"The biggest achievement for us is the release of the gameplay trailer for Spine, our first game for PC and consoles," Dmitry Terekhin from Nekki on the results of 2023

We continue to summarize the results of 2023 with the game teams. Next up is an interview with Dmitry Terekhin, the founder of Nekki.

What was the year like for the company? What have you done that I would like to highlight in terms of achievements?

This year we have been diversifying. We supported current projects, worked on new ones and revived old ones, returning to the roots. So, we redesigned and updated our Vector game 10 years after its release, released Shades, the storyline sequel to Shadow Fight 2 with roguelike mechanics, and also announced the browser game Fight Me, an idle manager with Web-3 elements. We started our journey with browser games in the manager genre 21 years ago, and now we see a window of opportunity to return to the roots.

But the biggest achievement for us is the release of the gameplay trailer for Spine, our first game for PC and consoles. The announcement was successful — we see interest from the players and the press. Many people do not believe that the gameplay shown in the video is not cut scenes. Next year we have a lot of work to do to prove this and build a community.

How has the situation in the gaming market changed?

The mobile gaming market is getting too crowded, it's a really red ocean. There are almost no new successful projects, and I myself, as a player, cannot find something interesting for myself.

Therefore, we want to find ourselves in another market — we are trying PCs and consoles, HTML5 browser development and cross-platform. As for the mobile sector, we are focusing on operating previously launched projects and reviving old franchises.

What was the year like for the genres in which you work?

It's hard to say. We try ourselves in different niches, but the most interesting thing is to watch indie projects in the niche of action. This is the most creative direction. And here we noticed one cool trend for us — more and more indie teams are using our software for Cascadeur animation. The number of our paid users has tripled in a year, and we see that in many indie communities Cascadeur is recommended as a standard for learning and easy creation of 3D animation. Already in the first quarter of next year, we are planning a very large update, which will include many new features, which will simplify the processes even more. We wish there were more games with cool animations.

What are the company's plans for next year?

The main task, given the large number of projects, is to digest them. To form teams, optimize processes, complete the most risky tasks, as well as continue working on operating launched projects and building a community for the future.

Of the new releases for the year, only Fight Me is planned — our attempt to build a long-term and high-quality brand in Web-3. We also recently received the ISBN for Shadow Fight 3 and are preparing the title's return to the Chinese market.

But the most ambitious goal is PR, marketing and partnerships for Spine. It's very motivating!