We continue to summarize the results of 2019 together with the managers of gaming companies and market experts. Next up is an interview with Dmitry Ryabchikov, CEO of CreaGames.
How was 2019 for the company?
The year was definitely not easy, but very productive. Thanks to the launch of two more language versions of our gaming platform, the company has entered new markets. We are proud of this: now CreaGames provides high-quality content with round-the-clock support in four languages, namely: Russian, English, German and French. We continue to expand, and next year at least one more language will be added to them.
We were also actively preparing for potential difficulties due to disabling Flash support: we are launching our launcher at the beginning of next year. We hope that in 2020 users will get used to it. Now, as part of the adaptation, we are actively working with the community.
For our players who do not want to install the launcher and want to continue playing through the browser, there is also good news. We have shifted the focus to HTML5 and mobile. In the new year, they will launch several interesting projects that will definitely catch on.
The fear of disabling Flash has forced many developers, especially in Asia, to reconsider their priorities and switch to developing new HTML5 projects. There are at least three high-quality engines for developers that allow you to easily create HTML5 games and export them to a mobile format for publication on the App Store or Google Play.
Among the achievements: our debut HTML5 project Eternal Fury became the very first game with in-game purchases, which was launched on the Yandex.Games platform.
Our Dragon Knight project turned five years old in 2019, and it still shows excellent results. We plan to continue in the same spirit and delight our users with new content.
What events in the regional and global gaming industry do you consider central in the past year?
Firstly, the growing interest in HTML5 projects. Interest is manifested both from the platforms (social networks Mail.ru Group, “Yandex.Games”), and from the developers (every month we see more and more games, and the best part is that their quality is growing).
Secondly, I will highlight the work Mail.Ru Group over its own store. It’s still in beta, but I’m sure it will be a quality resource.
I would also like to highlight the licensing situation in China, which has finally been resolved. Let me remind you that due to the refusal to issue a license for the introduction of in-game purchases (or due to the prolonged waiting for their issuance), some companies closed, while others switched to developing games for the WeChat service, in which the main monetization model is advertising.
This had a disastrous effect on developers and publishers, who, in fact, were denied the placement of their own products, for which there is a high demand.
Now the situation is changing. Every month we test more and more new games. You may see them on our platform soon.
What are the main trends in the market today?
This year, cloud gaming has become one of the main topics. In my opinion, the technology has a great future and it is very interesting to observe its further development.
It is impossible to ignore the incredible boom of hyper-casual games (Hyper Casual). Judging by the data of analytical platforms, the genre does not plan to slow down.
And, as I mentioned above, trust in HTML5 is growing.
Which third-party game releases turned out to be the most important this year?
- Death Stranding is the main intrigue of the year! From the point of view of maintaining the interest of the audience before the release — 10/10.
- Auto Chess – we can say that the project has set a new trend.
- Call of Duty: Mobile is one of the best projects of the outgoing year for mobile devices. Well-implemented management, trending game modes and franchise have done their job.
Which games did you spend the most time on in 2019 as a gamer?
To be honest, I spent most of my time watching projects from young teams that sent us their games. Many of them look cool even at the alpha stage – this can not but please. I would like to wish the teams to move at the same pace and set trends themselves, and not follow them.