2020 results: Alexander Mikhailov from Buka on the main thing for the company for the year

We continue to summarize the results of 2020 together with top managers and experts of the gaming industry (and related ones). Next up is an interview with Alexander Mikhailov, CEO of BUKA, one of Russia's oldest publishers and distributors of games.

Alexander Mikhailov

How was 2020 for the company?

As for many other companies, the year was interesting: they mastered mass remote work.

From the important:

• We have signed a PlayStation distribution agreement. Now we are the country's only official distributor of all 3 console platforms at once: Xbox, Nintendo and PlayStation;
• released in collaboration with Koch Media on PC and consoles the excellent beat'm up "9 Monkeys of Shao Lin";
• They also launched the Deck of Ashes card buttler on Steam.

We have also signed several new projects that will be released in 2021.

What new trends in your niche do you consider worth paying attention to?

The undisputed locomotive of this year's news and trends is the new generation of Xbox and PlayStation consoles.

Otherwise, we continue to observe an increase in digital sales relative to games on physical media.

The topic of subscription development is also interesting, although it has not gone as far as expected.

What new market trends would you note in general?

It is unlikely that I will be able to point out completely new trends directly.

Yes, there was a significant increase in time and money spent on games due to self-isolation. Will this become a trend? I think it's too early to judge.

Many people continue to step on the rake of cloud gaming, but perhaps this is temporary.

What will be the stake in the development of the company in 2021?

This year's turbulence is very high. And some instinct tells me that next year it will be no less. Therefore, tactical decisions will prevail.

In general, everything will be like this: the development of digital sales both via the Internet and through retail chains and other traditional channels, the promotion of all console platforms, and the distribution of in-game merchandise.

We will also release several cross-platform projects.

Which third-party game releases are you interested in this year? Which ones did you pay attention to as a gamer?

I will mark the list: Cyberpunk 2077, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, Animal Crossing: New Horizons and The Partisans 1941.