We were curious about the life of a Ukrainian game developer during the war, so we turned to the largest industry representatives with the following questions:
What new projects are currently in the works and what is planned for the future? How has the work of companies and the lives of employees changed due to the war? How did the game dev market and customers react to the events in Ukraine?
It should be noted that not all of the companies we contacted found the time and opportunity to respond to us. Also, we decided not to send requests to some companies for ideological reasons (ties to Russia). In any case, please read and write in the comments what you think about Ukrainian gambling. The answers are below. But first, some statistics.
Almost 15% of specialists lost their jobs during the year
Despite the war, the game development market in Ukraine is developing well, as is the IT industry. However, the number of employees in the Ukrainian gaming industry is decreasing. Thus, according to GameDev DOU as of February 2024, the number of specialists in the industry decreased by 1020 people (or 11.75%) in six months, and by 1411 (almost 15%) in a year. Interestingly, the share of technical specialists has increased over the past six months. In winter 2023, they accounted for 81.4% of all employees, in August last year - almost 81%, and as of February 2024 - 84%. The reasons for the decline are believed to be investor caution, the separation of companies, and a slowdown in the IT services market.
In terms of job openings, spring ended on a positive note for gaming professionals - after a 5% drop in April, May brought the numbers back to March levels. As always, the opportunity to work remotely is present in the vast majority of offers. Kyiv, Lviv, and Dnipro became the leading cities in which game developers were most sought after in May 2024.
One of the trends caused by the war is the opening of representative offices and offices in the European Union by Ukrainian game development companies. The most popular location is Poland, where more than 10 game development companies have opened over the past two years. This trend demonstrates the desire of Ukrainian developers to increase the audience, gain access to European markets, and attract qualified specialists. Representatives of the gaming industry spoke about this in more detail at iForum 2023. Video of the discussion panel is here.
Ukrainian game dev: plans and new projects
Olga Sendziuk, Studio Manager, Ubisoft Ukraine:
Ukrainian Ubisoft studios are involved in the company's most famous franchises. Currently, the company is working on Assassin's Creed Shadows, XDefiand, Rainbow 6 Seige and Rainbow 6 Mobile, Skull & Bones. In addition, the company has strong technical teams working on Ubisoft engines, Ubisoft Connect, automation, compliance, and more. Moreover, Ubisoft Ukraine has been an internationally recognized expert in accessibility for many years.
The company plans to consolidate its position in those elements where it already has a good reputation and expertise, and explore opportunities to grow both teams and contributions to games and services. Ubisoft Ukraine will continue to develop in Ukraine, invest in the growth of the economy and take care of the teams.
| Reference: Ubisoft Ukraine is home to two dynamic game development studios located in Kyiv (founded in 2008) and Odesa (founded in 2018). With more than a decade of history, Ubisoft Ukraine has established itself as a vital part of the Ubisoft global network, contributing to the creation of acclaimed games across multiple platforms, including mobile. Talented Ukrainian teams have a wealth of experience and creativity, working with such well-known franchises as Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Watch Dogs, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Skull and Bones, and many others. In the summer of 2016, the Kyiv studio opened a testing department for video games developed by the studio. Ubisoft Kyiv is also responsible for the development of PC versions of games and participates in co-development with other branches of the company. |
Olena Burda, General Manager at Plarium Ukraine and Plarium Poland:
This year, the company celebrates the fifth anniversary of its most successful project, RAID: Shadow Legends. The game continues to hold a leading position in the US market among RPGs. At the beginning of the year, a crossover with Monster Hunter was launched in RAID thanks to a collaboration with Capcom. In addition, the company cooperated with Universal Games and Digital Platforms, which resulted in the appearance of Xena as a legendary heroine in RAID.
Plarium continues to develop its PvP shooter Mech Arena. The game has already been downloaded by more than 50 million users worldwide, and this number is constantly growing. Last year, the team released a desktop version of the game. The company's games are available on Steam, Epic Store, and Microsoft Store. Currently, they are actively working on the development of an unannounced third-person shooter and expanding the project team.
| Reference: Plarium is an international product company that develops and publishes mobile and PC MMO games in various genres: RPG, Action, Strategy, Casual Games, etc. More than 1300 specialists create games remotely and in offices in Israel, Ukraine, Finland, Poland, and the United States. RAID: Shadow Legends, Mech Arena - these and 18 other hits unite more than 450 million players worldwide. For 15 years of creating games, the company has achieved high quality in development and graphics. Facebook has twice recognized Plarium as the best developer of hardcore games, and the company's projects receive funding from the App Store and Google Play. |
Oleksandr Kaliberov, STUDIO MANAGER, Gameloft_KHA:
Currently, the company has two projects in its portfolio - Minion Rush and Dragon Mania Legends, and soon it will be entrusted with the development of another project from the top 5 games from Gameloft. The name of the project has not yet been disclosed, but they assure that it will be a very exciting game.
