Skip to main content PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES Search PC Gamer View Profile Movies & TV Gaming Industry PC Gaming Show Newsletter Signup Community Guidelines Affiliate Links Meet the team About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine Subscription Why subscribe? Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag Try a single issue or save on a subscription Issues delivered straight to your door or device From£35.99View Oblivion Remastered Baldur's Gate 3 Marvel Rivals Controllers UK government says Нет to British companies selling game controllers to Russia, to combat the use of drone attacks Nick Evanson 28 April 2025 "Gaming consoles will no longer be repurposed to kill in Ukraine." When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Future) It's hardly news that game controllers are used in modern warfare, as the compact, multi-buttoned devices have been used by armed forces for remote applications for years. However, with the rise of the use of drone attacks in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the UK government has decided to implement further export restrictions on Russia, one of which is the wholesale ban on selling any game controllers to the country. As to just how many controllers Russia purchases from the UK isn't clear, despite being asked by The Register, which reported on the export ban. But the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office is clear on what it will do: "Prevent them from being used to pilot drones on the frontline, meaning gaming consoles will no longer be repurposed to kill in Ukraine." I think we can somewhat forgive the department for confusing an entire game console with a generic controller, but I'm not entirely sure how effective the ban will be. As already mentioned, we don't know how game controllers are directly exported from the UK to Russia, let alone how many are then used in drone attacks. Then there's the question about whether the UK ranks in the list of countries that manufacture and export game controllers. Whatever the answer is, I'm pretty confident that it's quite low on the list, and if the ranking is based on the number of units exported, then China will top every country by some margin. You may like Developer of 'non-consensual sex' game withdraws it from Steam after it's banned in the UK, Canada, and Australia: 'We don't intend to fight the whole world' UK government says it won't change the rules on publishers taking videogames offline after selling them: 'We have no plans to amend existing consumer law on digital obsolescence' Another question that popped into my mind was about the controllers themselves. A wired Xbox pad would mean the drone would have a range of no more than a couple of metres, or the pilot would have to ride the drone. In which case, it's no longer a drone. Wireless game controllers use 2.4 GHz radio transmitters or Bluetooth, but neither of these has much range—at best, the drone attack would reach across the road. Of course, the controllers could just be plugged into the drone's control unit, which itself might be long-range wireless, so the export ban would absolutely prevent those from being driven. Well, with UK-sourced controllers, at least. 🔴 BANNED: export of video game controllers used to pilot Russian drones on the front line in Ukraine.Today’s measures will also cut Russia's war machine off from innovative British tech, world-leading software, and close loopholes exploited by Putin's cronies. pic.twitter.com/An6L3RckV1April 24, 2025 The rest of the export ban is somewhat more substantial, including various chemicals, electronics, metals, and machinery, but it does seem rather odd that the office felt that game controllers had to be included and required a specific comment about them. Russia can almost certainly manufacture its own game controllers to be used for drone attacks or, at the very least, demand that this happens, much like the proposal to create its own version of the Steam Deck. Whether the UK's export ban has any meaningful impact is an entirely separate debate, but the inclusion (or rather, removal) of game controllers is one that means more people are likely to be aware of the ban now. The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Best chair for gaming: the top gaming chairs around Best gaming desk: the ultimate PC podiums Best PC controller: sit back, relax, and get your game on Nick Evanson Hardware Writer Nick, gaming, and computers all first met in 1981, with the love affair starting on a Sinclair ZX81 in kit form and a book on ZX Basic. He ended up becoming a physics and IT teacher, but by the late 1990s decided it was time to cut his teeth writing for a long defunct UK tech site. He went on to do the same at Madonion, helping to write the help files for 3DMark and PCMark. After a short stint working at Beyond3D.com, Nick joined Futuremark (MadOnion rebranded) full-time, as editor-in-chief for its gaming and hardware section, YouGamers. After the site shutdown, he became an engineering and computing lecturer for many years, but missed the writing bug. Cue four years at TechSpot.com and over 100 long articles on anything and everything. He freely admits to being far too obsessed with GPUs and open world grindy RPGs, but who isn't these days? Developer of 'non-consensual sex' game withdraws it from Steam after it's banned in the UK, Canada, and Australia: 'We don't intend to fight the whole world' UK government says it won't change the rules on publishers taking videogames offline after selling them: 'We have no plans to amend existing consumer law on digital obsolescence' Microsoft's Adaptive Joystick is geared towards 'players with limited mobility' and is available now for just $30 The United Nations asked Helldivers 2 studio Arrowhead if it'd give a talk on psychological manipulation: ‘Could we brainwash an entire community to fight for a fascist state? … Would we be okay with that? Turns out, yeah’ Delta Force's Chinese developer says it doesn't 'have an opinion' on the American military and just wants to create 'fun and meaningful gameplay' with its campaign based on the very real Battle of Mogadishu Gaming's largest lobbying group says Trump's tariffs 'would negatively impact hundreds of millions of Americans' and do serious damage to the videogame industry Latest in Controllers UK government says Нет to British companies selling game controllers to Russia, to combat the use of drone attacks Thrustmaster T598 direct drive racing wheel review The Nintendo Switch 2 mouse controls are a great gimmick but they don't excite me at all Microsoft's Adaptive Joystick is geared towards 'players with limited mobility' and is available now for just $30 Nacon's promising Revosim RS Pure direct drive racing wheel lets you use your phone as a dashboard and settings tool, but it feels like it could do with a little work Scuf Valor Pro review Latest in News UK government says Нет to British companies selling game controllers to Russia, to combat the use of drone attacks REPO will never be free-to-play 'as we don't want to add microtransactions', say devs—hinting at earned cosmetics in the future Larian honcho Swen 'The Hammer' Vincke takes a new victory lap on 'high-profile people' who say singleplayer is dead: 'We've proven with BG3 that you can put in a pretty high budget and expect pretty high results' A mimic monster may come to REPO in the future, but it has to be 'really interesting' before it does A modder has turned an Intel CPU heatspreader into a functional water block with the help of a CNC machine. 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