"There's a trend towards working with premium content," says Anton Vinogradov from Samustai about the results of 2024

We continue to summarize the results of 2024 with gaming teams (or those related to the gaming business). Up next is an interview with Anton Vinogradov, co-founder of the game porting and publishing studio Samustai.

How was the year for the company? What achievements would you like to highlight?

2024 was a challenging year for the entire gaming industry, but for us, it became a year of overcoming and growth. We pushed ourselves, adapted to new realities, maintained stability, and released a plethora of new projects (porting 10 games over the year). We increased our workload, albeit slightly less than anticipated. We managed to maintain team size, streamline processes, and become significantly more recognized in the market despite the difficulties.

Samustai was responsible for porting Lost Eidolons to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series

How do you see the changes in the game porting market?

The market has become more complex: the number of available projects for porting has decreased, linked to the closure of several gaming studios. However, we also see opportunities in this. Each closing company leaves room for new studios to emerge, meaning we are likely to see a boom in projects soon. We are already sensing interest from new developers seeking experienced partners for porting.

Samustai was responsible for porting and publishing Sanya on PlayStation 5

What requests are developers currently making most frequently?

Developers often seek not just porting, but comprehensive support: from optimization to adaptation to unique platform requirements. There is a trend towards working with premium content: requests for porting and supporting high-budget and high-quality projects have become more frequent. Many developers aim to launch on consoles with maximum quality to stand out amid the competition.

Samustai was responsible for porting Pixel Gun 3D to PC

What trends in the niche of game porting do you anticipate strengthening or emerging in 2025?

We are confident that the trend towards premium content will only strengthen, even though a significant number of free-to-play titles will also enter the market as consoles are a low-competition market. Market leaders will be games with high quality and well-developed user experiences, not just mass projects. Moreover, in 2025 we expect a noticeable increase in the number of ported projects as the market begins to recover. It’s also possible that remasters and remakes of older games will gain new momentum, making the porting of such products a crucial part of our work.

What are the company's plans for the coming year?

We have ambitious plans: we aim not only to grow but also to reach a new level. We plan to increase our development capacity several times over, allowing us to work on not only ports but also full-fledged remakes and remasters. We are actively developing relationships with our Western partners and are now ready to tackle significantly larger projects.