The "Gaming Industry" conference held in Moscow gathered over 500 participants. Here are the results
On October 16, the First Throne hosted a conference for developers, publishers, and marketers in the video game industry — "Gaming Industry" (GIC). Here, we'll tell you what happened during the event and share its metrics.
Program
Lectures, a mainstay at the "Gaming Industry" conference, took place in three streams. This time, there was a record number of speakers. During 27 presentations, 50 experts from the video game sector shared their experiences.
Talks and roundtables covered a wide range of current issues—from working on web games and launching IPs to finding investors, managing wishlists, and creating an AI studio without staff.
The speakers included representatives from:
- major new companies, such as "Sineus Multimedia" and Zavod Game;
- hit indie studios like Brigada Games and Trioskaz;
- pioneers of the local market, including "1C" and "Buka";
- strong young publishers like Critical Reflex and Indie GO Fund;
and many others.
Showcase
In the exhibit hall of the conference, held within the iconic "Cosmos" hotel for Russian game development, an all-day developer showcase took place. Indie teams from across the country were there to showcase their works.
There were 96 applications from 76 teams to participate in the showcase. Most of the projects presented were playable, and attendees had the chance to meet the developers and discuss their processes and plans.
For example, the team from Sprite Craft showcased War Legends, a very cool mobile variation on WarCraft 3. The project looks and plays great on smartphones and tablets.
War Legends
TryHard Games allowed people to play Zodchy, a fantastic cooperative top-down PvE shooter visually reminiscent of RimWorld.
Zodchy
One standout was the pixelated "zeldoid," as its developers from 08games called Blade Mana—a vibrant, charismatic, and stylish game.
Blade Mana
Interestingly, most of the projects showcased (36 titles) are currently being developed exclusively for PC. There were hardly any exclusively mobile or web projects at the showcase (just a couple).
Indie Pitch
For the third time, the "Gaming Industry" conference hosted an Indie Pitch, a public analysis session where indie developers presented their games to industry experts. Five projects were reviewed.
The conceptual black-and-white first-person shooter VINCIT by OchPuch Studio, with a high-intensity gameplay featuring rogue mechanics, high jumps, and bullet dodging.
VINCIT
An action-adventure third-person game, Age of Last Light, about the adventures of a skeleton. It promises a combat system on par with "The Witcher 3".
Age of Last Light
A game by solo developer Dmitry Agapov called "Victory Banner". It's a modern take on "Behind Enemy Lines": a strategy set during the Great Patriotic War where you can take direct control of any soldier or vehicle.
"Victory Banner"
The horror adventure game about the value of childhood, "Temple of Children," by Children Play. An extremely eerie and stylish project, which was previously featured in our "Looking for Investor/Publisher" section.
"Temple of Children"
A single-player mobile fighting game (as insisted by its developers, although it's more of a beat 'em up) set in a Scandinavian setting, Glory Ages: Vikings by the small but experienced NoTriple-A Games studio.
Glory Ages: Vikings
The expert jury, consisting of members from HeroCraft, IRI, "Fogame", Mirra Games, and VK Play, declared "Victory Banner" the best project of the pitch.
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The recently held GIC in Moscow was the fifth edition. The conference initially occurred under this brand a year ago in Saint Petersburg. Since then, it has traveled not only to the Russian capitals but also to the republic of Belarus.
The next conference is scheduled for April 9, 2026, in Minsk. Below are more photos from the recent event in Moscow (you can view all photos here).
