We continue to wrap up the year 2024 with teams in the gaming industry (or closely related to it). Up next is an interview with the director of Sobaka Studio, Dmitry Kachkov.
How was the year for the company? What achievements would you like to highlight?
The year was extremely productive, we barely lifted our heads from the feature patch we needed to implement.
Most of our achievements in 2024 are related to preparing for the upcoming release of our most ambitious game, KIBORG.
We signed a whole slew of agreements with partners (for PR, publishing, trailer creation, and more).
Yes, over 100,000 people have already played the free prologue of KIBORG. That's definitely an achievement!
How do you see the situation in the gaming market changing?
Everyone is bewildered, pitch-black ahead… Just kidding!
Personally, I feel that the worst is behind us. It was precisely through this challenging phase that industry participants have finally shed their rose-colored glasses. Many have finally realized that there are no guaranteed windfalls in the gaming market; you can’t just make money effortlessly. It's once again about making something amazing, as it has always been. Only then does the real Opportunity arise!
How was the year for the genre you work in?
We specialize in a very niche genre — rogue-lite beat 'em ups.
Quite a few beat 'em ups are released, but no one besides Sifu, which came out three years ago, has managed to achieve significant success.
There are plenty of rogue-lites too. On the other hand, what type of game isn't there a ton of right now? There's a lot of everything.
What trends do you expect to strengthen or emerge in your niche in 2025?
The default is to focus on making things visually stunning, but in my opinion, it's more sensible to work on optimization so that the game runs on any computer.
What are the company's plans for the coming year?
We are set to release KIBORG in 2025. It's quite daunting, but we're staying focused and working tirelessly to do the impossible! I think everything will turn out perfectly!
I am confident that the year will be interesting, with new challenges. We will overcome everything and reach the peak!