Business Development Director of Belka Games studio Yuri Krasilnikov said App2Top.ru what has happened in his life and the life of the company over the past twelve months.
Yuri KrasilnikovHow was 2017 for you?
In 2017, the main “release” of my life happened. I became a daughter’s dad and am insanely happy with such a gift from my wife on the eve of the New Year.
A little earlier, a childhood dream came true: I got a dog, so personally, 2017 is a great year!
As for the work schedule, it also turned out to be very busy and productive. I had to constantly study and understand new topics for me. Both colleagues on the shop floor and smart books with profile articles helped.
The conferences attended this year turned out to be very effective. In particular, I didn’t miss a single White Nights: from Prague to Moscow through white nights in St. Petersburg. I plan to repeat the route next year.
There are a lot of acquaintances, signed contracts in 2017, no less than plans for 2018.
How was the year for the company?
For Belka Games, the outgoing year was a year of rethinking and making important strategic decisions. We dug and sowed a lot to reap the fruits next year. In short, the changes affected both the product and marketing strategies, as well as the approach to the formation of teams, to work with partners.
Our flagship project, the Watchmaker, measures the next growth points that it reached in 2017. During the year, revenue increased several times, which indicates the right direction. The Watchmaker team does not intend to be content with this and is preparing for a huge update of the game in 2018.
Now the game is changing for the better: the visual component is reaching a new level, meta is developing, while maintaining the atmosphere for which our users love the game so much. I can’t wait to present a completely updated version to the players.
In addition to the “Watchmaker” over the past year, we have managed to prepare two projects that will go first to the softlonch, and then, hopefully, to a successful global release. The versions launched on Facebook allow us to believe in their success next year.
“Watchmaker”
2017 was also very productive in terms of strengthening the team.
It was not an easy process, since the company was originally assembled from enthusiastic game development professionals. Now they selected only those who fit their skills and, importantly, shared the new strategy of the company. Thanks to the harsh selection, we achieved that the employees who were accepted into the team integrated fairly quickly, having already managed to become an important part of the company.
At the same time, recruiting employees in cities other than their native Minsk has become a new but positive experience for Belka Games. We will continue to expand our team in 2018, so if you like high-quality casual projects, you are on your way with us, and not only next year.
Since it is planned to almost double the growth of the team in the near future, we have already looked at a new office for relocation.
In general, there are a lot of plans for 2018. New challenges await the company both in the technological and marketing fields, and, in general, in the framework of ambitious tasks to conquer the top.
In 2018 we will make noise, ****!
What event of 2017 do you consider the most important for the industry?
At first I wanted to name cryptocurrencies and the fact that blockchain is beginning to integrate into the industry, then I decided that there is already a lot of this. Therefore, I will call the most important – the permanent growth of the Asian region. Important: if the growth of China and Japan no longer surprises anyone, then the appearance of Taiwan and Vietnam in the list of countries important in terms of cash means that the Western and Asian gaming ecosystems will continue to integrate into each other in the new year, and this is certainly a vector for many.
The second event is also connected with Asia: the release and absolute success of the Switch console (more than 10 million copies have been sold!). I think that a lot of midcore and hardcore projects already have in mind the release of the device from Nintendo. Ready audience is available.
What trends of the outgoing year would you note?
In the trends I would note:
- the global restructuring of the App Store and the attempt to adapt to the new format of most developers; the trend of adaptation to the new Apple app and game store will continue next year, because no one knows how to “cook” the store properly yet;
- integration of cryptocurrencies and blockchain into people’s daily lives (just don’t buy bitcoins in transit from gypsies, please);
- the rise of PUBG and the retention of positions without a collapse of interest in the game and the genre.
Name the projects of this year that you liked the most.
I have enjoyed and am enjoying South Park: Phone Destroyer: from giving training to dialogues during and after fights. Everything is fine there, except for global success in gross.
South Park: Phone Destroyer
PUBG – here even without comments
Of the domestic releases of 2017, I will note Shadow Fight 3 from Nekki. I was really waiting for him, worried about him, as if he was my own, very worried whether he would be able to switch to 3D, retaining his main feature (those shadow fights), and if not surpass, then at least continue the success of the 2nd part.
Nekki did it beyond praise: the quality of graphics, an elegant solution related to shadow fights, in general, well done!