"Overcoming competition and the growth of CPMs, now everything is going against the wind," Anton Yakovlev from Nexters on the results of 2023
We continue to summarize the results of 2023 together with the game teams. Next up is an interview with Anton Yakovlev, Marketing Director at Nexters.
What was the year like for the company? What have you done that I would like to highlight in terms of achievements?
It was a difficult year, however, as well as for the entire game development industry. A decrease in growth rates, satiation with creatives, difficulties with purchasing users — these are all the things that we have observed and are currently observing in the market.
Nevertheless, we managed to return to the Nasdaq stock exchange, we continued to expand into foreign markets, our guys began to get used to new locations for themselves — Kazakhstan and Armenia.
This year was also important for us strategically — we took an evolutionary step towards GDEV holding.
Throughout the year, Nexters has been actively engaged in its Hero Wars franchise. For example, we have divided Hero Wars into two games — the mobile Hero Wars Alliance and the browser-based Hero Wars Dominion Era. Thanks to this, we now see that the players have become more aware of how the versions differ from each other.
Hero Wars
Plus, we were preparing to launch other products in the Hero Wars universe — a merch store, comics, a cartoon, new projects that are still in R&D.
I also want to note the success of our second game — Island Hoppers (formerly Island Questaway). We have brought it to a full-fledged launch this year and achieved positive results.
Island Hoppers
How has the situation in the gaming market changed?
As I have already noted, the situation has become more complicated. We see difficulties for all international companies, especially in the mobile market. At the same time, it is worth noting that some companies are growing, which we are very happy about. This inspires optimism and faith in the future.
What was the year like for the genres in which you work?
We see that all adult competitors (those whose games have been in operation for more than three years) have not had breakthroughs in the development of their products or marketing, nor has there been explosive growth. Everyone is focused on methodical and consistent development.
Overcoming competition and the growth of CPMs, now everything is going against the wind. Everyone has to work hard, polish every aspect. At the same time, we see growth among competitors (both in product development and procurement). This is good, so they are able to overcome the resistance of the "wind".
What are the company's plans for next year?
We are going to:
- further develop our Hero Wars universe;
- Strengthen Island Hoppers;
- to build work on R&D projects.
