"The logistical situation has changed for the worse," Anton Arkatov from Soviet Games on the results of 2023
We continue to summarize the results of 2023 with the game teams. Next up is an interview with Anton Arkatov, head of the Soviet Games studio.
What was the year like for the studio? What have you done that I would like to highlight in terms of achievements?
The year for Soviet Games turned out to be quite slow and at the same time difficult. We were recovering from the rather intense release of "Love, Money, Rock and Roll" in 2022, we were engaged in supporting the game, developing support for modifications, setting up processes, planning new projects and brainstorming ideas.
All these things, of course, required resources and work, but really active development on a new basis will begin only in 2024. In particular, because several key members of the team had rather difficult life circumstances that took time and effort away from possible work — the reason for the aforementioned "difficult" year.
How has the situation changed for the studio in the market? What new challenges did she face?
On the one hand, the logistical situation has changed for the worse. Due to well-known events, contacting Steam, the main distribution platform for non-mobile games in the world, has become much more difficult for both players and developers, and we are no exception here. The same can be said about many other sites.
With another…
What was the year like for the indie scene in general?
The year 2023 turned out to be extremely busy with the releases of AAA and Double-A games, and therefore, unfortunately, the indie games released this year did not receive due attention. And in general, there were not as many outstanding games from independent developers this year as we would like. However, as history shows, it often happens in the industry that after a year of blockbusters, a year of soulful and innovative indie games is sure to follow, so everything is still ahead.…
What are the studio's plans for next year?
Work, work and work again. The planning stage is (almost) over, and the time is right for the implementation of our next projects and ideas. You should not expect big new releases from us in the near future – however, you can safely expect big announcements! And you can be sure that Soviet Games is not going anywhere.