"Now it is evident how different audiences perceive the same game," said Vyacheslav Rybalkin from WebGameAnalytics about the results of 2025

We continue summarizing the outcomes of 2025 with gaming (or game industry-related) teams. Up next is an interview with Vyacheslav Rybalkin, the creator of the project WebGameAnalytics — a free service for monitoring web games across various platforms.

How did the year 2025 turn out for your analytics service? What would you consider the main result or achievement?

Vyacheslav Rybalkin, WebGameAnalytics: This year, we finally expanded beyond a single platform.

The main achievement is the addition of international platforms such as Poki and CrazyGames. Until now, the service only worked with “Yandex Games.” Now, we monitor over 25,000 games across three platforms: more than 18,000 on “Yandex,” over 4,500 on CrazyGames, and more than 2,200 on Poki.

Adding new platforms addressed several goals. First, it was a frequent request from users — they regularly asked in our Telegram channel if other platforms would be included. Secondly, developers are entering international markets and want to understand how their games are perceived by foreign audiences. Thirdly, this allows for comparing the same game across different platforms — and seeing where it performs better.

An additional challenge is unifying different rating systems. On “Yandex,” there is a five-star scale; on CrazyGames and Poki, it's likes and dislikes. We consolidated everything into a single interface to compare data without manual recalculations.

The project is already two and a half years old. I launched it in June 2023, when I was developing games and wanted to understand which projects were leading the charts, what to benchmark against. It started as a pet project for myself, then I shared it with the “Yandex Games” community — and the tool proved useful to others. The service remains completely free.

How did the web game market change over the year, based on the data you collected?

Vyacheslav: The data reveals several key changes.

Firstly, “Yandex” has significantly raised the quality bar. Throughout 2025, nearly 23,000 games were published on the platform, but by the end of the year, only about 7,600 remained active — less than a third. The platform introduced a new algorithm: If a game’s rating remains at 30 or below for more than three weeks, the project gets delisted. This was not the case before.

This changes the development approach. It's not enough just to publish a game — it needs to engage players from the first minutes. “Yandex” explicitly states this: invest in onboarding and retention.

Western platforms have even stricter filtration, but it's enforced at the entry point. About 300 games were released on Poki throughout the year, and around 900 on CrazyGames. The discrepancy with “Yandex” is tenfold. They have stringent moderation that prevents weak projects from entering the platform, while “Yandex” lets more through but then purges.

This year I also participated in a web game market study with the Playgama team. We calculated that more than 15,000 browser games were released in the first half of 2025 — more than in 2021, 2022, and 2023 combined. More on this in the App2Top article.

Secondly, average ratings differ across platforms. Games from 2025 on CrazyGames have an average rating of 89%, on Poki — 81%, and on Yandex — around 80%. Either CrazyGames has better content making it through moderation, or the audience is more lenient — or both.

Thirdly, audiences on different platforms perceive games differently. A telling example is Fortzone Battle Royale. On Yandex, the game received a rating of 4.1 out of 5, whereas on CrazyGames, it got 90.7% positive votes. Such differences are easily missed without cross-platform monitoring.

How have the requests from web developers changed over the year?

Vyacheslav: The focus shifted from "how am I doing" to "how do I look against the market."

Previously, developers mainly tracked their metrics: whether their ratings went up or down, what was being said in reviews. Now the question increasingly is: “How am I rated compared to competitors?”

Developers are more actively looking at category tops, tracking which games are rising. They are interested not only in the absolute rating but also in their position relative to other projects in the niche.

Another notable trend is the interest in cross-platform publishing. Developers are launching on multiple platforms simultaneously with a single build, using open-source tools like Playgama Bridge. Here, there’s a need to understand how the same game is received by different audiences.

What conclusions/thoughts/findings from 2025 could be useful for teams that are already working or are planning to enter the web games market?

Vyacheslav: Firstly, quality has become more important than quantity. Western platforms filter content more stringently at the entry, while “Yandex” cleans up afterward. If you plan to enter the international market, schedule time for adjustments to meet moderation requirements.

Secondly, one game — different ratings. A project might get a good rating on “Yandex” but gather negative feedback on Poki. The reasons aren’t always clear: a lengthy tutorial, unfamiliar controls, differences in audience expectations. Without monitoring multiple platforms, this is easily overlooked.

Thirdly, retention metrics are becoming a key factor for visibility. Platforms monitor playtime and player retention. A game with low metrics will receive less organic traffic — or be removed altogether, as “Yandex” does.

Regarding content — hypes still work, and now they are cross-platform. The Brainrot trend simultaneously took hold of all three platforms: on “Yandex,” "Steal Brainrot Online" and "Steal Brainrot 3D" entered the top 20, on Poki — Merge Rot and Brainrot Craft, on CrazyGames — Steal Brainrot Online with over 900,000 votes. Those who catch the wave in the first few weeks capture the main traffic.

Other noticeable categories on “Yandex” include case simulators (top-1 and top-2 by votes), games based on popular IPs (Robby, Minecraft, “Lady Bug and Cat Noir,” Brawl Stars), and text messaging simulators.

Meanwhile, web games remain a good entry point for novice developers. They offer a low publication barrier, fast player feedback, and the ability to release on several platforms with a single build. There are tools for this, and they are developing.

What new trends in the field of web games do you anticipate for the next year?

Vyacheslav: First — Roblox-like games on the web. Following Roblox’s ban in Russia, part of the audience is already transitioning to “Yandex Games.” Developers who can quickly adapt such mechanics to the browser will have an advantage.

Second — diversification across platforms. Developers are increasingly hesitant to rely on a single platform, opting instead to distribute risks. Simultaneous releases on multiple platforms using a single build are gradually becoming the industry standard: they allow for faster outreach scaling, reducing dependency on a single traffic source, and minimizing the impact of potential changes in rules, algorithms, or demand on one platform.

Third — the continuation of the Brainrot wave and similar hypes. In 2025, we saw the trend capture all three platforms simultaneously. Most likely, new waves will come in 2026 — and those who catch them in the first weeks will win.

Speaking specifically about the market for web analytics solutions, what do you expect from it in 2026?

Vyacheslav: Competition in the analytics market is growing, and this is good for developers. New tools are emerging, and existing ones are becoming more accessible.

Platforms are also developing analytics directly in their consoles. “Yandex Games” and VK Games already provide basic metrics out of the box. I believe this trend will continue.

However, there is still a niche for specialized tools. Platforms show data only for themselves. But a developer who publishes on multiple platforms needs to see the whole picture — how various audiences receive the game, where it’s growing, where it’s declining. This is the direction we are working towards.

What improvements do you plan to implement for the service in 2026?

Vyacheslav: First is the expansion of the list of platforms. Priorities include VK, “Odnoklassniki,” MSN Games, and YouTube Playables. We set priorities based on user requests and platform growth.

Second is the use of AI and machine learning for data analysis. We will start with text reviews on “Yandex Games”: we want the system to generate summaries on its own — what players are complaining about, and which aspects they praise. Next is analyzing rating dynamics and positions in the charts. We are interested in trying predictive models: which games are more likely to grow, what patterns exist among projects that make it to the top. The task is non-trivial, but we have accumulated enough data to experiment.

There are also ideas for the longer term — to use external data to identify trends. To monitor through Google Trends, Wordstat, and similar services, what is gaining popularity in searches, and which topics could transition into web games. Trends currently often come from Roblox, TikTok, or YouTube — it would be helpful to notice such waves in advance. The direction is promising — we will explore it.

The main goal remains the same: to help developers avoid getting stuck on one platform, understand how different audiences perceive their games, track the charts, and make data-driven decisions.