible that had been using standard games controllers that would connect wirelessly to the submersible’s control system, which would then result in software defined responses to effect the desired control inputs through the various thrusters etc,” he added.
It will be hard to realistically ban game controllers from reaching Russia as it is very mature technology and many options can be sourced readily second hand or from mass producers in China
While Brit politicians in Westminster claim video game controllers are being used to pilot drones on the frontline in Ukraine, there appears to be little they can do about this.
“It will be hard to realistically ban game controllers from reaching Russia as it is very mature technology and many options can be sourced readily second hand or from mass producers in China, so this does seem more of a token effort than a serious initiative,” Buss said.
