If proof were needed that mobile games are taking over the world, My.com would be a good example.
Part of the giant Russian internet group Mail.Ru, it has a strong reputation for PC games, especially MMOGs.
And through its MyGames channel, it's now actively getting involved in mobile games, as demonstrated by recent release Evolution: Battle for Utopia.
We caught up with publishing director Yuriy Maslikov to find out more about its plans.
Pocket Gamer: Can you give us some background on My.com and what sort of games you develop and publish?
Yuriy Maslikov: My.com is a subsidiary of Russian internet company Mail.Ru Group. We offer a family of mobile services and games.
Within our parent company, we have extensive game market expertise and highly skilled development teams that have come to us from around the world.
The main game developer expertise comes from Russia, where the current core team has been developing and publishing social, browser and mobile games within the Mail.Ru Group for over 15 years.
You're more focused on PC/online games so how important are mobile games to My.com?
We focus on games in a broader sense. Mobile platforms are undoubtedly a rapidly growing market and it is one of the pillars of our strategy to have a presence on this market.
However, the game is our first and foremost priority. We focus on game design and technology that enables us to get our ideas onto several platforms at the same time.
Our mobile games can easily be transferred to social networks and the web, and client games have game playing elements from the very start that are designed for the web and mobile applications.
Mobile platforms are the link for all our games.
In terms of the mobile games you've released, they've been pretty varied - from casual/social (Lucky Fields), to casino (Poker Arena) and hardcore (Juggernaut and Evolution). Do you expect to narrow your focus in future, or will there always be a broad spread?
There are professionals in different genres within our company and among our partners.
There are developers who are experts in social games and they like casual projects. There are developers who focus on hardcore games and we can expect them to produce new RPGs, tactics and strategy games.
The direct translation of online PC games to mobile is a dead-end path.Yuriy Maslikov
This variety enables us to maintain a broad range of games and we do not want to limit any of our audiences in the future.
Do you have any plans to release mobile versions of your PC games?
The direct translation of online PC games to mobile is a dead-end path at this stage.
It is extremely difficult to make a game that will offer the same experience on different platforms because of differences in management capabilities and session length.
We think it is better for part of the gameplay to originally be planned for use on mobile platforms, for example companion applications.
In companion applications, you can have episodic or asynchronous gameplay, resource management, crafting or socialization. We will adhere to this strategy for all our client projects.
How do you expect the myGames service to expand during 2014, and which countries are you looking to see high usage in?
We plan to launch closed tests of our client projects and several new mobile games in 2014.
As for specific countries, it is our aim to have an independent global presence throughout the world. We are expanding and strengthening our position in Europe and the United States. We will strive to maintain the possibility of easy adaptation to local markets.
