Polden Publishing has changed its approach to selecting games for publication — and is very pleased with it
The publisher has significantly narrowed its focus.
Cartel Pilots Wanted
Recently, Polden Publishing's CEO, Kirill Oreshkin, explained on his Telegram channel that at the very beginning of 2026, the company revised its approach to game selection. The changes have primarily affected two criteria: genres and the preliminary metrics of games.
Firstly, Oreshkin wrote, Polden Publishing decided to limit itself to niches like "friend-slop" games and cooperative simulators. Whereas previously the company boldly took on strategies, horror games, and many other genres, it is now mainly interested in these two categories with rare exceptions.
Secondly, before signing a contract with developers, Polden Publishing began conducting marketing testing: it checks whether a game can gather a certain number of wishlists within a set period. If the target is not met, the contract is not signed.
As Oreshkin admitted, he initially had doubts about the effectiveness of such changes, but not anymore.
"Now, this is our main gold and the best decision in our professional history. Today, ChinaJoy has started, we're meeting with various regional publishers and partners, and all of them are impressed by this approach. Especially considering that China is very focused on mobile games, and they understand all business approaches, testing, trends, and so forth incredibly well," Oreshkin commented on the approach change.
Oreshkin also boasted that in the last six months, Steam users have added Polden Publishing's upcoming games to their wishlists over 2 million times. The most attention went to Cartel Pilots Wanted (493,000 wishlists) and Totally Secure Airport (479,000 wishlists) — both of which fall under the category of cooperative simulators.