Results of 2021: Alexander Pavlov from Playkot about the main thing for the year
We continue to summarize the results of 2021 together with top managers and experts of the gaming industry (and related ones). Next up is an interview with Alexander Pavlov, co-founder of Playkot.
How did 2021 go for the company?
Most of all, the pride is caused by the increased level of our team. We have attracted a lot of strong guys. The growth of the people we have been working with for many years is also very inspiring.
We have become more demanding. It has become easier to let go of people with whom it is not possible to work at the level we need.
We are very pleased with the metrics of our new products, which are in early launch. The next global release from Playkot will be available in Q1 next year.
The outgoing year was a year of transformation for the Age of Magic team. We have greatly restructured the work, reassembled the team. Over the year, we have released several releases that have significantly affected the key metrics of the game. By the end of the year, we have significantly increased the percentage of paying players. I expect that thanks to this, we will scale the marketing of Age of Magic in the coming months, and the game will begin to grow.
Our “Supercity” celebrated its tenth anniversary this year! Imagine, the game is 10 years old, and it continues to grow! This year we have found a new growth point. We are going to scale “Supercity” on new platforms.
What event or trend of 2021 do you consider central within your niche?
The pandemic continues to affect the global economy. The central banks of the United States and Europe are pouring huge amounts of money into the economy to support it. People and companies continue to get access to cheap money. From here:
- huge investments in the industry;
- the rise of the capitalization model, the boom of IPOs and M&A;
- market consolidation accelerated;
- the increase in the cost of marketing (it is also accelerated by the transition of advertising budgets of large ecommerce businesses to online);
- salary growth in the industry (after all, there is a lot of investor money).
It became more difficult for companies that were focused on profit and a dividend model to work. The cost of production is growing, the payback horizons of traffic are being pushed back.
The next cycle in the industry is coming to an end. We can observe a crisis and a turning point. The industry will change a lot in the next 2-3 years. The usual models will stop working. They will be replaced by fundamentally new models in the product and in marketing. There comes a time of opportunity for those who are ready to try new things and quickly rebuild. It’s very energizing!
It is worth paying attention to new marketing approaches. Advertising collaborations and deep integrations of influencers.
And the second wave of interest in blockchain games.
What will be the stake in the development of the company in 2022?
In the past year, we have spent a lot of time working on the company’s strategy. Now we have a fairly clear understanding of the goals and focus points. In 2022, we will focus on the release of games that we have been working on for the last 2-3 years, as well as on the growth of “Supercity” and Age of Magic. In parallel, we will start working on new approaches in marketing and launch on new platforms for us.
As one of our top managers said at the last strategic session, “Playkot now resembles a spring that has been accumulating energy for a couple of years and is about to straighten out with all its might.”
