WN Conference: Business tips for novice developers from Nexters

Max Postnikov, executive producer of Nexters, spoke at the WN Conference. He shared business tips for beginners in game development and explained why it is not always necessary to chase investments.

Max PostnikovMake a business plan.

• Many developers, Postnikov is sure, consider the business plan to be something complicated. Often they start preparing it only before a meeting with investors. However, in reality, the business plan is primarily needed by the developers themselves – it helps to organize everything.

• Understand why you are acting in one way or another. Postnikov suggests getting rid of the “cargo cult”: not to copy what other developers have done in the hope of making a huge profit, but to ask yourself why it is worth making a certain decision. What will it lead to and why do you need it?

• Work with checklists. Instead of the abstract “we will spend $10 thousand on UA during the softlonch and look at the results”, it is better to describe what exactly is important to do. You should definitely check this list before launching a new game. As an example, Postnikov cited Hero Wars. The game performed well on the web, but failed on mobile platforms. It turned out to be a problematic line of code. Nexters didn’t notice the error, and Facebook generated incorrect traffic because of it.

• Consider the USP. If a unique trade offer is a special weapon system, you should not create a third—person shooter.

• Don’t chase investments. “If you have a non-profitable business and you attract investments into it, then you will have a large non-profitable business. Losses will also increase, and investors will look over their shoulders unpleasantly,” Postnikov said.
• If you are a manager, try not to crunch. At the end of the speech, Postnikov was asked about crunches. According to the executive producer of Nexters, crunches are associated with corporate culture. When the leader processes, it can lead to overwork for the rest of the employees. Nevertheless, it is very difficult to personally influence the crunch problem. “Crunch is bad. Personal boundaries are important. If you crunch, you will die,” Postnikov said.

Recall that at the end of September Nexters announced a program to support game developers. It is called Nexters Boost and offers developers expertise of their projects and financial support. You can read about it here.