Results of 2018: Konstantin Sakhnov from DatCroft Games about the main thing for the year
Managing Partner of DatCroft Games Konstantin Sakhnov told App2Top how a year had passed for him and the company.
Konstantin SakhnovHow was 2018 for you personally?
In constant development and training. 2018 was a year of great changes for me. The key event in my professional career for me was the transition to DatCroft Games to the position of managing partner of the gaming division.
Before that, I was lucky to work in the friendly Rocket Jump team for about three years. During this time, I managed to gain a lot of unique experience both in the field of game design and in management activities.
Yes, 2018 is the best year of my life so far. I’m looking forward to 2019 to say the same.
How was the year for your company?
The outgoing year has become a time of change for DatCroft Games and a test of coherence and professionalism. For a long time, the flagship product of the company was MMO “Fragoria”. At the moment, we are focused on developing a mobile MMO action movie Pixel Wars, which is scheduled for release in 2019.
DatCroft includes a number of studios involved in both game development and non-game projects. The key challenge for the company was rapid quantitative growth, which requires a qualitative restructuring of not only processes, but also the structure of the studio. The transition from indie to corporate culture is largely connected with the formation of a management vertical and the emergence of “strong” leaders and directors capable of operational management. This is exactly the task DatCroft faced in the middle of 2018.
We are aware that any change is not only regulations on paper, but new processes, their adoption, new thinking. In the transition to more manageable processes, we aim to preserve the main advantage of the studio – a friendly atmosphere, responsibility for their work and willingness to help colleagues in the development and solution of professional tasks.
Pixel WarsWhat event of 2018 do you consider the most important for the industry?
It’s hard for me to single out one event. It is worth noting the Epic Games Store, the dominance of Fortnite, and the events unfolding in the Chinese market.
The main thing, in my opinion, is one thing. The gaming industry is still one of the few demonstrating steady growth.
What trends of the outgoing year would you note?
The key trend I see is the continued growth of requirements for the quality of gaming products. To get into the box office top, you need to make a very high-quality product. This does not mean that he must necessarily have top art or perfect performance. However, “below average” products do not have the greatest chance to pay off.
In addition, processes similar to consolidation are taking place in the gaming market. Structures are being enlarged, mergers and acquisitions are taking place. The growth of product requirements, which has been there before, leads to the fact that some teams cannot withstand competition, some understand that partnership with larger players becomes more profitable for them than independence.
What are the third-party projects of this year that you liked the most?
I am a fan of the Warcraft universe and, of course, I was really looking forward to the release of the Battle for Azeroth. After evaluating the content and mechanics of the add-on, I came to the conclusion that the add-on is similar to Legion. As a result, I postponed a full-fledged study of this amazing world for later.
I also want to note the appearance of Assassin’s Creed Rebellion and Fortnite on mobile.