"I advise everyone to install games from Gameloft and follow the news, as our team is working on all the best games of the company," said Alexander Kaliberov, STUDIO MANAGER of Gameloft_KHA.
| Reference: Gameloft is a video game publisher and developer headquartered in Paris with offices around the world. The company creates games for all digital platforms and has an audience of over 157 million monthly users. Gameloft manages its own franchises, such as Asphalt, Order & Chaos, Modern Combat, and Dungeon Hunter. The company has been operating in Ukraine since 2007: Gameloft Kharkiv is one of the largest and most successful video game development studios with more than 360 gamelofters; Gameloft Lviv is a young studio with more than 180 gamelofters and continues to grow. |
Serhiy Shumyhora, Executive Director, Wargaming Kyiv:
Wargaming Kyiv team continues to develop and support World of Tanks. This includes the creation and release of various game modes and events, development of updates and improvements for the game, and the work of artists. It was the art team that played a major role in creating the visual style of Ukrainian gangs in the WargamingUnited charity project.
Some of the aforementioned WoT gaming events are based on playing against opponents under the guidance of artificial intelligence, which is the technology that the Kyiv studio specializes in. There is also a separate large team of artists at Central Art, which is involved in working with various Wargaming games.
There is also a Platform team that develops what is not visible at first glance: the system of accepting and processing payments, the Wargaming Game Center launcher, account management, and other in-game services. They played an important role in creating a technical solution for the transition of Ukrainian players to European servers in the company's games in 2022.
The team of World of Warplanes, which was developed at WG's Kyiv studio, continues to work, as well as another team working on an unannounced project. The plans are to continue to develop, support, and make games even better for players and release new projects. They will be announced when the company is ready for it.
| Reference: Wargaming is one of the world's largest publishers and developers of free-to-play MMO games. Founded in 1998, the company has offices around the world and employs more than 3,500 people. The audience of its games includes more than 200 million users on all major gaming platforms. Kyiv-based Wargaming Studio is one of the first gaming companies in Ukraine with a 20-year history. Today, it employs over 440 specialists who develop world-famous titles such as World of Tanks and World of Warplanes, as well as create new games. |
Comment from Kevuru Games:
The company cannot name individual projects due to the terms of the NDA. Kevuru Games is currently actively working on expanding its presence in other regions of the world, both on the part of customers and partners, as well as on the part of employees. The company constantly participates in important global gaming conferences, which allows it to keep its finger on the pulse of the industry, actively promote the brand and represent Ukraine in the international arena.
| Reference: Kevuru Games is a game art and development studio, a global game development partner that helps developers and publishers create games by providing full-cycle game development services as well as standalone game art creation. The company was founded in 2011. With more than 250 full-time professionals, Kevuru Games specializes in the following areas: full game development cycle; art (2D, AAA); animation (2D, 3D); porting; QA. |
Daniel Poludyonny, Director at N-iX Game & VR Studio:
"We continue to maintain healthy relationships with our partners, successfully sign new clients, and focus on developing our own products," Daniel Poludyonny, Director at N-iX Game & VR Studio, told us in a commentary.
| Reference: N-iX Game & VR Studio is a game development and art production company. It was founded in 2012 as a separate unit within the international IT company N-iX, which develops games, game design, and virtual and augmented reality applications. N-iX Game & VR Studio's clients include Paradox Development Studio, MindArk, Silicon Studio, and Adverty. The company is engaged in full-cycle development; co-development; 2D/3D art; 2D/3D animation, motion capture, VFX; NFT art production; Unreal Engine/C++ development; VR and Metaverse solutions; cloud solutions. Participated in such large projects as World of Tanks, Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts 2, Stellaris, Crusader Kings III. |
Oleksandr Blagodarenko, CEO of Bini Games:
Currently, Bini Games operates in five key areas, creating educational and entertainment products for children:
▪️Learn&Play. Educational apps for learning the alphabet, numbers, and developing key preschool skills. This year, we released a major project called Bini Trucks, a game with construction set elements in which kids can take care of special equipment and build their own city.
