The Moscow-based company Game Art Pioneers, which is developing the game DISTORTION, announced the departure of its founder, Dmitry Zdesev. He made this decision "due to differences in the vision of the company's future development."
Interestingly, despite his resignation, Zdesev will continue collaborating with Game Art Pioneers. According to the company, he will work on other projects within the DISTORTION franchise. This franchise includes not only the game itself but also books, comics, and other "media content," including a series produced with the support of Yandex.
The developers assured that Zdesev’s departure will not affect the game. Game Art Pioneers plans to share news about DISTORTION this summer.
To recap, DISTORTION is a narrative-driven ARPG with strategy elements. The game has been in development for about four years. It is expected to be released in early access by the end of 2025, although no exact date has been announced yet. Two years ago, it was revealed that Game Art Pioneers intended to spend at least $100 million on the creation and promotion of the game.
Update: A representative of Game Art Pioneers contacted the App2Top editorial team to clarify that Zdesev will indeed work on projects within the DISTORTION universe, but not on the series. Additionally, the series is not being created with the support of Yandex but literally by Yandex. All previously announced projects under the franchise, including comics and books, remain under Game Art Pioneers. The representative also added that the release of DISTORTION in early access is currently planned for 2028, not 2025.