My.Video games has had an fascinating few years, after persistently being some of the profitable sport corporations in Russia and Europe, the Ukraine battle threw it and plenty of different corporations into disarray. Nonetheless, My.Video games gained a brand new lease on life when authentic homeowners, Russian social-media large VK, offered the corporate to new homeowners in 2022 which marked a interval of serious restructuring and a brand new course for the corporate.
My.Video games all the time had a robust footing within the European market, with staff and studios all throughout the continent. This has allowed the corporate to divest fully from any Russian operations and give attention to a shiny new future with a global; focus. The transfer has paid off, with the corporate noting key milestones for his or her video games akin to Hustle Citadel and Rush Royale in 2023.
We received the prospect to talk with CSO of My.Video games, Elena Grigoryan about a few of the difficulties that the corporate has confronted, how they overcame them and what’s subsequent for My.Video games.
PocketGamer.biz: After divesting from the Russian market, My.Video games has sought to broaden into each Europe and the broader world. How has that been going for you?
Elena Grigoryan: We’ve been centered on worldwide development and creating merchandise that gamers all all over the world will love since day one. The change in possession has solely bolstered this technique.
Most of our crew work remotely, so it’s essential for us to have the appropriate infrastructure and assets in place for our crew. We have now two foremost places of work, in Amsterdam and Limassol, Cyprus, and for the reason that buyout we have now opened co-working areas in Turkey, Armenia and Georgia.This 12 months, we plan to open new places of work and hubs in areas the place we plan to spice up our presence, such because the Center East, the place we see large potential.
Our crew loves the distributed workplace strategy we adopted across the time of the pandemic. We’ve discovered the appropriate setup that gives alternatives for our employees to develop, whereas creating enjoyable locations the place staff can meet and collaborate. This has been a driver in attracting new expertise from everywhere in the world.
What’s the most important problem My.Video games confronted, and the way did you overcome it?
Throughout our restructuring, a very powerful factor was to create the infrastructure, processes and stability to make sure the transition was as seamless as attainable for each our gamers and our staff. Contemplating that greater than 90% of our staff work remotely, it was a tall order to verify they didn’t face any interruptions of their every day work. It concerned a whole lot of work and energy on the backend – most of which went unseen – and I feel our entire crew did a tremendous job.
Does My.Video games have any massive plans within the near-future?
I’m excited to share that we have now some bold plans within the works. We have now a wealthy improvement pipeline with a number of tasks to be launched this 12 months. A few of them are model new IPs, and a few associated to our present franchises akin to Battle Robots: Frontiers, a PC and console third-person multiplayer mech shooter that’s an growth of the unique Battle Robots cell sport. The sport was launched on the finish of 2022 and runs on Unreal Engine 5, which allowed us to introduce new thrilling options, and is an energetic improvement in the meanwhile delivering common updates with the total launch on PC and consoles scheduled for later in 2023.
The opposite focus level for us is increasing our international presence, getting into new markets, enabling gamers entry high quality entertaining content material and supporting gifted sport builders throughout the globe. We have now fashioned a number of partnerships with gaming associations in Europe on this respect to create extra alternatives for native builders and we will even launch the third season of the Recreation Drive program in partnership with key trade leaders to proceed supporting gifted groups.
What tendencies are you most excited to see within the cell sport trade in 2023?
The final couple years had been fairly difficult for the cell sport trade, and one factor we’ve discovered at My.Video games is how necessary it’s to have a diversified portfolio. With a view to keep aggressive and provide customers compelling content material, it is important for gaming corporations to supply a various vary of video games throughout a number of platforms, genres, and monetization fashions.
In 2023, gaming corporations can be on the lookout for methods to deliver new merchandise to market and entice new audiences to present ones. The established UA mechanisms are not working as successfully as they used to, and everyone seems to be on the lookout for new alternatives – and creating a robust sport model can be considered one of them.
Cross-platform video games will allow gamers throughout totally different platforms to play collectively extra seamlessly. Firms that create an awesome cross-platform person expertise could have a robust aggressive benefit and better attain.
As competitors for person consideration intensifies, sport corporations are going through new challenges akin to modifications in person acquisition methods and decreased buying energy amongst purchase gamers, all of which may have a major affect on their backside line. With a view to navigate this panorama, it is changing into more and more necessary to make data-driven choices that prioritise optimization in each advertising and marketing and operations. With the applying of AI, sport corporations can leverage superior algorithms to streamline inventive content material manufacturing and scale back prices, whereas nonetheless offering partaking experiences for his or her customers. Moreover, centralization of providers and unification of platform options will help scale back prices, streamline operations, and enhance total effectivity, offering additional alternatives for corporations to optimise their operations and enhance profitability.
