The lead game designer of Escape from Tarkov has joined a studio formed by veterans of Battlestate Games
In May 2026, Jean Tulegenov, who led the development of the extraction shooter Escape from Tarkov, announced his departure from Battlestate Games. It has now been revealed that he has joined the team at Nomion Games.
Jean Tulegenov
To recall, Nomion Games is a very young studio, which was founded earlier this year by Tulegenov's former colleagues from Battlestate Games.
At Nomion Games, Tulegenov has assumed the role of Creative Director. In this position, he will oversee the creative aspects of developing the studio’s debut game—an ambitious shooter called Rush is Real. There are few details available about the title thus far, but it is claimed that it will stand out from other shooters due to a unique mechanic.
Tulegenov worked at Battlestate Games for over eight years. He joined the studio in October 2017, becoming its first game designer and taking on responsibilities such as creating quests for Escape from Tarkov, balancing the game economy, developing gameplay mechanics, and much more. However, as the developer admitted, after the full release of the extraction shooter last year, he somewhat lost interest in the game—he wanted to create something new, and Escape from Tarkov was at a stage where conceptual innovations were no longer needed. Therefore, Tulegenov ultimately decided to leave Battlestate Games.
Before his time with Nomion Games and Battlestate Games, Tulegenov also worked for a while at Creat Studio, where he contributed to Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom, and at Nival. At the latter, he supervised the development of Blitzkrieg 3.