“We see a growing interest from major studios that either want to join Telegram on their own or are looking for partners,” said Maksim Babichev from PlayDeck about the results of 2025

What was 2025 like for your business? What achievements stand out, and what lessons did you learn?

Maxim Babichev, PlayDeck: In 2025, we restructured our business model. We focused on our strengths: launching on Telegram, analytics, marketing, traffic, and rapid testing. Based on these, we developed a new system. We deliberately moved away from the traditional method of working with a catalog, creating a model with greater control and the potential for scaling.

Throughout the year, we accomplished three key things:

• Launched internal development — now we test all hypotheses on our projects, transferring successes between internal and published games;
• Restructured traffic management — we tailor engagement for each specific project rather than for the entire catalog at once;
• Assess each game individually: by funnels, key metrics, marketing hypotheses, and real scaling potential.

We introduced in-depth product-marketing analytics to Telegram, which has long been the norm in the mobile market, and adapted it to the platform's specifics. We work directly with studios to improve products, swiftly test hypotheses, update games efficiently, and share successful solutions across projects.

The main takeaway is that we don't rely on luck; we manage our chances of success. Our business model allows us to predict outcomes more accurately, quickly build expertise, scale successful solutions, and discard unsuccessful ones without wasting resources.

Users are now part of our ecosystem, not just a single game. This approach enhances cross-promotion, supports DAU/WAU/MAU, and makes the business more sustainable overall.

How has the situation in the gaming market changed from a publishing perspective?

Maxim: In Telegram, audience interests change rapidly. In 2025, this pace increased even more: a mechanic that works well today may lose interest in just a few months. The key advantage is that Telegram is a space for quick experimentation. You can swiftly test numerous hypotheses: settings, mechanics, monetization, and engagement formats. This is why many studios and publishers view Telegram as a market to discover working approaches and quickly generate revenue.

However, the platform is not as convenient and predictable as the mobile market — traffic scaling, attribution, and monetization operate differently. Directly copying approaches is impossible.

Our competitive edge is our extensive experience in this market. We understand its limitations and features well, have navigated cycles of interest booms and declines, and have successful case studies.

Have there been changes in how you work with developers? Has it become easier or harder? Have they changed on the whole?

Maxim: Developers have become more cautious and demanding: previously, many were satisfied just to launch a project on Telegram. Now, studios are more selective in choosing partners, looking at experience and the publisher's ability to achieve necessary metrics — specific examples, numbers, and expertise are crucial.

Our advantage is our own studio: we offer proven solutions thoroughly tested through varying approaches, mechanics, and scenarios. We act as a publisher of selective projects, deeply engaging in product development, mechanics, economy, marketing, and launch a limited number of games focusing on results rather than volume.

We are also noticing growing interest from large studios wanting to enter Telegram independently or seeking partners capable of providing full-cycle support — from product expertise and marketing to monetization and audience engagement. We've gathered these competencies over several years in Telegram.

Telegram isn't just a classic free-to-play market. The Web3 ecosystem is strong here: tokens, airdrops, NFTs, risk and reward mechanics. For part of the audience, motivation is built on both social interaction and the opportunity to earn something — from tokens and USDT to Telegram Gifts. This is a separate layer that needs to be understood and considered in development.

How was the year for the niche in which you typically release games?

Maxim: At the beginning of the year, interest in Hamster Combat-type games — those with very simple mechanics promising quick airdrops — declined. Yet some studios continue to release such projects out of inertia.

Airdrops haven't disappeared — the market has simply moved away from primitive models. Now, if a project is tied to an airdrop, it must feature more complex and deep mechanics: with thought-out economics, retention, and long-term support. Moreover, such projects aren't rushing to release tokens: exchanges have become more cautious, so rapid listing is no longer possible.

Amidst this, the niche is growing and maturing — projects are becoming more complex and expensive. Simultaneously, the economy is developing: Stars, advertising budgets, internal monetization, crypto-transactions — these are forming a significant market. We see this in late-year launches: they have high potential, good retention, and monetization metrics. The market is moving into a sustainable growth phase, rather than experiencing short-lived booms.

What conclusions or lessons from 2025 would you highlight for developers preparing for release?

Maxim: The most important advice: don’t rely on old observations. In Telegram, six months is an eternity. Only what's proven effective in recent weeks and months works. Trends in Telegram spread rapidly: a project can quickly rise, spawn numerous clones, and then quickly fade. Therefore, it's crucial not just to replicate a successful format, but understand why it worked and what is needed to maintain interest.

Rankings and charts in Telegram change much faster — projects that aren't updated quickly lose positions. Those who hold their ground longer almost always rely on strong retention, a clear economy, and regular audience engagement.

Success in Telegram comes not to those who copy the fastest, but to those who quickly adapt and maintain interest in their product.

What strengthening or emergence of trends in your niche do you expect in 2026?

Maxim:In 2026, we expect the following trends:

1. The market’s volatility will remain high, and Telegram will continue to be an environment where clones of successful projects and entirely new mechanics coexist.
2. The number of games built around Telegram Gifts is already growing, and we believe next year will see projects based on other features of the messenger. This is a key feature of the ecosystem: products evolve in sync with the platform itself.
3. The role of Telegram Stars as a basic payment instrument will strengthen. Stars are already a universal currency within Telegram — and a high adoption in gifts will significantly enhance monetization and expand the paying audience in games.
4. Advertisers’ interest will return. After a spike of interest in 2024 and early 2025, some advertisers left due to audience instability and a lack of clear tools. If 2026 brings more quality products and transparent metrics, Telegram will become an attractive channel again.
5. Development of advertising monetization for studios. Predicting advertising revenue in Telegram is difficult as there are no classic mobile market tools (waterfalls, bidding, floor logic), but the emergence of such could boost new project types, gaming economy, audience, and the platform itself.
6. Telegram will continue to evolve technically. New APIs, platform updates, and expanded possibilities for developers will allow for the creation of more complex, high-quality, and long-lived projects.

What are the company's plans for 2026?

Maxim:Our 2026 plans are based on the decisions made in 2025. The main focus is on strengthening internal product development.

We plan to develop our internal studio (and possibly several studios) to create strong projects based on our expertise in Telegram. We are ready to take risks: trying new formats, testing non-standard mechanics, quickly validating hypotheses, and scaling what works.

To achieve this, careful team expansion and increased gaming expertise — in production, game design, UI/UX, and other areas — will be required. In parallel, the marketing direction will grow: traffic buying, creative production, marketing analytics.

We will continue to publish new games, particularly those from strong studios with existing launched games. We are interested in products that can be enhanced through Telegram-specifics, our practices, and access to our audience.

2025 was a year of active tests and initial stable launches. In 2026, our goal is to scale this model: to grow in terms of product and marketing, expand partnerships, strengthen collaborations with external studios, and become more prominent in the industry.

We see the next year as a period of growth and establishing the company as a strong product-marketing player in the Telegram gaming market — with a clear strategy and a focus on long-term results.