From Urology to Game Development: Interview with KB Production Founder Vitaly Kozlov on His Long Journey in the Industry

We spoke with Vitaly about how medicine, billiards, and filming a music show led him into game development. A gigantic personal interview.

Vitaly Kozlov has been in the gaming industry since the late 2000s. He started at Nikita Online as the Chief Product Officer, where he helped the company develop its MMO segment. For over 12 years, he has been creating children's games and mobile free-to-play projects within his own studio, KB Production. Among his key projects is the match-3 game “Candy Day” featuring the characters from the animated series “Masha and the Bear.” He launched the children's division at SberGames, which managed to release four projects. In recent years, he has been closely collaborating with the IRI and Soyuzmultfilm.

In the interview with him, we discussed:

• his journey from urologist to launching his own business;
• how filming a TV program with Bachinsky and Stillavin can help break into game development;
• what it took to double Nikita Online’s turnover in seven months;
• why children's games are a challenging niche;
• his experience working at SberGames;
• how he managed to secure a grant from the IRI;
• the future of KB Production;
• and much more.

Disclaimer: This is a massive 21-page material. So be sure to have a big mug of tea or coffee ready before you start reading.