Update: The publisher was previously owned by Russian company VK, but was sold just months ago.
MyGames, the publisher and developer previously owned by Russian company VK, has restructured in order to exit the Russian market.
The company, which was sold by VK to Aleksander Chachava, managing partner of LETA Capital, for $642 million in September 2022 said it will be ceasing all operations in the region.
"As a result of the restructuring, the part of the business generating revenue in Russia will be spun off into a new independent entity with no affiliation to MyGames, and MyGames will cease all operations in Russia," reads a press release sent to Game Developer.
"MyGames will focus solely on international business development, as well as improving infrastructure for its distributed team."
The company said the licenses for all Russia-related products will be fully transferred to Astrum Entertainment, which is described by MyGames as an "independent Russian company."
Once those licenses have been transferred, MyGames claims it will "no longer earn revenue from these game titles on the Russian market."
Here's where things get muddled, though. Details on Astrum are scarce, but it seems like the business is a holding company that operates in Eastern Europe where it develops, publishes, and operates a range of video games.
Based on what we've gleaned about the company, it seems that MyGames CEO and co-founder, Vladimir Nikolsky, currently works as a general director at Astrum––having previously served as CEO of the business until 2010 (according to Nikolsky's own Linkedin page).
Given there appears to be significant links between both companies, we've asked MyGames to clarify the structure of the deal and provide more specifics on the nature of Nikolsky's position at Astrum.
Looking ahead, MyGames explained it will now focus solely on international business development and improving infrastructure for its distributed team, with over 90 percent of the company's workforce currently working remotely.
"In addition to its headquarters in Amsterdam, office in Cyprus, and representative offices in Korea, Spain, China, and Finland, MyGames has also begun opening co-working spaces in the teams' key regions of presence, including Turkey and Armenia. In 2023, the company intends to open several more co-working spaces in EMEA," continues the press release.
"MyGames will continue to develop mobile, PC, and console games and publish in key markets, including the United States, Europe, Asia, and will expand its presence in developing markets, including MENA, Latam, Indonesia and India."
Game Developer will update this article with more details after we hear back from MyGames.
Update: MyGames has clarified that Astrum Entertainment was named after the first major game holding company in Russia, Astrum Online Entertiment, but has no connection to the defunct business—which ceased to exist in 2008 following a buyout from Mail.ru.
"The new company, Astrum Entertainment, will operate fully independently from MyGames, and has no connection to the defunct Astrum Online Entertainment. MyGames and Astrum Entertainment are two legally independent companies," said a company spokesperson.
MyGames also elaborated on which licenses will be transferred to Astrum, explaining that Warface, Allods Online, Perfect World, ArcheAge, and other Russian-related titles will be operated by the nascent company moving forward.
As for why MyGames is leaving the Russian market, it explained that Russia has contributed a "smaller part of overall revenues" over the past several years and that it now wants to pursue global growth. MyGames made no mention of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
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