Before the New Year, we traditionally launch a series of materials “Results”. As part of the first and opening material, Nordcurrent co-founder Sergey Trofimov told how 2017 was for his company.
Sergey TrofimovHow was 2017 for the company?
The year was very positive and eventful. It started with the worldwide release of Sniper Arena in February, and will end with the softlonch of our new frituplay game in December, which I have high hopes for.
Between all this, ordinary life flowed – the number of people increased, another floor was rented, the fifteenth anniversary was celebrated.
We plan to open another studio by the beginning of next year.
In short, this year is the year of the company’s growth, both in qualitative and quantitative terms.
An amazing thing is nearby: a clone of Cooking Fever was made even by respected Square Enix. We don’t know what to think now.
What event of 2017 do you consider the most important for the industry?
In my opinion, the most important thing is that China has finally overtaken the United States as the largest iOS market in terms of sales.
If earlier it was possible to do with Western markets and feel comfortable, now the strategy of releasing the game in China (as well as in Japan and Korea) needs to be planned at the development stage.
The company’s latest hit is Sniper ArenaWhat trends of the outgoing year would you note?
Everything is as usual here: market consolidation, rising advertising costs, Asia’s increasing weight in revenue.
It is also interesting that now everyone is trying to screw gatcha to monetization to the place and out of place. Our experiments with gatcha, by the way, turned out to be very successful.
What are the third-party projects of this year that you liked the most?
Horizon: Zero Down, because it is very beautiful, atmospheric, the plot is interesting, and new gameplay mechanics are involved in it.
I also liked Uncharted 4: The Lost Legacy. I’m a fan of the series.
I liked PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS. Roughly speaking, a game was released on a platform that many have buried, with monetization that many have buried, in a genre in which it would seem difficult to come up with something new – and here you are, a super hit.