WN Yerevan '26 took place in Yerevan. We share the results

Last week, on October 15–16, the WN Conference was held in the capital of Armenia. The event was supported by App2Top and gathered 410 representatives of the gaming industry from 211 companies. Here's how it all went down and what participants think about the conference.

Participant Statistics

A total of 410 people from 211 companies attended WN Yerevan'26. Among them were representatives from Saber Interactive, MY.GAMES, Playkot, HeroCraft, Nekki, Sperasoft, CrazyGames, Noor Games, Rockbite Games, ArmNomads, Triada Studio Games, and many others.

A significant portion of the guests were executives and game developers. Specifically, 35% of participants identified as top managers, and another 31% as development specialists. Marketing and PR representatives made up 9%, and business development and sales specialists accounted for 7%.

Feedback

This was the first WN conference for Yerevan, and judging by the feedback, representatives of the local gaming industry welcomed the introduction of such an event in Armenia positively. Below are some impressions from the participants.

I was thrilled to see the White Nights conference in Yerevan! Such events energize the industry, strengthen connections between people, and facilitate the exchange of knowledge and information. Welcome to Yerevan! I hope the conference will now be held here every year.

Narek Agekyan

CEO of Noor Games

I never expected to see WN literally right next door! This is an incredibly positive and much-anticipated boost. I am confident that the local community will make every effort to ensure the conference becomes a regular and successful event.

Avetis Zakaryan

CEO of Rockbite Games

The opportunity to meet experienced, talented, and successful teams and indie developers in such a professional atmosphere in Yerevan was a truly unexpected discovery for me! The first WN conference in Yerevan was organized at a high level, with great attention to participants' comfort.

Sergey Manucharyan

Director of Mobile Publishing at HeroCraft

The event was truly beneficial for us — a relevant audience, high engagement, and numerous opportunities for networking and new collaborations. Special thanks to the WN team for excellent organization and support throughout all stages of preparation.

Dmitry Chudovsky

VP Marketing at Bidease

Program

WN Yerevan'26 was held over two days at the five-star hotel The Alexander.

The first day focused on business roundtables. Topics discussed included AI, the development of the gaming industry in Armenia, potential funding sources in current conditions, and user acquisition.

As for the second day of the conference, it was largely dedicated to the practical aspects of game development. For example, Senior Game Designer at Saber Interactive Maxim Ostanin used Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 as an example to discuss how achievements can impact the gaming experience and help introduce users to content. Polina Dadabaeva from Sakura Games shared her experience with art production on The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria.

It is worth noting that the event organizers arranged a separate ticket for linear specialists, allowing them to attend presentations without purchasing a full conference pass.

Showcase

One of the key features of WN Yerevan'26 was the Developer Showcase, an exhibition of games from independent developers. Teams had the opportunity to present their projects to conference attendees, receive feedback, and meet potential partners.

The interest in the exhibition was notable: the organizers received 78 applications for participation.

The majority of submitted games are being developed for PC — this platform was selected by 73% of teams. Mobile devices account for 40% of projects, consoles for about 23%, and web and cloud platforms for 12%. It should be noted that developers could select multiple platforms, hence the total percentage exceeds 100%.

Among the genres, actions were the most frequent (27%), followed by casual games (23%) and adventures (20%). Roguelikes and soulslikes were also well represented (19%).

The most popular engine among applicants was Unity, used by 49% of teams. Unreal Engine is used for 20% of the games, and Godot for 16%.

Noteworthy are the goals developers had when applying for the showcase. Two-thirds of teams (67%) indicated that they were interested in finding a publisher. Another 63% sought professional feedback, 53% were looking for marketing opportunities, and 45% were searching for potential investors.

Indie Pitch

The traditional indie pitch also took place as part of WN Yerevan'26. This format allows developers to present their games directly to an expert jury and receive their feedback.

The jury included Arty McLabin from GameReady, Tobias Edl from WINKLELAB, Ritesh Thadani from Triple Dragon, and Matvey Mashchenko from Brightika.

A total of five games were selected for the pitch (out of 40 applications):

Wanna Trade Sir? (Steal These Games) — a first-person bartender simulator;

Sort the Tapes! (Risskete) — a simulator where players sort thousands of video cassettes in a video rental;

Build&Raid (GG Studio) — a fantasy strategy game involving settlement building, territory exploration, and raids;

Hard Worker (Region23) — a multiplayer simulator focused on work and everyday life in an open world;

Until We're Human (Mermaid Soft) — a cooperative adventure where players assume the roles of teenagers turned into cute animals.

Teams were able to present their projects to experts, receive recommendations, and discuss collaboration opportunities with gaming industry representatives.

Sponsors and Partners

WN Yerevan'26 was supported by sponsors such as Bidease, Nekki, ggsel, garna, and AdsCard.

All event photos can be viewed in the official WN Yerevan’26 gallery.

The next events by WN Media Group are planned for October 29 in Bangkok (WN PC Publishers & Investors Connect), December 10 in Tbilisi (WN C-Level Summit), and February 2027 in Dubai (WN Dubai).