We continue to summarize the results of 2021 together with top managers and experts of the gaming industry (and related ones). Next up is an interview with Andrey Fadeev, co-founder and CEO of the Nexters gaming company.
How did 2021 go for the company?
Paradoxically, a busy year for Nexters was held under the GDEV flag. Yes, if anyone does not know (you never know), we are now a public company, and our shares are traded under the GDEV ticker on Nasdaq.
To achieve such an ambitious goal, we all had to work very hard, but if we really want to, we can also fly to New York for the closing ceremony of the stock exchange.
Usually, achievements are shared in the results, but we regularly report on our achievements to the entire market, so I’ll tell you the real story of that very ceremony in New York.
We arrived in advance, took a walk, touched the bull by the tail, we are preparing for the ceremony….
Nexters and the Bull
We didn’t want to push the standard CEO speech, as is usually done at such ceremonies.
Instead of saying “thank you all, we are the best”, we decided to devote these 2 minutes to our employees and players. We were asked in advance to record short videos about why our guys like working at Nexters, and why our players love Nexters games (they definitely had to be part of this grand event too).
We made a cool cut, discussed the program with Nasdaq in advance. Everything was ready. And here is the very day, Friday, August 27th. We put on caps with the inscription GDEV, listen to the kind words of the host of the ceremony and get ready to go on stage. According to the plan, I had to say a short welcome speech and “bring” to the video with the employees and players, after which the director had to turn on the video and put it into the broadcast, and after the video was over, I had to take the floor again, thank everyone, congratulate us. That’s how it was planned.
We go on stage with the guys. And just when I want to start my speech before the video, I realize that for some reason the video starts immediately without any introductory speech. This confused me a little, the plan went according to a slightly different scenario, but we don’t give up! If you watch the broadcast, then immediately after the video, when the camera moves back to the stage, you will not see a fraction of embarrassment on our faces. And all why? Because the mood with which we arrived at the ceremony, the awareness of the entire amount of work done for this, the anticipation of all the big and important things that we planned for the coming years — all this so charged us that we were like children jumping for joy in that studio in Times Square. And nothing could affect it.
Yes, if someone suddenly does not read our announcements and press releases, I inform you: in addition to entering the stock exchange, we broke our own records in financial indicators, improved forecasts, almost doubled in money in Asia, released two new casual games with a cool narrative. In addition: cash receipts from our midcore game Hero Wars (“Chronicles of Chaos“) have passed the $1 billion mark, our team has almost doubled, and we have also launched Nexters Boost, a program to support novice developers with a focus on the CIS and Eastern Europe.
It was an excellent, very eventful and in many ways defining our future year. And behind each of these events or achievements are the everyday efforts and love for their work of each of the Nexters. To all our employees, players, partners, like-minded people, I will say: thank you guys for being with us this year. Then it will be even cooler!
What event or trend of 2021 do you consider central within your niche?
COVID-19, IDFA, metaverse — almost everyone is talking about it. It is understandable — these events and trends have affected everyone. Someone was ready more, someone less.
We switched to remote and hybrid modes last year, so there were no major changes in this regard.
We were preparing for IDFA, shifted budgets to other platforms, and learned how to work in new conditions. We believe that we have passed these stages very successfully. Yes, at least take a look at our quarterly reports (I’m proud of the team)!
Metaverse is, of course, the top trend now in game development, but so far more in terms of discussions “Is this already metaverse or not yet?”. Probably, we will all soon come to some kind of “metaverse scale” and it will be easier.
NFT is another hot topic, and a very ambiguous one, judging by the reaction of players to some initiatives of other companies. Our approach to the use of new concepts and technologies consists primarily in a deep analysis and the choice of a rational solution. The same NFT — its application can be completely different: from building the entire economy on it to local use. Hype is hype, but it’s in our rules to make statements only when we are very sure of something. This has always been the case, and with the status of a public company, responsibility has only increased.
What will be the stake in the development of the company in 2022?
There are so many things I want to tell you, but not yet! We are learning to be a public company and will continue to do so in 2022: we will carefully weigh every word said, announce games, projects and initiatives only when we are confident in the result.
But I will be happy to outline the key areas in the coming year.
- In development, we will continue to focus on two segments — casual and midcorn.
- The Boost program will continue to work with novice teams. Boost is already deeply analyzing a number of projects. We hope that very soon we will be able to demonstrate the first results of this work.
- Another key area, of course, is unification. Why did we choose the GDEV ticker to enter Nasdaq? Because we see opportunities for unification and incredible synergy of game development in the Russian-speaking segment. We have the coolest teams, the most talented people. We have a common cultural code, a common game dev history. It’s even hard to imagine what a mother of Kuzma we can show to the whole world by uniting! Therefore, I declare officially: for us, M&A is not just an investment/purchase/merger. There is a mission behind it, if you like. We don’t talk much about it yet, everything has its time. Now we are focusing.
The goals are grandiose, there is a lot of work ahead, but otherwise we are not interested. We will be glad to see everyone who shares our values and is ready to join us to do a great job.
I wish all of us a successful 2022!