Developers from Osijek say there is no reason for them to move anywhere else.
Void Main Studio, the most prominent Slavonian studio for video game development, was founded in March 2017 as part of the initiative which also created the Game Dev Osijek Academy, as well as the first official GameJam in Osijek. Events related to the development of video games which over the past three years took place as part of the Osijek Software City project were also significant, reports tportal.hr on January 21, 2018.
The studio was founded by Bela Ikotić, who is now the director of business development, and Leo Tot, who is in charge of operational business and creativity. “We see the business opportunity in the trends in the global gaming industry, which is the fastest growing entertainment industry in the world. On an annual level, in 2017, it had revenues of over 100 billion US dollars. For the next several years, a minimum growth of 6.2 percent is anticipated,” said Tot.
Based on this vision, they were able to persuade a group of investors to invest 250,000 euro in Void Main Studio. “The investors are individuals who follow trends and events in the IT industry, so they know how it operates and what kind of revenue it can bring. We didn’t have to persuade them because they’d already expressed their interest in investing in the IT segment of the industry. The most demanding part of the negotiations was proving that we can fulfill revenue projections so that investors would get a crystal clear image of the video game industry as a good and very lucrative industry,” said Tot.
In addition to the investment, most of the revenue is currently realized through external project co-operation, i.e., specially-ordered projects, and outsourcing. But, since Void Main Studio is also involved in the development of their own projects, they expect revenue from that side as well. This primarily refers to the Reboot Overlords project, which could be launched a week before this year’s Reboot InfoGamer fair, which usually begins in mid or late November. The game was already initially featured at their stand as part of the last year’s InfoGamer.
Reboot Overlords belongs to the category of martial arts games (more precisely, 2D arena fighting). The game is intended for competitive players who love martial arts. Interestingly, it contains characters who are based on members of the Reboot’s organizational team, which they call Overlords. Each Overlord is unique, which will significantly affect the gameplay.
In the future, the focus of the Void Main Studio will be games for desktop computers and game consoles. However, Tot added, it would be very naive and unprofessional to ignore the mobile market, given the popularity of the platform and the revenue it brings on an annual basis.
The studio currently has eight employees, including one part-time developer. Like many other companies in the industry, Void Main Studio has a shortage of staff, which Tot and his team will try to solve in the long run through ongoing training projects. “The main advantages of working in Osijek are long-standing credibility and positive business results in the IT industry, largely thanks to the community of high-quality individuals from the Osijek Software City, and their continuous initiative, support, and contribution through development and education projects. We do not plan to move from Osijek in the near future. There is no need for that. I believe that the success of a video game studio depends solely on your own ambitions, the desire for success in the gaming industry and commitment. If you have that, the location is absolutely unimportant,” Tot said.
“I believe that the state has an interest in encouraging the video game industry development. It is difficult to believe that politicians are not thinking about the sector, given the positive results and profits that can be achieved. However, we are probably not yet in their focus due to well-known reasons. Recently, a community of Croatian video game producers has launched an initiative for a Law on Audiovisual Activities, with the purpose of encouraging and reinforcing support systems for the development of audiovisual activities at the state and international level, which would also include the development of video games. The goal is to raise awareness about the video game industry as a serious business,” concluded Tot.
Translated from tportal.hr.
