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 Elena Morina, CEO and founder of the Ravenage publishing house.
How did 2021 go for the company?
2021 was the year of our company’s birth. We somehow got together in an organized way and decided to found our publishing house Ravenage exactly as we see it.
In six months, we assembled a team, signed the first projects, held the first Games Garage event, where industry experts advised developers. We became sponsors of several important activities for the industry, which, in addition to moral satisfaction, brought a lot of interesting acquaintances and, of course, great games.
In the same year, we have the first Early Access of the first game signed by us and active preparation for the releases of the first half of 2022.
To be honest, the most difficult thing this year was to choose a name for us. Everything else turned out almost by itself, sometimes difficult, sometimes energy-intensive, but very inspiring.
What event or trend of 2021 do you consider central within your niche?
Metaverse will probably be the main topic for the next couple of years, and more and more large companies will test this direction one way or another.
There has been and will continue to be a surge of interest in esports for some time against the background of the victory of our guys in the largest Dota 2 championship.
We were extremely pleased with offline events this year. After a long period of bans, quarantines, lockdowns and absenteeism, it was incredibly joyful to meet and chat live.
The investment market has also changed. There is a lot of money in the gaming industry and, as a result, developers have more opportunities, tools and prospects.
The second consequence of the increase in funding in the industry was quite loud transitions of well-known people in game development and a natural personnel shortage.
We work in the indie segment on PC and consoles and see how the games themselves and marketing for them are changing. There are more interesting projects, competent developers, there is more “realism” in negotiations, which significantly accelerated all processes.
Of the organizational aspects, I will note a change in attitude to remote work. We eventually settled on a hybrid model: three days a week office, two more optional.
What will be the stake in the development of the company in 2022?
Next year should be interesting and eventful for us. New games, new releases, new tools for promotion. We will increase the team and try different genres. We will try to make the processes even more transparent both for the team inside and for the developers. We hope to hold another Games Garage, the need for expertise from developers is huge and more and more large companies are ready to share this expertise. We will watch even more games and find crazy ones, because only with such interesting.