▪️Funny Food. Educational applications that immerse children in the colorful universe of Funny Food, where each game recreates everyday situations: cooking, shopping, harvesting, etc. By completing various tasks, children learn the basics of math, the alphabet, and develop cognitive skills.
▪️Drawing Team. Interactive coloring pages with step-by-step drawing and drawing by numbers, in which, upon completion, the drawn characters come to life. Children have access to a large palette of colors and tools that they can use freely. The apps offer both classic coloring pages with favorite characters and educational tasks for learning the alphabet and numbers.
▪️SuperApp. A new direction aimed at creating a platform application with diverse entertainment mechanics with educational elements. Over the past six months, 10 game mechanics have been developed and more than 10 are being prepared for inclusion in the platform application.
▪️MaPanda. A project with interactive lessons, where teachers and psychologists dressed as cute characters call children and conduct classes. It has proved to be a great success in the Ukrainian market, especially as a tool for psychological recovery of children after stress and development of emotional intelligence. So far, almost 3000 children have completed the psychological support program. Among them are about 600 Children of Heroes.
We also created two new apps: Whatty, a product based on the interaction of young users with artificial intelligence, and Bun Bun World, an interactive cartoon with interesting mini-games.
The nearest goals and plans of Bini Games:
▪️actively develop and expand the product portfolio, enter adjacent market niches (educational technologies, entertainment), and expand the age groups of the target audience;
▪️improve the geographical penetration of products by targeting local markets and entering alternative application distribution platforms;
▪️to work out the possibilities, advantages and applications of artificial intelligence (AI/ML) in both processes and products;
▪️intensify business development, form strategic partnerships in the market, in particular with popular children's brands (Intellectual Property);
▪️develop the company's culture based on professionalism, responsibility and initiative of each individual and the team as a whole.
| Reference: Bini Games is a Ukrainian product company, a leading developer of educational mobile applications for children. The company was founded in 2012. The Bini Games team has created more than 30 applications and localized them into more than 10 languages, including English, Chinese, Ukrainian, and has an audience of more than 350 million young users worldwide. The apps work on iOS, tvOS, Android (Google Play Store, Amazon). |
Oleksandr Blagodarenko, Founder в Uni-Bit Studio:
This year, the company is working on several interesting projects:
▪️Uni-Bit Studio has been working with Blizzard on the Diablo IV project, where it is creating 3D models of weapons, environmental elements, and animals. Thanks to the successful partnership, the company and all employees involved in the project were included in the list of authors at the end of the game, recognizing their significant role in creating this gaming masterpiece.
▪️The company can also boast of winning the Game Maker's Sketchbook Selection in the Iconography section with talent icons for the Warcraft Rumble project together with the Blizzard team. Here are the links to the winners.
▪️The Sword Reverie project is an exciting RPG available on the Steam platform. Uni-Bit Studio ported the game to Meta Quest 2 and Quest 3, expanding its reach in the virtual reality market. In addition, the company is constantly adding new content and functionality to provide players with more experiences.
"We strive to expand opportunities and stay at the forefront of game development. Our main areas of focus include AAA, mobile and console games, VR, AR, and MR projects. In the future, we plan to continue working in all of these areas, focusing mainly on major releases (AAA) for personal computers and game consoles. In addition, we are considering significant development in the field of augmented and virtual reality. Our company plans to actively work on projects for these platforms, relying on a significant technological breakthrough in these areas," Oleksandr Blagodarenko, Founder at Uni-Bit Studio, told us.
| Reference: Uni-Bit Studio is a team of professionals that creates exciting games for smartphones, computers, or consoles. The company has been developing mobile games and applications for over 9 years, and also supplies qualified specialists to other studios and businesses. In general, the company works in the following areas: development of mobile, console, and PC games; creation of high-quality 2D and 3D graphic design for AAA projects; development of VR, AR, and MR projects for entertaiment, marketing, and education; professional experience with NFT projects; software project management and art/game development consulting. |
The impact of war on the work of game development companies
Olga Sendziuk, Studio Manager, Ubisoft Ukraine:
The company needed time to adapt to the new reality. Now Ubisoft Ukraine has found its balance. The safety and well-being of the teams is a priority, and the projects and contribution as a code studio are stable.
Some employees are defending Ukraine, and the company tries to support the teams in every way possible, including the opportunity to take a long vacation, access to psychologist and support services, and regular internal sessions with mental and physical health experts. In addition, Ubisoft Ukraine has developed a veterans' reintegration program and was recognized in the TOP 25 Employers for Veterans by Forbes magazine.
