"There are more teams in the RU segment that are ready for more restrained conditions," - Elena Morina from Ravenage about the main thing for 2022

On the eve of the New Year, App2Top continues to publish interviews from the “Results” series, in which it interviews top managers of the gaming industry (and related ones) about how the year has passed for their company and the market. Next up is an interview with Elena Morina, CEO and founder of the Ravenage publishing house.

Tell us what the year was like for you personally, where are you now, were there any things that you finally managed to realize and are proud of?

With pleasure I want to look at a person from the Russian-speaking game dev, whom this year has not forged into something else. I have confirmed for myself that I am able to assemble cohesive teams that can overcome everything. From a boutique publishing house of seven people, we have grown to a company with 14 projects, 40+ employees and a full relocation to another country. And since projects are above all, then all the organizational fuss of this process fell on me while the team was engaged in projects. It seems that she managed, so there is reason to be proud.

What was the year like for the company? What have you done, implemented, and what would you like to highlight in terms of achievements in general?

The year will be remembered for a long time. As they say: “Santa Claus, I don’t need gifts for the New Year, I haven’t moved away from the past yet.” On February 24, everything changed, and the next day we started evacuating. The office was closed in 10 days and on the ninth of March the first employees already entered Georgia. To date, we have transported 40+ people with their families, which was quite a tough test for the team and for me personally, but we coped and continue to work. I realized that I have the best team in the world, which can do anything, work under any conditions and not give up even in a strong storm. We are ending the year by signing a whole collection of great games, some of which are already available to players, including the long-awaited EA Frozen Flame and The Crackpet Show.

From your point of view, what has changed in the gaming market in terms of production and distribution (in general, publishing) over the year?

The trend towards a stronger involvement of developers in the publishing process continues. At the same time, the players have become more selective, which sets a high bar for quality, which must be met. Interest in NFT games and “Warcraft killers” has abruptly died out, we are skeptical about cloud gaming. At the same time, accessibility in games continues to develop, and this is good.

Has the practice of working with developers changed, perhaps the developers themselves, their requirements, desires, the level of proposed projects have somehow changed?

There are even more projects. There are 200 games a week in our funnel, which allows you to choose projects that inspire us. There are more professional teams that clearly understand what they want from the publishing house, the easier it is for us to explain what we can give to projects. Developers have become more legally and financially prepared, they ask the right questions and want to fully immerse themselves in marketing. It is much easier and more interesting to work with such teams. There are more teams in the RU segment that are ready for more restrained conditions, which is obviously due to the current situation.

Speaking about the games that game teams are developing today, are there any trends in the areas that they choose and offer?

It all depends on what fired six months or a year before the current period. Every successful project gives rise to a whole series of attempts to bend or creatively rethink a successful idea. There was a wave of card games in the summer, now everything that resembles Vampire Survivors. More and more developers are looking at neural networks. It’s always an interesting experience.

What are the company’s plans for next year?

Launch signed projects, meet new teams, grow even more and not lose pace.