On Monday, March 3rd, Astrum Entertainment unveiled the beta version of their proprietary launcher — Astrum Play. The company positions it as a gaming platform of its own development. App2Top spoke with Sergey Efremov, Chief Operating Officer of Astrum Entertainment, about the reasons behind the service's launch and its immediate future.
Alexander Semenov, App2Top: Can it be said that the launch of your own launcher is connected to the policy change at VK Play? Previously, the store primarily promoted Astrum's free-to-play products, but now it has begun expanding its range and actively highlighting premium products as well. As a result, did Astrum need its own platform in this context?
Sergey Efremov
Sergey Efremov, Astrum Entertainment: No, we have been working on our launcher project for a long time, and this decision was not influenced by VK Play's policy.
Will the projects placed in the launcher disappear from VK Play?
Sergey: It is important for us that the maximum number of players have access to our games. Therefore, we do not plan to abandon the major platform VK Play and exclusively transfer all our products to our own platform. Our games will be available on both platforms.
The Astrum Play library currently contains only MMO and online projects. For example, there is no Atomic Heart, for which you are the official publisher in Russia. Why is that? Aren’t you planning to transfer your entire library to the new launcher?
Sergey: We do not plan to transfer all projects to Astrum Play simultaneously; initially, we intend to focus on free-to-play games. The library already features shooters like Warface and Battle Teams 2, and this year we also plan to add our new arena shooter, currently in development—NCORE.
The press release emphasizes that the launcher was developed by an internal team. Is it correct to assume that VK Play, with its decade-long legacy (the service has a long history, originally being "Mail.ru Game Center," rebranded to My.Games Store in 2019, and given its current name only in 2022) became too complex a technical solution for you?
Sergey: We continue to work with VK Play, and our games will be available on both platforms, making the question somewhat irrelevant.
Astrum's products are deeply integrated with VK Play services. Should we expect a gradual shift away from this in favor of your own, such as login, after the appearance of your own launcher?
Sergey: Our primary concern is user comfort; therefore, we do not plan to abandon the familiar VK ID authorization method for our players. We are currently also considering the possibility of developing alternative authorization methods.