As for the headcount, there were no layoffs in the company, but there is a natural turnover of staff, there are employees who left and joined other Ubisoft studios. Currently, Ukrainian studios cooperate with about 750 specialists.
Olena Burda, General Manager у Plarium Ukraine та Plarium Poland:
Some of the company's employees have joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine, others help units, send humanitarian aid and even open their own charitable foundations. Plarium's priorities are the safety and well-being of employees and their families. New benefits have been introduced and existing ones have been updated to provide support to specialists. The company provides assistance with relocation and workplace arrangement in case of blackouts. Lectures and reimbursement for consultations with psychologists have been introduced, as well as the opportunity to take sick leave in case of power outages, shelling or emergencies.
Plarium has finally switched to a remote work format. Employees work remotely in Ukraine and abroad. The office in Lviv continues to operate and has moved to a larger space. We also opened a studio in Warsaw. For those who serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, jobs are preserved and full financial assistance is provided until they return from the war.
Veterans are also returning to work. Currently, Plarium Ukraine employs more than 650 specialists. There were no layoffs in the company due to the war. However, at the beginning of the year, some changes were announced in the global Pixel United organization, which affected positions in the global team, including the Plarium team in Ukraine. During this transition period, there was support for the affected employees: financial assistance, letters of recommendation, counseling, and job search guides were provided.
In 2023, Plarium entered the TOP-3 taxpayers among Diia.City residents. The company expanded its cooperation with Ukrainian foundations, including the UNBROKEN National Rehabilitation Center, Children of Heroes, Veteran Hub, Volunteer, and others. The company also contributed to updating the school curriculum in computer science at the initiative of the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Ministry of Education and Science.
Oleksandr Kaliberov, STUDIO MANAGER, Gameloft_KHA:
At the beginning of the invasion, the company clearly stated that the life and health of its employees was the number one priority, so it tried to provide everyone with everything they needed to continue working in the crisis.
Gameloft has two studios in Ukraine (Kharkiv and Lviv). In the first months of the conflict, many employees from Kharkiv went to Lviv, where they continued to work together. The company had to optimize to get a new project for the studio. A year after the start of the full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian team led a crucial game for the global company's financial performance. The majority of the Gameloft team remains in Ukraine, the vast majority in Kharkiv.
"Part of the local management, including me, is located in Kharkiv, but we all actively follow the news and keep in touch with all members of our team around the clock, 24/7," said Oleksandr Kaliberov, STUDIO MANAGER of Gameloft_KHA.
As Kateryna Koshparenok, HR Manager at Gameloft Kharkiv, recently reported, the staff of the company's Kharkiv office has been reduced by 41 employees. According to GameDev DOU, this list includes the head of the studio Artem Nabatov, who has worked for the company for over 14 years.
"This decision was not taken lightly, and we understand the impact it may have on the affected employees. We are working with them on a case-by-case basis to find the best way to resolve their situation," said Kateryna.
The manager also emphasized that the dismissal notices and compensations were made in accordance with Ukrainian law. She also explained the reasons why the studio took this step.
"We have to constantly review our production capacity. After careful consideration and in response to the constant changes in market conditions we face, it became necessary to implement staff reductions," the manager summarized.
As a reminder, in February 2024, it became known that 38 employees at Gameloft Lviv office were dismissed.
Serhiy Shumyhora, Executive Director, Wargaming Kyiv:
As for the global Wargaming, which includes the Kyiv studio, after the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, it was decided to withdraw from the markets of Russia and Belarus, cease business in these countries and close the company's development office in Minsk. Following this decision, the company lost $250 million and about 1600 employees, but there were no layoffs in the Kyiv studio due to this decision.
Employees in Kyiv have received and continue to receive support from the global WG since the start of the full-scale invasion. By the end of 2022, the business was optimized and the portfolio was reviewed.
The company tries to provide employees with all possible support, including access to a psychological support platform. Currently, Wargaming Kyiv employs more than 440 specialists. Some of them are serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the company continues to pay their salaries in full.
Comment from Kevuru Games:
From the first day of the war, the most important issue for the company was the safety of its employees. A separate point was to preserve jobs as much as possible in the face of martial law and economic recession.
The next challenge was to retain the pool of existing customers and attract new ones in the face of the new reality (power outages, new attacks). The company has developed a plan to ensure uninterrupted operation during power outages and blackouts and optimized processes. Currently, a significant part of the Kevuru Games team is abroad, constantly in touch and ready to back up colleagues in Ukraine at any time.
