Valentin Merzlikin shared his thoughts on what Eastern European developers need to accomplish in order to hold onto their place in the global games ecosystem during Casual Connect Kyiv 2013.
Valentin Merzlikin, Director at Prosto Games, first became interested in the games industry in 2004, when he was looking for a new business, possibly a shareware products company. Two friends approached him to market the game they had developed. He decided to give it a try and soon found himself addicted to this entirely new world.
So Happy to be Here
“This is the most interesting industry I have ever been involved in!” Merzlikin declares. “Games are fun! Besides that, you are learning new things every day, surprising both colleagues and competitors. You receive almost immediate responses to the results of your work from hundreds and thousands of people. And the industry keeps changing and growing.”
But if he were not in the industry, he sees himself running some sort of mobile startup and trying to reach millions with his apps. He claims, “That sounds fascinating.”
In his free time, he enjoys wine tasting, travel, and playing mobile games. But with the intensity of his work, he admits it is a good thing he can do all three at the same time.
Helping Indies
As Executive Producer at Neskinsoft, he has the opportunity to share his vision, as well as the things he has learned at CGA’s Casual Connect and GDE sessions. Although he claims he still has a lot to learn, his knowledge is helping to create better games. At Prosto Games, he helps independent developers distribute games of different genres on different platforms and finds unique product niches. He also consults on effective marketing campaigns in the mobile market. He believes that both his biggest challenges and the greatest moments of his career lie ahead. Everything he is working on, the new games and platforms, excites him, and he is looking forward to seeing what will happen next.
Interactive Adventures and Wearable Computing
Merzlikin believes the next trend coming to the casual market is interactive quests. This is the direction hidden objects games are evolving. He does not see large changes in gaming habits, although he expects people to play more and to spend more time with personal entertainment devices. He tells us we will see more convergence between phones, wearable computers, and in-house entertainment. He also believes wearable computers will broadly employ Augmented Reality experiences.
He expects to see marketing become even more difficult, although there will still be opportunities for new entertainment platforms that gain and retain the gamer audience. This is one of the things he is currently working on with his partners.
Comments
