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Meanwhile, in Kyiv . . .
What They’re Saying about Casual Games in Russia
We love holding conferences in Kyiv. Not only is the food in Kyiv excellent, but the attendees are
full of fire and enthusiasm. It’s always exhilarating to get together there. Although it was attended
primarily by people from Russia and the Ukraine, we also had over 75 people from North America in
attendance at our last conference in Kyiv.
Casual games have a distinguished history in Russia, beginning with the 1984 release of Tetris,
the #1 selling casual game of all time. Since then, many of the most popular casual games—
including Magic Ball, Mystery Case Files, and Cake Mania—have passed through the hands
of Russian developers on their way to market. Recent acquisitions by Oberon Media, Arkadium,
and MumboJumbo merely confirm what many of us already know: Eastern Europe and Russia are
producing many talented casual game developers.
To give everyone a bit of insight into how the local community has received the casual games industry,
we are reprinting here a translation of an article that recently appeared in DTF, the largest online
publication in Russia. —ed.
Игровая индустрия за неделю:
15–21 октября 2007 года
Привет всем читателям самого игроиндустриального ресурса
Рунета, особенно той части, с которой ваш покорный слуга
имел удовольствие общаться в Киеве на международной
конференции Casual Connect: Киев 2007. Начнем сегодняшнюю
колонку как раз с этой темы.
Итак, год назад Casual Games Association, принимая во
внимание тот факт, что на казуальной сцене все громче
проявляют себя игры, сделанные на просторах бывшего
СССР и прилегающих странах Восточной Европы, приняла
решение к двум уже существующим конференциям - в Сиэттле
и Амстердаме - добавить еще одну. Местом проведения
по многим причинам был выбран Киев. Как в этот раз
признались сами организаторы, год назад они побаивались, что
мероприятие не соберет достаточного количества участников,
но их опасения оказались напрасными, поскольку на Casuality
2006 (так тогда назывался эта конференция, читайте, кстати,
наш подробный репортаж о ней) приехало около 300 человек.
Нынче “посещаемость” выросла почти вдвое, кроме того
усилилось, внимание к конференции со стороны зарубежных
“китов” казуальной индустрии. На Casual Connect: Киев 2007
присутствовали представители от всех лидеров этого рынка
(как зарубежного, так и отечественного) - Oberon Media,
Real, Mumbo Jumbo, BigFish, PopCap, iWin, Reflexive, Alawar,
Absolutist, IT-Territory, Nevosoft, CTXM и многие другие
(прошу прощения у тех, чью компанию я не назвал).
Говоря об организации, нельзя не отметить, что ее уровень
существенно повысился (во многом благодаря грамотному
использованию возможностей нового места проведения
- президент-отеля “Киевский”). За три дня работы было
проведено несколько десятков лекций и семинаров,
причем впервые они шли в два потока. Возможностей для
Alex Ptitca
1 Casual Connect Magazine Casual Connect Magazine 1
“
Casual games made
in the countries of the
former USSR and the
bordering Eastern
European countries
are becoming more
and more remarkable.
THE GAME INDUSTRY WEEKLY:
October 15-21, 2007
”
Regards to all the readers of the most “gameindustrious” resource
of the RU-net, especially to that part of you whom your humble
servant had pleasure to meet at the international conference
Casual Connect Kyiv 2007. Let’s start the current column right from
this topic.
Due to the fact that casual games made in the countries of the
former USSR and the bordering Eastern European countries
are becoming more and more remarkable, a year ago the Casual
Games Association decided to add one more conference to their
existing ones in Seattle and Amsterdam. For many reasons Kyiv
was selected as its venue. The organizers confessed that a year
ago they were a bit afraid that the event would not attract enough
participants, but their concerns proved to be groundless as there
were over 300 people at Casuality 2006 (as the event was called at
that time— see details on that at http://www.dtf.ru/articles/read.
php?id=43732).
This year the attendance grew almost two times; moreover, the
attention of the foreign casual industry’s “high and mighties” has
intensified. All the leaders of this market (foreign and domestic)—
Oberon Media, RealNetworks, MumboJumbo, Big Fish Games,
PopCap Games, iWin, Reflexive, Alawar, Absolutist, IT-Territory,
Nevosoft, CTXM and a lot of others (my apologies to those whom I
have failed to mention)—were present at Casual Connect Kyiv 2007.
Speaking of the organization of the conference, it is necessary
to mention that its quality has significantly increased (in many
respects due to the capable use of the venue facilities—President
Hotel Kyivsky). During three days of the conference there were
several dozens of lectures and workshops conducted; moreover,
for the first time they were split in two tracks. There were plenty
of opportunities for developers to communicate with potential
distributors and publishers.