Game of Drones: Kazakhstan startup conquers 23 countries

Game of Drones is a Kazakhstan-based startup that began as an idea for drone control and has grown into an international project. CEO of the startup, Ilya Ablaikhan, shares the challenges faced, how he built a strong team, and why targeting an international audience is crucial.

Ilya Ablaikhan, Almaty CEO of Game of Drones, Instagram

How it all started

In Almaty, I was always involved in the IT sector, primarily in the oil and gas industry. I had a parallel business, and after my first startup shut down, I was left with a lot of single-board computers, similar to Raspberry Pi. I thought I could use them, and if I connected cameras and drones to them, I could create Game of Drones. That is how the idea was born. After that, I went through acceleration, received my first certification, and completed a program at Astana Hub.

Launching the startup

We made it to the top 100 Asian startups in 2018, traveled around the world, and met various investors. Then we started developing an MVP, launched it on the market, and observed player reactions. The technological complexity of the product made implementation difficult. Firstly, network infrastructure at the time was not ready—we were actually developing a product for 5G internet before it even existed. Secondly, there were no investments. Our first funding came five years later, from Jas Ventures. A year after that, we secured $750 000 from the Science Fund.

The team

The first step was to understand whether people would be interested in remotely controlling objects. So, we built an MVP using a radio channel—relatively easy to implement since it is an old technology. We tested it at Grand Park and saw that the project was generating revenue and engaging users. Then, we started developing an online gameplay version.

The first five years were spent creating a video transmission system that operates faster than Zoom and other alternatives. Our drones reach speeds of over 200 km/h, and at such speeds, any delay makes control impossible. If you press "left", but the turn happens a second later, the drone will have traveled 20 meters by then. We needed real-time data transmission.

Many specialists we hired could not handle the task, so we had to conduct a rigorous selection process. After many searches, I finally found our CTO — Kazakhstan’s two-time champion in automotive technology and one of the strongest hardware engineers. He truly invested his heart into the project. The team was built through trial and error.

Target audience

Our users are grown-up “boys”, men who still enjoy playing. The primary audience is aged 18 and above, predominantly 18-45 years old. More than 30% of players are men over 30, playing in the evenings after work.

Today, more than 10 000 people across 23 countries know about us. Many have paid for and tested the game, helping us refine it. We release regular updates, and our closed community tests them and provides feedback.

Incubation programs

For the first five years, we funded the project ourselves—doing side jobs, teaching, and finding any possible ways to earn money. We also won a Ministry of Defense competition and occasionally received small amounts from hackathons.

We have been working with Astana Hub since 2018, from the very first batch. I participated in more than 15 accelerators, both in Kazakhstan and internationally. That was when we were actively engaged in fundraising. Once we secured investments, the need to participate in accelerators disappeared.

Challenges

The biggest challenge in Kazakhstan is the lack of trust in technologically complex projects. Investors prefer funding fast and straightforward businesses—such as software that can be quickly developed and sold.

A startup that develops over seven to eight years seems too risky. However, telecom operators like Kcell immediately saw the project’s potential and partnered with us. They deployed a full 5G infrastructure for our game, provided test stations, and even modified the protocols of all 5G towers in Almaty to optimize our product’s functionality.

Other difficulties stem from the fact that we are creating a unique technology. We can’t simply copy solutions from competitors—because there are none. Every improvement requires purchasing new equipment, and there’s no guarantee it will work. Future startups in similar fields will have an easier time since they will be able to partially adopt our innovations.

My advice for aspiring entrepreneurs—do not limit yourself to Kazakhstan. Not because conditions are bad, but because the market is small and lacks substantial investment. With the internet, global products should be the focus. Our game is played in 23 countries, and the number of international players now exceeds Kazakhstani users, which is incredible. Essentially, foreign players spend money, and those funds flow back to Kazakhstan. Working on external markets brings greater revenue.

Achievements

Our key achievements include securing investments, building a large-scale gaming infrastructure, maintaining high profit margins, receiving grants and fund support, and, most importantly, assembling a strong and professional team.

Plans

We have launched the game, and our next task is to establish and confirm its success in the local market. This includes Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia, and other CIS countries, where players can comfortably use our product.

By the end of the year, we need to expand into two new regions. We have two options:

The first option is Asia—if we set up servers in South Korea, we can reach Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, and parts of China, a market of over 800 million potential players.

The second option is the Arab region, MENA, which also has its advantages. By the end of the year, we will conduct an analysis and determine which market to enter next.