"Our ultimate goal is to make web gaming seamless, scalable, and more accessible for developers worldwide"

HTML5 is back and web gaming is set to be one of 2025's big talking points in the games industry.

One startup hoping to capture the zeitgeist is Playgama, which provides a platform for developers to distribute and monetise their games in the web gaming market. Through its open-source SDK, Playgama Bridge, developers can reach audiences across various online platforms.

The company is focused on expanding its offerings, including advanced analytics and fintech tools, while continuing to connect developers with players.

We spoke to Playgama founder Dmitry Kachmar to discuss landing $3 million in funding, the HTML5 renaissance and plans for the coming year.

Learn more about the fast-growing MENA games market and connect with local companies in the region at the Dubai Game Expo Summit powered by Pocket Gamer Connects on May 7th to 8th 2025.

PocketGamer.biz: Could you tell us a bit about Playgama and what you’re up to right now?

Dmitry Kachmar: Playgama is the go-to platform for developers looking to distribute and monetise their games in the rapidly growing web gaming market. We’ve built a platform that acts as a "master key," enabling developers to distribute their games across the web — playgrounds, social networks, messengers, and more — with a single integration.

Our open-source SDK, Playgama Bridge, is already empowering thousands of developers by simplifying their reach and streamlining monetisation.

At present, we’re focused on expanding the platform’s capabilities, including advanced analytics and fintech tools, while connecting developers to a potential audience of over 200 million monthly players.

Our ultimate goal is to make web gaming seamless, scalable, and more accessible for developers worldwide.

How many staff do you currently employ and where are they based?

We’re a remote-first team of 30 (and counting) people spread across the globe, from the US to Indonesia, with our headquarters and part of our staff based in Dubai. Personally, I split my time between Dubai and Amsterdam.

Playgama has just raised $3 million in funding. What are your key priorities for utilising this investment?

Our top priority is expanding and enhancing our platform by investing in the core development team. We are actively hiring top-notch backend, frontend, full-stack, and Unity developers.

We’re also focused on expanding our tool kit for developers with improved analytics and fintech solutions. Of course, we’ll also continue strengthening partnerships with playgrounds and distributors to further expand game creators' reach.

What do you think is driving the HTML5 renaissance and why is it becoming such a popular solution for developers?

It’s clear to me that the renaissance is being driven by a combination of technological advancements, market challenges, and new opportunities. HTML5's cross-platform compatibility has made it an attractive option for developers, especially with the improvement of development engines and frameworks like Unity, Cocos, and Godot.

The widespread adoption of 5G has further enhanced the appeal of HTML5 games by enabling faster and more reliable connections.

Unlike traditional apps, HTML5 games don’t require installations, offering immediate accessibility and engagement. Additionally, the rising costs of app development make HTML5 a cost-effective alternative.

From a marketing perspective, HTML5 allows developers to bypass the ecosystems of the App Store and Google Play, where user acquisition has become increasingly expensive. This freedom opens up more opportunities for developers to distribute their games and reach audiences globally without the limitations imposed by traditional app stores.

Finally, and most importantly, there’s also a growing market readiness for HTML5 games, supported by effective monetisation strategies like rewarded ads. With easy payment methods and consumers eager for fresh gaming experiences, HTML5 is positioned to offer developers efficient distribution, global reach, and a way to tap into a rapidly expanding audience.

These factors altogether are fueling the surge in HTML5's popularity and its growing adoption among game creators, and I have zero doubts about the long-term nature of this trend.

Talk to us about the challenge you’ve faced in scaling Playgama, and how have you navigated those obstacles?

One challenge is the bias among industry giants that the HTML5 market is still too small for them.

It’s quite curious that many industry reports significantly underestimate the size of the web gaming market, often valuing it at $2 billion to $3 billion due to their inability to properly account for ad revenue.

I find the reports that estimate it at $20bn to $25bn — and forecast growth to $30bn in the coming years — much more accurate. And that is already a substantial slice of the overall games market. 

Because of that bias, currently, HTML5 gaming is dominated by hypercasual titles, but we’re confident that genres like mid-core and beyond will soon make their way to the web as technology advances.

 Technically, creating a browser version of games like Counter-Strike or League of Legends is already feasible. It’s only a matter of time before they appear.

Another challenge is transitioning from ad-based monetisation to in-game purchases. HTML5 is heavily ad-driven, but many major developers are accustomed to earning through in-game transactions. One of our goals now is to make in-game purchases more seamless and appealing for players.

Internally, the rapid growth in clients and partners has introduced its own set of challenges, which makes scaling our development capabilities to meet this demand our top priority, but the positive and collaborative nature of the web gaming community makes this journey exciting, and we are very thankful to all our clients and partners for that.

What changes have you observed in the local games industry, particularly the region’s games industry and consumer behaviour towards games? And how do you see the MENA region’s games industry evolving in the coming years?

We’re witnessing a massive influx of investment into gaming in the MENA region, driven by a growing appetite for entertainment, esports, and all sorts of games. It’s clear that this market will soon see more and more prominent and successful players emerge. It’s simply impossible for such fertile ground not to yield results.

Our HQ in Dubai places us at the heart of this dynamic community. Across other cities like Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Cairo, or Rabat, I also felt palpable enthusiasm for gaming in almost every person I met.

I would say gaming is arguably the most influential topic globally right now, captivating audiences everywhere, and MENA is one of the places where this is most evident.

Governments in MENA are actively supporting the growth of local game studios and infrastructure. Esports, in particular, is receiving significant backing, further fueling interest in gaming.

With the younger population’s demand for games and esports growing rapidly, we anticipate that esports will soon rival traditional sports in terms of viewership and cultural significance.

By the way, speaking of kids: another trend, both local and global, is that game development is becoming more and more accessible.

Today’s kids and teens are starting to learn programming early and create their own games. My cousin started programming at 14, released his game, worldofseabattle.com  at 17, and now he's 26 and runs a successful gaming company based in Dubai, too.

That's pretty impressive and I’d like us at Playgama to explore how we can support educational initiatives in the future. 

In terms of funding and support for gaming studios in MENA, how do you think game companies in the region can attract more investment?

Speaking from our experience at Playgama, the key to attracting investment is pretty straightforward and I won't surprise anyone by saying that: build a quality product that solves real problems and showcase its value to potential investors effectively.

If we talk about game studios, one area of improvement I’ve noticed is that many of them prefer focusing solely on game development, often neglecting the business side of operations, like legal and financial structures.

At Playgama, we aim to assist with these challenges by offering services that simplify monetisation, contracts, and payments. For studios seeking investment, addressing these aspects early on is essential.

What are your plans for the coming year? Are there any specific initiatives or projects on the horizon that we should look forward to?

Our top priority is further improving our platform. The 1,000 developers already using our tools are just the beginning, and scaling the platform to handle exponential growth requires significant automation and simplification of processes.

Additionally, we recently launched our first game jam on the platform, and we’re excited to make this a regular event to foster creativity in the community.

We’ll also be actively working on tools to simplify porting mobile games to the web. Very soon, we’ll be announcing a partnership with one of the industry’s leading companies that makes this process much easier — so stay tuned.