“Get ready to embark onto HTML5,” Olga Khomenko explains. “As the technology matures, you will see it more and more!” She talked about how HTML5 could help older games in her session at Casual Connect Eastern Europe 2014.
Olga Khomenko is the co-founder of PlayToMax, one of the leading companies in the HTML5 market, with a team of professionals having more than eight years of experience in game development. At Casual Connect Eastern Europe 2014, she announced the upcoming release of popular titles such as Treasures of Montezuma 2, Farm Frenzy, My Kingdom for the Princess, D Day Tower Defense, and others, on the HTML5 platform. Having these titles available on the mobile web should bring a new impulse to the market, she believes.
Khomenko tells us, “I have real pride in the team we have at PlayToMax today. It’s a feeling I have every day when I come to the office.” This sense of gratification began when the company was first created with a team of five through its growth to the team of twenty-two it is today. The recipe she gives for its success is friendship and a sense of humor.
At PlayToMax, Khomenko focuses mainly on company management and client services. However, as she points out, when you have your own business, your job responsibilities are not strictly defined; you do many things simply because they are needed.
Focusing on the Mobile Web
Analysts expect by the end of 2014 mobile web usage will have outstripped PC web. This is exactly the trend PlayToMax is targeting. Since HTML5 is a web-based technology, PlayToMax expects strong growth for mobile web and a parallel increase in interest for HTML5 games. Because these are cross-platform, they can cover both PC and mobile at the same time. As the technology continues to develop, Khomenko believes mobile browsers will continue to advance in performance capability, giving users the opportunity to have a native-like experience.
PlayToMax is in an ideal position to respond to this trend since their main business is populating web-based mobile games while creating addictive and successful titles for the market. Khomenko admits, “This is a hard job. Out-of-the-box thinking and passion for what we do is what helps us every day.”
The most impactful trend she sees in the games business as a whole is mobile; it has been an important evolution for years and continues to influence the games market. This is shown by the movement toward games-on-the-go, endless games with simple gameplay that can occupy users’ time while they are waiting, traveling, or have some short period available for play. The result is shown in the success of games like 2048 or Flappy Bird.
Free Time Play
When Khomenko is gaming, she is, of course, doing it on HTML5, appreciating its easy accessibility with no passwords or logins; you just play. Her favorite game so far is D Day Tower Rush, a tower defense game with a fun setting. Another favorite game she continues to play and enjoy is Plants vs Zombies. She describes herself as somewhat old-school in her console play; she is still using her PlayStation 1, but admits she has limited time at home to play on it.
Khomenko’s passion in life, other than games, is music. For a couple of years, she has been playing drums in a band, called Miles Babies. Shortly after Casual Connect, they will be doing a tour in the Ukraine, with concerts in seven different cities. She claims, “It’s always funny to see the reaction of people when the girl tells them she plays the drums.”
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