Currently, the company has open positions for both Ukrainian specialists and specialists from other countries where Kevuru Games operates. The number of employees has changed over more than two years of war. Especially over the last year due to the crisis in the gaming market.
The main reasons for the staff reduction were: legalization abroad; global slowdown in the IT services market, in particular gaming; clients (both new and existing) are slower and more cautious in investing in new projects in Ukraine. The company currently employs 259 people.
Daniel Poludyonny, Director в N-iX Game & VR Studio:
"It was difficult in the first two weeks of the war because it was hard to do and keep track of work in the chaos of people's movements. After that period, when people moved to safe places, the work continued as usual. Then there were problems with electricity and communication. The company helped employees purchase power supplies and Starlink satellite systems. There were no layoffs, we currently employ about 210 people (full-time and part-time)," Daniel Poludyonny, Director at N-iX Game & VR Studio, told us.
Oleksandr Blagodarenko, СЕО компанії Bini Games:
One of the priorities was the safety of employees and their families. The company introduced a system of compensation for the purchase of necessary equipment and provided consultations to help everyone in their individual situation. A charity fund was established to support people affected by the hostilities, with up to 10% of profits allocated to it.
From the first days of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Bini Games was forced to switch to a fully remote format of operation, as the company's only office was in Kharkiv. This led to the restructuring of most processes, but this model of work has proven to be effective in the current environment.
The company continued the strategic transformation of Bini Games planned back in 2021, which resulted in the reduction of the staff from 250 to 200 people. The company also gradually switched to a studio format of the organizational structure and spun off a publishing division. The vast majority of contractors at Bini Games are Ukrainian specialists.
Oleksandr Blagodarenko, Founder в Uni-Bit Studio:
During the war, the company decided to quickly adapt and change its approaches to ensure the safety of its employees and the stability of its operations:
▪️work mode - remote work was introduced for employees to reduce physical security risks and ensure the continuation of the company's operations;
▪️communication between the teams and the company's management was improved to ensure a quick response to any incidents;
▪️security and business continuity during emergencies were ensured; Uni-Bit developed a planning system that included a range of measures and strategies to respond to possible problems. Particular attention was paid to the fact that some employees lived in the occupied territories, so it was important to ensure their safety and immediately relocate them to safe places.
During the full-scale invasion, Uni-Bit faced the need to make a number of unpopular decisions, including layoffs. In the first days of the conflict, 8 employees from Russia were dismissed due to objective circumstances and security concerns.
Over the past two years, the company has also experienced other layoffs due to the market situation and reduced workload. However, at the same time, there was an expansion of staff in certain areas of the company's activities. Currently, Uni-Bit employs 48 Ukrainian specialists.
How customers and the gambling market react to the war
Olga Sendziuk, Studio Manager, Ubisoft Ukraine:
For many years, Ukrainian studios have been a reliable partner within Ubisoft on major franchises and continue to develop and expand their expertise. For example, Ukrainian teams took part in the development of six games published by Ubisoft last year.
The company is also proud of its contribution to the development of Assassin's Creed Shadows and its contribution to the development of the incredible XDefiant game, which was released on May 21, 2024, including in Ukrainian.
"As for the Ukrainian market, we see a moderately stable situation in the main players of the game development market. Despite a certain decrease in the number of staff in these companies in previous periods, it was often not so much due to the situation in Ukraine, but rather to global reorganization or optimization processes that reflect the general state of the industry around the world," explained Olga Sendziuk, Studio Manager of Ubisoft Ukraine.
According to her, it is difficult to deny the impact of the war and the additional caution of risk-oriented investors, as well as the high number of developers who choose to continue their lives outside of Ukraine.
"We can note a surge of interest in everything Ukrainian and investors' openness to cautious but stable investment in Ukrainian expertise and products. Also, international companies are increasingly adding Ukrainian localization to their projects. In my opinion, the interest in our country is growing and I want to believe that these processes will become a long-term trend for the Ukrainian game development market," summarized Olga Sendziuk.
Olena Burda, General Manager у Plarium Ukraine та Plarium Poland:
"We received incredible support from our players. When the war broke out, all the chats were full of people talking about how they could help. We were overwhelmed by a wave of care and support from moderators and players from all over the world: they spread petitions, held charity streams, and raised funds to support Ukraine," Olena Burda, General Manager at Plarium Ukraine and Plarium Poland, told us.
