"Gaming companies in Russia have begun requesting government relations services," says Roman Lukyanov from Semenov&Pevzner on the outcomes of 2024

We continue to wrap up the year 2024 by focusing on teams in the gaming and gaming-related businesses. Today, we have an interview with Roman Lukyanov, managing partner of the law firm Semenov&Pevzner.

How was the year for the law firm? What achievements would you like to highlight?

For the past five years, when I try to answer this question for myself at the end of the year, the answer is usually the same: it was a tough year, but we managed, and all is well.

This year is also going well for us, but honestly, to say it was just tough feels like lying to ourselves and everyone else. It was a challenging year in every sense.

A lot changed in regulations, affecting the composition of client requests.

We faced many personnel, organizational, and processing decisions, sometimes difficult ones...

While the first half of the year was relatively calm and went according to plan, the second half brought challenges that poured in like a horn of plenty: an increase in state duties, an announcement of increased tax burdens on businesses, and crazy turbulence in legal practice—all of this fell upon us (and everyone) within just four months.

Yet, the consistent part of my usual answer to this question remains intact—despite everything, the year also brought a lot of positive developments.

Our overseas trips to China, the USA, Serbia, and South Korea were very successful and concentrated. We refreshed contacts, brought new deals, and found new areas for growth.

We finally launched, with our partners, our project for legal protection against piracy on American marketplaces and achieved the first results.

This year, we also had great success with our GR projects [GR from English government — government. — Ed. note] in the entertainment sector, where there was a lot of work, and we boosted our expertise.

What legal issues did gaming companies most frequently consult you on this year?

Honestly, I can't say we've seen any radical shifts compared to 2023.

It seems there was a slight increase in legal claims: domain disputes, piracy, counterfeit goods, debts, and countering store strikes by copyright trolls. The latter took on a more significant scale in 2024.

There are still many questions about business structuring and payment routing adjustments, although payment issues seem less related to strictly legal services. Requests for maintaining or even expanding trademark portfolios and transaction support remain unchanged.

New this year were sector-specific requests for GR services. In our jurisdiction, this is generally a rare and complex request. The fact that such requests have emerged indirectly indicates the industry's fundamental "maturation." It's an effective tool if used correctly, although it requires significant resources (not just financial).

The most popular requests in our practice this year were transaction support and legal claims work (with a wide array of inputs).

What legal trends do you anticipate will strengthen or emerge in 2025?

In the broadest sense, I think we can expect more targeted and focused industry regulation. This is a trend that's already been forming, mostly at the level of legislative initiatives, concepts, and strategies. Yet, this year it's become clear that the government is ready to go further—to formalize these initiatives into corresponding laws.

Frankly, I don't think this regulation will initially seem beneficial to many in the industry. But, as experience shows, it depends on where and how you look at it.

Simultaneously, given that this year a federal law "On the Development of Creative Industries in the Russian Federation" was adopted, covering the video game industry, the sector now has a strong foundation for its own initiatives, potentially even bold ones, if the industry can articulate them. Possibly something for implementation under experimental legal regimes.

It's also worth noting the growing role of the state in providing material and financial assistance to the industry. I'm not going to name specific projects and results of such support for game development, as there's often skepticism in the industry. But I have three points: First, bad experiences are also valuable learning opportunities. They should definitely be assessed, but not dismissed outright. Secondly, take the excellent example of domestic cinema and its state support. There was a lot of negativity and skepticism, but if you compare today's Russian cinema to what it was 25 years ago, the difference is phenomenal in the best possible way. Thirdly, this kind of support aligns with the global experiences of developed gaming markets, so there's no reason to ignore it. In general, this, too, can be seen as a trend. Why legal? Because this form of interaction with the state undeniably requires lawyers: understanding the essence of the deal, obligations, and consequences of non-compliance, assessing one's capabilities when receiving government support. It’s not just about getting X million rubles and doing what you want. Unfortunately, this occasionally causes certain difficulties in the market.

What are the company's plans for the coming year?

We have planned a significant expansion of our expertise. I don't want to reveal too much too soon, but we'll definitely announce this at the beginning of 2025. I think next year we'll report on our new directions with first results and offer new products to the gaming industry.

Last year, we also set a goal to establish ourselves in new markets (China, South Korea, Brazil). As usual, it's been more challenging than we anticipated, but by the end of the year, we can acknowledge the first results, and they inspire optimism. We'll be putting efforts in this direction again next year.

Moreover, we're working on a comprehensive product for the industry at the intersection of Russia and the Balkans. We know that many companies and specialists have relocated to and operate from Serbia, Montenegro, and other neighboring countries. Although we have an office in Belgrade, we want to make a qualitative leap forward and offer the market qualified legal services that take into account the region's specifics and legislation.

Finally, in light of the ongoing flurry of legislative initiatives here in Russia, we definitely plan to focus on developing our GR services next year. This is, of course, a niche product, but as the past year has shown, demand for these services is actively forming.