2020 results: Igor Haspeshny and Ivan Titov from GTP Media on the main thing 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 Igor Hasty and Ivan Titov, the founders of the GTP Media PR agency and the organizers of the Indie Cup competition.

Igor and Ivan

How was 2020 for the company?

Let's start with the processes. We have been working remotely for several years now. Therefore, practically nothing has changed for us in terms of work processes. However, the lack of the opportunity to travel freely (both from home to your favorite coffee shop, and to another country for holidays or meetings with colleagues) has become a rather serious challenge for our mental health.

If we talk about business, then, despite all the problems that the virus has created (total removal, reduction of advertising budgets at the beginning of the year in more classical areas), we are closing this year very positively. Fortunately, good games keep coming out!

Throughout the year, GTP Media has been actively working with Western publishers as a partner in the CIS, as well as with our and foreign developers for a global audience. We have opened the direction of B2B PR. We continued to develop the Indie Cup online indie games.

Yes, this year, in two seasons of the cup, we collected 270 applications for participation and we managed to make an incredible surprise for the developers – a joint event with Steam. This is an affiliate sale timed to coincide with the Summer Cup final. It was damn nice to hear feedback that for many participants it turned out to be more effective than the summer festival from Steam itself and even several international conferences that also held their sales earlier.

What new trends in your niche do you consider worthy of attention?

The first thing we would pay attention to is the transition from using demo versions of the game on the main Steam page to a separate prologue. This way, the developer gets more traffic from the site, because a separate prologue game is free. Those players who really enjoy the prologue will always go the extra mile for the main game playlist on another page. So far, we see a lot of positive cases, but let's see if Steam will change something in 2021.

Next in line: online conference format due to lockdown. And here we have two aspects.

The first one is b2b conferences from the point of view of PR of their game for an indie developer. The entry threshold for any foreign events has become very low, because now you don't need to fly somewhere and spend thousands of dollars on hotels, booth design and other expenses. This has often become a completely free option for the developer. These are certainly very cool features that were not there before. Especially in connection with the fact that Steam has implemented a sales tool for many major events. Now, in a year, one game, even while still in development, can participate in several major events at once and collect a lot of vishlists or sales.

The second aspect is online events for large platforms and publishers. The cancellation of E3 this year has changed the communications of big companies regarding new releases of games and hardware. As a result, each platform or publisher can make an event significant in terms of the number of participants, which will be focused only on their product. Without neighbors, distracting the attention of the press, players and expensive squares. It seems that this is a huge plus for everyone, but it is still difficult to give an unambiguous assessment. We are confident that online events will not displace offline, but they will definitely lead to a revision of communication strategies and a redistribution of budgets.

I would also like to note that there are more and more tools and guides that help both indie developers and larger studios that have just started their journey. Using the link, you can find a lot of basic and non-trivial materials on how to design a game page in the store, make a pitch, communicate with journalists and other useful materials related to communication. The list was compiled by colleague Victoria Tran.

What new market trends would you note in general?

Online events. We have already discussed this in the key of our work above, but we cannot fail to note several important features.

We are faced with the fact that online events began to take place a little longer than their offline versions. There is a disadvantage in this, because the focus is lost. And there are still tasks and work, this is not a business trip.

Of course, we cannot fail to note the technical demonstration of Unreal Engine 5 on the new generation of PlayStation consoles. Real-time rendering technology and the trend towards ever deeper narrative elaboration of games seem to take us to unprecedented depths of the experience of immersion in games.

And finally: we are increasingly seeing what incredible things can be done in Houdini with models and surroundings. Having mastered this tool, even a solo developer is able to quickly make a high-quality 3D game with decent graphics. More and more CG specialists and companies are starting to release their games, and it seems that next year we will have many new professional studios without game development experience, but able to make the player's experience unforgettable.

What are you going to bet on when developing the company in 2021?

We have already started it: December is always a hot time for GTP Media, because the preparation of the cup, which traditionally starts in January, is in full swing. Now, for the first time in our memory, we are busy working closely with clients right up to Christmas, and the projects for Q1-Q2 next year have already been almost completely planned.

The next season is the 10th anniversary! At the beginning of 2016, we had 0 cases, 0 clients, and we wanted to do something cool. There was an understanding that reviews work much better than any advertising. And so far, most clients come by recommendation, and we only plan to promote ourselves publicly.

One of the plans for next year is the development of b2b PR for industrial companies. We see a request for this among service companies and not only. Sometimes it's not even completely obvious to the company itself. But we can clearly see this, because we started 5 years ago, having only a little experience in the industry.

And again, we can't help but mention online events. In the current conditions, you can attend more events than usual, which means you can make even more useful connections and new friends. Sometimes the online format of meetings leads to less engagement and rapprochement than a face-to-face meeting, but we also have reverse examples, because when everyone is at home, you have much more reasons to laugh together: over a cat in the frame or a child. Or discuss the love of the "Witcher", looking at the figures on the table of the interlocutor. Jokes and jokes are born by themselves and very naturally.

Recalling our own online event, we would like to note that starting from the winter cup season, we plan to add even more new content: interviews, videos, streams, guides, etc. We have ambitious goals for next year and we hope that with the help of our partners and participants we will be able to make the Indie Cup even more interesting and brighter!

Speaking of ambitions, let's mention that we are planning a big project next year and are already communicating with potential investors.

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

Igor: God of War. Although it was not released in 2020, it became the most memorable game for me. At the beginning of the year, I went through a remaster of the last part and after that a new one. It was incredible. I played a lot on the first generation PlayStation, but then switched to PC. Returning to the console was worth it!

The Last of Us: Part II. I started the walkthrough and after 10 hours I realized that this game had become more than just a mental one. She became very realistic. So much so that it can hurt and frighten somewhere deep inside. I postponed the passage for the Christmas holidays, because I want to go through it binge in a few days, like a favorite book.

Fall Guys. This is what I call a real console fan. I often play this colorful farce in order to relax my head and recharge my good mood. I never took the crown, I admit, but I had a lot of fun.

Ivan: Super Mario Odyssey. This year I finally bought a Nintendo Switch and started exploring its library. We have a pretty calm relationship with Breath of the Wild so far, but Odyssey has really impressed. It's amazing how Nintendo has been able to make Mario games for 35 years now so that after half an hour you're sitting with a childish smile – and eagerly playing the next 10 hours.

The Last of Us: Part II. Before the release of the second part, I rewrote the original – it's still a great game! But the sequel managed the incredible, the story of The Last of Us has become much deeper. This is probably the most shocking game of the year. Hopeless, cruel, terrible. But the more beautiful is the relationship of her characters – the very "light" of Cormac McCarthy in the darkness of a dying world.

Destiny 2. The spring lockdown helped to return to Destiny. We actively "farmed" exotic weapons, went on raids and strikes – in short, during the pandemic it is great entertainment and a good way to continue to communicate with friends.

And, of course, I'm waiting for the holidays to get into Hades from my favorite Supergiant Games.