Game Development in Central Asia: Arkady Moldavski on Developing Reverb and the Growth of the Industry

Arcady Moldawsky, city — Almaty, game designer and level designer, LinkedIn

About Me

I work in game design: I develop games, work on their concepts, and bring ideas to life.

Echo Games Lab is a studio that my colleagues and I opened. Our team consists of five people. We created it to develop a major project — Reverb: Extraction Shooter. As far as we know, this is the first extraction shooter in Kazakhstan and possibly the first in the world set in a biopunk universe. Since we haven’t found similar projects, we decided to create our own company to work on such a large-scale game.

Career Path

My journey into game development began in childhood. I loved board games, and later we got our first computer — a ZX Spectrum, which worked with audio cassettes. On it, I took my first steps in creating text-based RPGs. Over time, my interest in game development became more serious, and I joined a game studio.

There, I worked as a game designer on a project whose name I cannot disclose yet due to a non-disclosure agreement and legal restrictions. I was involved in developing the game concept, mechanics, and other elements.

As for difficulties, game development is a complex field at any stage: from developing the initial idea to launching the project.

Almost any education can be connected to game development. When I was studying, there were no universities in Central Asia that taught game design. This field was gradually becoming known and understandable to a wider audience. I graduated from an institute of physical culture, specializing in sports psychology. These skills help me in my work on games.

Together with the Echo Games Lab team, I am developing Reverb. The team includes a programmer, a concept artist, and a 3D modeler. My main role is game designer, and I also handle level design. I developed the project concept, defined its visual direction, technical solutions, and game mechanics.

Achievements and Challenges

One of my achievements is organizing a role-playing game club in Almaty, within the framework of which we annually hold large-scale field role-playing games. I am one of the organizers and responsible for developing concepts. We have many organizers, but I come up with the game ideas myself.

Another achievement is related to a project I worked on before creating Reverb and Echo Games Lab. Thanks to the developed concept, we managed to attract about one million dollars.

As for difficulties, game development itself is a big challenge. This applies to funding, organizing work, and direct development. Central Asia is still lagging behind the global gaming market, and the industry is developing rapidly. We have to constantly monitor new trends and keep up with technological changes.

Everything starts with an idea, but even at this stage, you need to consider many factors. A similar game may already exist, especially considering how many projects are released every day and how accessible game development has become. Therefore, it is important to find your audience, come up with interesting mechanics, and ensure that they actually work and fit the overall concept.

New difficulties arise in the next stages: you need to bring the idea to life, develop a visual style, achieve originality, and at the same time maintain the integrity of the project. The visual component is particularly difficult because much depends on audience perception, and a huge number of projects have already been created in the gaming industry.

For me, every stage of game design is a challenge. It doesn’t matter if it’s a computer, board, or card game. The development principles are largely the same: you need to come up with an interesting idea, think through the mechanics, and find a way to turn it all into a working project.

Skills and Profession

From a technical point of view, I would first highlight programming. Even if a game designer doesn’t write code themselves, it is important for them to understand the principles of its operation and technical capabilities, which affect the implementation of game concepts and mechanics.

A game designer also needs to understand how the world works. For this, basic knowledge in various fields, including psychology, physics, and human interaction, is required. Even when creating a fictional universe, it is necessary to know the laws of the real world to understand how and why one can deviate from them.

Game mechanics can be found in the most ordinary things. For example, observing the work of city services can become the basis for a simulator game, and to create a farm simulator, you need to understand how plants are grown and how the garden is cared for. Therefore, for a game designer, breadth of knowledge and observability are important. It is not necessary to deeply understand each discipline, but understanding its basics helps in finding new ideas.

In my work, I use various tools — from improvised items to artificial intelligence. The game idea can be checked even before starting full-scale development: first, imagine it in your head, then build a simple prototype on the table, and only then move on to documents and computer tools.

For example, when developing a strategy or shooter, you can arrange cups, a sugar bowl, and spoons on the table, conditionally marking them as buildings, characters, or opponents. This allows you to check the placement of objects and their interaction. This method is also suitable for designing field role-playing games.

To document ideas, you can use Google Docs or Microsoft Word. I prefer Google Docs, but other specialists work with Word and Excel, create diagrams in Adobe Illustrator, or use specialized programs. Some use ChatGPT to structure ideas and prepare documentation, while others prefer paper and a regular notebook.

There is no single tool for all game designers. One of the main working documents is the game design document, which describes the game concept, mechanics, and gameplay principles.

I also recommend beginners to study game engines, such as Unity, Unreal Engine, or CryEngine. There are many free educational materials available. A game designer does not necessarily need to know the engine thoroughly, but it is important to understand its capabilities and working principles to visualize how to bring game ideas to life.

