We continue to reflect on the outcomes of 2024 with teams and experts from the gaming industry. Up next is an interview with Sergey Efremov, COO of Astrum Entertainment.
How was the year for your company? What achievements would you like to highlight?
The year 2024 was one of significant changes for us: we welcomed a new CEO, developed a new growth plan, and secured numerous strategic partnerships with international companies.
At the massive gaming exhibition “RED EXPO,” held in Moscow from November 28 to December 1, we unveiled two major gaming projects— the PvPvE shooter NCORE and the MMORPG Bellatores. We plan to publish these games in Russia and the CIS countries.
In the PvPvE shooter NCORE, players, acting as gladiators, will battle in a futuristic arena that continuously transforms within a single match — from World War I trenches to a zombie-infested New York. To win, teams of three players must earn victory tokens by clearing guard zones, defeating bosses or opponents, and completing special challenges on the maps. NCORE is being developed on Unreal Engine 5.
The developer of the action MMORPG Bellatores is the Korean company Nyou Inc. The game's plot unfolds in a brutal medieval world, where players must join one of the five great houses, battling against each other, leading their faction to greatness. Heroes can conquer territories and valuable resources, besiege enemy forts and castles. The game is also developed on Unreal Engine 5.
Bellatores
The release of NCORE is scheduled for 2025 and Bellatores for 2026.
Additionally, in 2024, we continued comprehensive work across various areas, which we will now discuss.
Esports
This sector draws attention from both the government and private companies— a trend that is not only in Russia but globally.
Another trend is the development of the phygital direction, mixed competitions of video games and physical sports. In 2024, we actively participated in significant events for phygital disciplines— in the "Games of the Future" in Kazan and tournaments within the "Territory of the Future. Moscow 2030" festival. Of course, we haven't forgotten about the classic Warface tournaments that we organize during various city festivals, along with our own activities.
This year, we relaunched Astrum League— an esports project for Warface with a record prize fund of 33.4 million rubles. The league includes three seasons, culminating in a grand finale early next year. We've provided categories for different participants, allowing the league to cater to a spectrum of players, from novices to professionals.
We must also highlight women's esports, which continues to gain popularity. This year, the company "Beeline" supported our annual Valkyrie League tournament, indicating that women's esports attracts not only dedicated companies but also a wider audience. And certainly, the engagement of female esports players and their interest in such competitions is growing.
Educational Projects
Long-term industry development requires focused efforts in training qualified specialists. Therefore, Astrum Entertainment actively collaborates with leading universities and educational projects, such as MIPT, Synergy University, Scream School, VK Education, among others. We are delighted to host student internships, deliver lectures and master classes, sharing our experience and knowledge.
Based on our extensive experience in game creation and publishing, we strive to provide students with practical skills in development, as game development is a very hands-on profession, requiring practical knowledge that can only be obtained through actual work on games.
Working with Indie Developers, Industry Support, Major Specialized Events
We support independent developers and the indie segment by establishing our own brand prototype to unite and develop talented specialists. In December 2023, at the game development meetup conference prototype, with over a thousand participants, Astrum Entertainment, together with VK Play, announced the launch of the indie incubator prototype.indie. On this platform, experts share experiences in attracting investment, effective project positioning, and successful market entry.
Throughout 2024, prototype.indie constantly engaged with the indie developer community, hosting regular offline and online events. The latest took place on November 27 during the "Game Industry Week." Experts from Astrum Entertainment and VK Play not only delivered valuable talks but also held individual consultation sessions for developers attending the event.
Over the year, we implemented several initiatives under the prototype brand, aimed at industry development, seeking to support and inspire new specialists, and foster the growth and evolution of Russian game development.
How has the market for publishers changed over the year?
The past year was challenging for publishers, given the ongoing geopolitical situation globally. We continued to adapt our company's business processes, constantly seeking new opportunities to bring our audience games developed by foreign developers. And we succeeded. We prepared two important projects— the PvPvE shooter NCORE and the MMORPG Bellatores— as we noticed part of the audience returning to traditional genres like RPGs.
The Russian game development market continues to evolve, with the mobile games segment growing, and we are also exploring this market. This year, we launched "World of Brownies"— a free-to-play match-3 game set in a Slavic environment, warmly received by the audience.
This year saw a multiple increase in our company size, along with a complete restructuring: we expanded our development department to function as a full-cycle company.
Has the practice of working with developers changed, perhaps even developers themselves evolved?
Both publishers and developers are getting better each year at adapting to changing conditions. There is an increasing understanding of what and how things can be done under current conditions, as everyone starts considering, "where else can we grow?"
The number of developers has increased, their approach has become more professional and deliberate, leading to more interesting projects this year.
The indie projects market in Russia has grown significantly. This was especially noticeable at the "RED EXPO" exhibition, where around 60 indie companies showcased their products. This segment is of particular interest to us as developers and publishers, so we are currently exploring opportunities to support it, including to bring these projects to markets outside the CIS. In other words, today there is a bottom-up growth in game development: not from large corporations, but from groups of enthusiasts and small companies, which then grow into something larger.
When it comes to major projects with substantial budgets, active work continues, though most of these projects have yet to be announced and are unknown to the market.
What trends in game publishing are you expecting to strengthen or emerge in 2025?
Our market is currently faced with substantial challenges: competition for users' attention with other forms of entertainment, such as movies, series, music, and social media, is intensifying. Consequently, we can anticipate the emergence of more interactive and multifaceted content that integrates games with other media formats. This trend opens doors to new collaborations with companies unrelated to the gaming sphere.
In the last two years, we have already implemented successful projects like the collaboration between Atomic Heart and Burger King and the integration of games with movies like "The Adventure" and "Plague Doctor" in Warface.
Adapting to a new, broader audience is a challenging task, but we believe that the synergy between games and other types of entertainment will create many new opportunities for growth and innovation within our industry.
What are the company's plans for the next year?
This year, Astrum Entertainment began laying the foundation for long-term business growth. We are developing projects not only focused on Russia and the CIS but also targeting international markets.
Through global partners, we aim to launch our IPs in international markets as well. Currently, we are directing our efforts toward exploring new markets, especially in the BRICS and BVSA countries. We are confident in the vast potential of these regions and strive to thoughtfully expand our presence. We adhere to a strategy of big-picture thinking and a phased approach, considering the unique characteristics of local gaming communities and gamers' preferences. Our goal is a strong global presence and the creation of games that are not only successful on the international stage but also resonate with local audiences.