Andrey Kovalishin gave his opinion on self-publishing during a panel at Casual Connect Eastern Europe 2014. “I think self-publishing depends on the team,” he expresses. “I would like to go with publishers, but not all the publishers are some kind of indie publishers.”
Andrey Kovalishin, CEO of Hunter Hamster Studio, became an indie game developer in 2008. Two years later, he founded the studio with Maxim Yurchenko, and it has since grown to four people.
Kovalishin tells us that being an indie developer has been an excellent way of developing his professional skills. Because he had to do so many things himself, he learned how everything in game development works and is able to manage all of it. In addition, working as an indie gave him the opportunity to meet many highly talented developers and become part of a group who discuss the problems of game development, sharing ideas and advice.
Snail Bob Success
The high point of Kovalishin’s career came with the release of their Flash game, Snail Bob 1. Unexpectedly, it became extremely popular, rapidly reaching more than 200 million plays. They began receiving excellent feedback from users, especially children. Players particularly enjoyed the fact that each level is unique, so the game never gets boring.
The success of the first Snail Bob game led the studio to develop a sequel, Snail Bob 2, which has become equally successful. The next step was to create a version of the game for the Apple App Store. They were determined to continue making it more captivating, so they added a new chapter, making a total of 60 levels, as well as other new features.
Kovalishin describes himself as an idealist about many things in his work and his life. This quality sometimes causes difficulties for him because he is aware of aspects of situations that others do not recognize. As well, he finds it is not a trait advantageous for earning money. But he feels it is very valuable in developing high-quality games that people love.
What’s in Store
The next steps for Hunter Hamster Studio will be creating games that are more complex and more emotional, as well as cross-platform. And how will they be able to put all this together? He says, “Using Unity, of course.”
Since Kovalishin believes the coming trend that will have the biggest impact on the games industry is virtual reality, they may also be developing for these devices.
Although Kovalishin is a passionate gamer, he claims to be rather strange because he plays no free-to-play games. His
strong preference is for consoles, both Xbox and PS. He has been using Xbox 360 for the past five years and purchased PS3 to play exclusive games like The Last of Us and Heavy Rain. He has definite plans to get Xbox One, specifically to play Quantum Break from Remedy, and PS4 as well for its exclusive games. The most recent game he has been playing is Valiant Hearts, considering it a true masterpiece, not only for the fun factor, but because it forces us to think about our relationships and how they affect our lives.
When Kovalishin is not working, his most important priority is spending time with his family. But he can also be found reading books, watching movies, walking and traveling.
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