During his session at Casual Connect Eastern Europe 2014, George Lemnaru discussed how a community affects games. “Content is your ice breaker and social recognition, your long term retention,” he says.
George Lemnaru loves the way the games industry combines numbers and formulas with creativity. He asserts, “It allows you to dream but forces you to have your feet on the ground.”
Lemnaru founded Green Horse Games because, he emphasizes, “We believe in games that are truly social, games that empower users and allow players to reach a goal together with other like-minded people.” Before founding Green Horse Games, he had already successfully founded and developed eRepublik.com, a massive multi-player geopolitical game. But he has gained the most satisfaction in his career through starting again from scratch, founding his new company, and constantly growing it.
While managing Green Horse games as CEO, he has developed Liga Ultras, a game built for football supporters. It has more than 30,000 users in Romania, averaging 30 minutes of playing time each day, demonstrating impressive engagement and retention. The game has now opened to international players, beginning with Greece, and the company plans to continue to spread internationally.
Facing Copycats
Lemnaru believes the greatest challenge facing the games industry today comes from the huge number of copycat games being created. While he understands that large companies may sometimes find these games advantageous, he insists it is an enormous mistake for a small studio to make one. The only advantages they have in the struggle to survive are originality and adaptivity.
Green Horse Games’ response to this challenge begins prior to working on a project. First, they analyze the concept and make sure it is not an ordinary sorrel or bay that you could find on any farm, not even a palomino, but a true ‘Green Horse’ that will really stand out.
The next important trend in the games industry, according to Lemnaru, will be generated by a company following its own path to create something outstanding, that everyone else will want to copy. He claims, “This will create a new pool which small fish and big sharks will start to populate one by one.”
Green Horse follows its own path. He emphasizes, “We don’t know where that road will take us, but we are doing our best to make it a fun ride.”
Enjoying Variety
Lemnaru himself is a very eclectic player, playing different games on different platforms. Currently, he is playing Civilizations and FIFA Manager on his PC and a variety of games on Facebook, the App Store and Xbox.
When not gaming, he is actively involved in sports, playing football, and swimming with his young daughter. As well, he is passionate about history.
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