Mikhail Kuzmin, co-founder of the podcast “How Games are Made” and head of business development at HeroCraft, announced his transition to the position of marketing director at tinyBuild publishing house, known for launching games such as Punch Club and Hello Neighbor.
Mikhail shared the news on his Facebook page. He also announced that he would soon begin “the process of moving to Holland,” where the European office of the company founded by Alex Nichiporchik is located.
We took a short interview with Mikhail in connection with the new appointment.
Misha, what is the reason for your transition to tinyBuild?
Mikhail Kuzmin
The transition is connected with a lot of things.
Firstly, of course, with the founder of the company, Alex Nichiporchik. We have become very close in recent years. The latter is a great merit of DevGAMM, Game Lynch, which is now renamed Game Roast, and, of course, our podcast, because Alex often comes to us and tells us interesting things about marketing and about life.
Despite our friendship, the job offer at tinyBuild was a surprise to me. I was not looking for a new job, I was happy with life with my family in Kaliningrad.
But the idea of starting to build a career and life in a Western company seemed interesting to me. We started chatting. I accepted the offer last week. The first processes for the transition to the company have already been launched.
What will you do in the company?
I will take on most of the marketing tasks. My new position officially sounds like Marketing Director. I will try to build processes so that the company can reach a new level.
I can’t tell you the details yet, but I’m sure everyone is aware of the line of future titles that the company has prepared: “Pestilence / Pathologic 2” (Ice-pick Lodge), Graveyard Keeper (Lazy Bear Games), Rapture Rejects (Galvanic Games, Explosm Games – battle royale in the Cyanide universe & Happiness), Secret Neighbor (Hologryph, Dynamic Pixels), Party Hard 2 (Pinokl Games) and many other unannounced projects.
I myself will move to Holland with my family — the European office is located in the city of Hilversum, not far from Amsterdam. In addition to tinyBuild, there are several development companies in the city, so there is an established culture and hangout there.
Will this affect the podcast “How games are made” in any way?
Most likely, the podcast will become even more interesting. Personally, a fairly wide range of interesting tasks awaits me at tinyBuild, which I will definitely tell you about. And, as always, to invite new and interesting people to visit, with whom I constantly meet at industrial conferences.
By the way, if you think you can come and tell an interesting thing about yourself, write to us with Sergey, we will definitely answer. The new season starts in September, and I’m already busy drawing up an approximate release plan.
Who’s taking over the steering wheel at your HeroCraft?
Unfortunately, it is impossible to find a replacement for me in such a short period (and a long one too), so I will try to transfer some of my responsibilities to several people in the remaining time. HeroCraft is a wonderful company with a lot of talented people. I will miss them all very much.