How the Industry is Developing in Central Asia

Central Asia is still lagging behind global trends in the gaming industry. The region is trying to catch up, but global game development is advancing rapidly, so catching up with other markets is not easy. At the same time, there are many talented specialists here, including those who work in large studios such as Blizzard Entertainment and Epic Games. However, the gaming industry in Central Asia is still in its early stages of development.

We want to contribute to its development, so we position Echo Games Lab as a Kazakhstani studio. We emphasize that Reverb is a Kazakhstani extraction shooter set in a biopunk universe. For us, it is important not only to create our own game but also to develop the gaming industry in the region.

One of the main problems is the insufficient understanding of the potential of game development as a business. Investors and entrepreneurs still find it difficult to assess its prospects. In Central Asia, it is traditionally preferred to invest in more understandable directions, such as production, where you can calculate the volume of production and expected profit in advance.

In the gaming industry, predicting results is much more difficult. A project may not pay off, but in case of success, the profit can significantly exceed the initial investment. Therefore, attracting investments for game development in our region is still difficult.

At the same time, the industry is gradually developing: exhibitions, specialized events, and other initiatives are taking place. However, in my opinion, it still lacks support from business and investors.

Currently, a significant part of attention and investment is focused on artificial intelligence, as many see it as an opportunity to make money quickly. I hope that over time, interest in AI will become more balanced, and the gaming industry will attract investors' attention again.

The potential of this business is clearly visible on the example of the global market. It is enough to look at the interest in GTA VI even before its release. Similar results can be achieved in Central Asia if investors and entrepreneurs see the prospects of the gaming industry and are ready to support local studios. Attracting such investments remains a serious task for now.

Advice for Beginners

I would advise beginners in game design to study games from the very basics. It is not worth immediately focusing on modern projects or trying to create an AAA game like Red Dead Redemption. It is important to understand not only the final result but also the solutions that lie at the basis of the game.

If you want to develop shooters, start with classic games from the 1980s–1990s, such as Wolfenstein 3D or Zero Tolerance. They will help you understand how the mechanics of the genre were formed and how developers solved game tasks considering the technical limitations of that time. Many old games are available today, so they can be studied in practice.

A game is not just graphics and visual effects. The basis of game design lies in the player's sensations: how convenient it is to control the character, how the game responds to user actions, how responsive the controls are, and how all this affects the gameplay. Even simple games for old consoles, such as Super Nintendo or Sega, can help understand these principles.

It is also important to study board games. Chess, the card game "Durak," and even a regular six-sided die can become the basis for interesting game mechanics. It is necessary to learn to see the principles of interaction and game patterns in the simplest things.

For example, many mechanics in Baldur's Gate 3 trace back to classic text-based RPGs, where the player read the story and moved to different pages depending on their choice. Modern graphics and visual environments complicate technical implementation, but the basis of the game lies in mechanics that have been developing for decades.

The main advice for beginner game designers is to study the history of games and understand the basics of game mechanics. Programmers and concept artists have their own areas of development, but for a game designer, it is primarily important to understand how games are structured and why certain solutions work.

Plans

Our main task is to finish Reverb. We face difficulties in finding funding and are currently developing the game at our own expense. Despite the challenges in attracting investors, we intend to bring the project to completion and see interest from players. Reverb has already been covered by foreign media.

At the same time, we are developing the mobile game direction and plan to release casual projects. We also continue to organize field role-playing games: next year we want to hold two in Almaty. In the long term, we aim to contribute to the development of the gaming industry and turn game creation into a profitable business.

Reverb is preparing for early access. The main part of development is complete, but we continue to test the game and refine individual elements. During the process, the initial concept has expanded, and additional mechanics have appeared. Now we are reviewing them and removing those that do not make the game more interesting. Perhaps we have been striving to bring the project to perfection for too long, although creating prototypes, testing them, and getting feedback is often more effective.

We decided not to launch pre-orders but to focus on attracting users to the Steam wishlist. Currently, about 15,000 people have added Reverb to their wishlists. We have not yet launched a full-scale marketing campaign due to a lack of resources and time. The game still does not have a gameplay trailer, and the community is paying attention to this. However, we do not want to publish materials that we are not satisfied with ourselves.

We received our first wishlists thanks to media publications. The project was covered, in particular, by Darya Ostrovskaya — a blogger and author of materials about the gaming industry. We also present the game at exhibitions: recently we showed it at a large event in Tashkent.

We hope that the unusual visual style and original concept will help Reverb stand out among other games and offer the audience a new experience.