The company has added Ukrainian characters and symbols to its games. RAID: Shadow Legends features Taras The Fierce and Marichka The Invincible, and Mech Arena has Ukrainian skins for mechs and pilot Stefania.
"The macroeconomic situation and geopolitical instability have a negative impact on the game development market. The industry is changing, new challenges are emerging, and the competition for attracting new players is becoming even tougher," said Olena Burda.
Oleksandr Kaliberov, STUDIO MANAGER, Gameloft_KHA:
STUDIO MANAGER of Gameloft_KHA Alexander Kaliberov noted that the beginning of the full-scale invasion coincided with the lifting of covid restrictions globally. According to him, people played more during the quarantine, which had a positive impact on the industry.
However, with the easing of restrictions, people began to devote more time to work and other activities, which led to a decrease in the number of players, the time they spend playing games, and financial performance.
"As a part of global processes, we observe changes, but we also develop and implement effective plans that give us optimism for the development of the studio," summarized Oleksandr Kaliberov.
Serhiy Shumyhora, Executive Director, Wargaming Kyiv:
"Our customers are our players. And one of the tasks was to do everything to ensure that players continue to receive updates and access to the game. This, of course, also applies to Ukrainian players who wanted to switch and spend time playing the game. We are grateful to everyone for their support and for staying with us, and we, in turn, try to please them with game improvements," said Serhiy Shumyhora, Executive Director of Wargaming Kyiv.
According to him, if we talk about the game dev market, the situation is the same as in many other industries, i.e. there are many different examples: someone supported Ukrainians with concrete actions by helping employees, fees, donations, activities, someone just said something, and someone did nothing. "There are more examples of the former, and we want to continue to help those who need it in Ukraine. In general, the gaming industry has shown itself to be a humane one in this matter," said Shumyhora.
Comment from Kevuru Games:
Kevuru Games noted that the company's clients supported them and did not close their projects. In the first month of the war, the company, like all other studios, focused on ensuring the safety of its employees and worked to save jobs and extend contracts with clients.
In March 2022, 90% of the team was already working. "Then we started adapting to the realities: we optimized business processes to ensure the smooth running of deliberate projects; developed a plan in case of an energy crisis; and opened a hub in Warsaw," Kevuru Games summarized.
Daniel Poludyonny, Director в N-iX Game & VR Studio:
"Customers reacted to the situation with understanding, some even sent money to their teams in our company. The market also reacted without panic," Danylo Poludyonnyi, Director at N-iX Game & VR Studio, told us. Danylo also recommended watching an interview from the XDS conference, where N-iX Game & VR Studio and other Ukrainian studios discussed the current state of game development and the impact of the war on the industry in detail:
Oleksandr Blagodarenko, СЕО компанії Bini Games:
"Bini Games is a product company, so our direct customers are parents and children from Europe and the United States. They usually react to changes only when something happens directly in their countries. Therefore, the war did not have a significant direct impact on our customers," explained Oleksandr Blagodarenko, CEO of Bini Games.
But, according to him, the IT market in general and gaming in particular are going through hard times. The global deterioration of the investment climate and the slowdown in economic growth are reflected in the crisis of the mobile gaming market and information technology.
"We can all recall numerous cases of waves of layoffs even in the most famous and successful companies. The situation remains tense, but we firmly believe that every slowdown will be followed by growth and the most important thing is to remember that any crisis is a time of opportunity," summarized Bini Games CEO.
Oleksandr Blagodarenko, Founder в Uni-Bit Studio:
Uni-Bit Studio said that the reaction of the company's clients to the war was varied: some showed great support and sympathy, while others expressed concern about maintaining project schedules and how the company would work without power and under fire.
"There were even cases when we had to evacuate employees from cities near the front line, observing the worried look of customers at the distance between us and the conflict zones," said Oleksandr Blagodarenko, Founder at Uni-Bit Studio.
According to him, with the outbreak of full-scale war, Uni-Bit Studio withdrew from all contracts with Russian and Belarusian companies, which at that time accounted for 60% of its contracts. This prompted the company to seek partnerships with more clients in the Western market. The process turned out to be long, but the company managed to establish cooperation with Blizzard. This was the opening of a new market for Uni-Bit Studio.
"As for the game development market in general, we can say that the difficult political and economic situation has a significant impact on it. This is also true for the Ukrainian game development market, where Western clients are choosing contractors with caution due to the risks associated with shelling, lack of electricity and mobilization. The deteriorating investment climate in the global game development market only exacerbates this situation, making it difficult to find financing and create new projects," Blagodarenko summarized.