“Games now exist within a broader cultural ecosystem that includes film, television, music, digital creators, fashion and live events. We expect this convergence to continue accelerating, creating new opportunities for original IPs to evolve into long-term entertainment franchises that engage audiences across multiple formats,” the Founder and CFO of Mundfish, Evgeniya Sedova suggests.
Founded in Cyprus in 2018, with development hubs across the UAE and Armenia and a global workforce of over 300, Mundfish rose to prominence with its hit title Atomic Heart. Mundfish has ranked ninth among Google’s most searched games of 2023, was listed in BAFTA’s Top 60 best video games of the year, won Steam’s 2023 Outstanding Visual Style award, earned six nominations at the NYX Game Awards -including Best Action Game on PC and Xbox and Best Gameplay on PC- and received a nomination for Best Soundtrack at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards.
Speaking to GOLD magazine, Sedova discusses discusses the company’s vision and the importance of intellectual property.
How would you describe your company’s core business model and game development strategy?
Mundfish focuses on creating original AAA games with long-term franchise potential. Our strategy is centred around building distinctive worlds, memorable characters and high production values that can resonate with audiences globally. We work primarily with Unreal Engine games for PC and consoles, while exploring opportunities to expand our universes across different platforms and media formats. We believe that modern audiences are looking for experiences that combine strong gameplay, compelling storytelling and a unique artistic identity. Today, we are working on Atomic Heart 2, a sequel to our first game, the multiplayer MMO-RPG shooter The CUBE, and survival horror game ILL, developed by Team Clout and supported through our Mundfish Powerhouse initiative. While these projects target different audiences and genres, they share a common philosophy: a unique artistic style, ambitious world-building, technological innovation and a strong focus on quality.
What are the key factors currently influencing your company’s operations and strategic decision-making?
As AAA development evolves, there is a tendency across the industry to address growing complexity by expanding teams, budgets and production pipelines. While scale has its place, we believe that a more sustainable approach is to remain focused and find smarter ways to achieve ambitious creative goals. At Mundfish, we strive to remain both agile and efficient while staying true to our core values. Rather than simply scaling headcount and expanding production pipelines indefinitely, we focus on finding creative solutions and innovative approaches that allow us to achieve ambitious results without unnecessary complexity. Discoverability has become increasingly challenging as players are presented with more choices than ever before. We see this as an opportunity rather than a limitation – in a crowded market, audiences quickly recognise when something feels fresh, authentic and creatively driven. Building awareness today is less about broadcasting a message and more about creating a genuine dialogue with players. Strong communities are not built through one-way communication but through trust, engagement and a shared passion for the worlds we create. AI is another area that is rapidly influencing the industry. We think of it primarily as a tool that can potentially help developers streamline certain production processes and improve efficiency, while creative vision, artistic direction and innovation should remain firmly driven by people. At the same time, it is important not to lose sight of what players ultimately come to games for – above all, people are looking for entertainment. They want memorable experiences, compelling gameplay, immersive worlds, stunning visuals and stories that resonate with them emotionally. While technologies, business models and industry trends continue to evolve, delivering great entertainment remains the foundation of long-term success.
What do you consider to be the most significant recent industry trends and growth drivers? Which of these do you expect to shape the sector over the coming years?
The growing importance of original Intellectual Property. While established franchises remain valuable, audiences are constantly looking for fresh worlds, distinctive creative visions and experiences they have never encountered before. In an increasingly competitive market, originality has become one of the strongest differentiators. At the same time, the boundaries between games and other forms of entertainment are becoming increasingly blurred. Games now exist within a broader cultural ecosystem that includes film, television, music, digital creators, fashion and live events. We expect this convergence to continue accelerating, creating new opportunities for original IPs to evolve into long-term entertainment franchises that engage audiences across multiple formats.
This interview first appeared in the June edition of GOLD magazine. Click here to view it.
