Vedomosti: VK wants to turn VK Play into a Russian analogue of Steam
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VK intends to develop its VK Play gaming platform by inviting video game developers to exclusive cooperation. As the sources explained Vedomosti, by the end of the year, VK and the Moscow game development studio Owlcat Games may announce cooperation. The developer’s products will be presented on VK Play on an exclusive basis, which will repeat the concept of placing video games on foreign platforms (Steam, PlayStation Store, Nintendo eShop).
According to the interlocutor of the publication, close to VK, the situation with the blocking of the main payment methods for games in Western stores for Russians pushed the company to the strategy of exclusive cooperation with the studios. “Sanctions are growing, there are fewer and fewer workarounds like Kazakhstani cards,” he explained, adding that VK intends to fill this niche in the Russian and CIS markets.
The newspaper’s sources specify that VK can invest up to $10 million in the implementation of the strategy, which is approximately two to four times less than the budget for the development of one AAA project abroad (the development of Cyberpunk 2077, for example, cost $174 million). According to gaming expert Alexander Kuzmenko, due to strict legislation in Russia, developers will not be able to release “completely untested products” on the domestic platform. As Mr. Kuzmenko recalled, accessibility for developers and the almost complete absence of censorship once became the reasons for the growth of Steam’s popularity.
An unnamed Vedomosti source also noted that cooperation with VK may be unattractive for developers planning to promote their products in the foreign market due to reputational costs.
Last week, VK told Kommersant that the PC shooter Atomic Heart in the CIS will sell only on the VK Play site. It was developed by the Russian studio Mundfish. At the end of August, the platform also announced an innovation that allows individuals to publish their games on the service with a 5% commission (meaning developers will receive 95% of the proceeds).
On the consequences of sanctions for Russian gamers – in the material “Kommersant” “Games Over”.
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