Game Development in Central Asia: An Overview of the Region's Gaming Projects

Kazakhstan

Unsworn

Genre: Narrative RPG

Unsworn is a narrative-driven RPG set in a dark fantasy world, emphasizing player choice, moral dilemmas, and the consequences of decisions.

The player becomes an exiled royal knight and embarks on a journey through a kingdom governed by an ancient treaty that maintains peace at the cost of sacrifices. As the story unfolds, the player must uncover the truth behind this agreement and decide the fate of the world.

The game is developed by Orda Games, a Kazakhstani independent studio founded by Damir Anvarbek in 2026 and based in Redmond, Washington.

DarkSwitch
Genre: City-builder, Survival, Strategy

DarkSwitch is a vertical city-building simulator with survival and strategy elements, where the player manages a city on a giant tree while a mysterious "fog" threatens the world and its inhabitants.

The game was released on April 9 and, even before launch, gathered over 230,000 wishlists on Steam, immediately entering the top new releases of the week. Development took four years and cost approximately $5 million, without external investment. The project is led by Alexey Nazarov, a former FinTech entrepreneur featured in Forbes Kazakhstan's "30 Under 30."

Steampunk Tower 2
Genre: Tower Defense, Strategy

Steampunk Tower 2 is an action-strategy game set in an alternate steampunk universe, developed by DreamGate from Karaganda.

The player controls a giant aircraft carrier transporting a combat tower, defending it from armored enemies and massive bosses. The first part of the series was released in 2012 as a Flash game, gained a large audience, and was published via Chillingo. The total number of downloads for the mobile versions of the series reached 2 million. The second part was released on Steam on April 19, 2018.

Eternal Evil
Genre: Survival Horror, Action, Adventure, Indie

Vampires have taken over a small town. Solve puzzles, carefully examine items and notes, use various weapons against evolving enemies, and uncover what lies behind this terrible event.

The game was created by Vladimir Zlobin, a 3D artist from Almaty. He quit his main job, inspired by Silent Hill and the Resident Evil series, to make an old-school horror game with a first-person perspective.

Top Run
Genre: Runner, 2D Platformer, Arcade, Casual

An endless runner with platformer elements. The player controls a teenager named Kevin and his dog Buddy — the characters run through a neon city, use superpowers, shoot floppy disks at enemies, and collect pixels for upgrades. The game features over 100 missions, pixel art graphics, a synthwave soundtrack, and VHS effects in an 80s style.

The developer is Katata Games, a studio from Almaty founded by the couple Mark and Lena. The game was released on Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PS4 on February 1, 2020.

Kyrgyzstan

World of One
Genre: 2D Horror Puzzle Platformer

One of the first games from Kyrgyzstan to be released on the Steam platform. A small but symbolically important project — proof that Kyrgyz game development exists not only in the form of mobile applications.

The player moves between foggy world-planets via a lighthouse. As the game progresses, the sky darkens, monsters become more numerous, and the atmosphere grows increasingly tense.

Steel Ark
Genre: Survival Sandbox, Action, RPG, Automation, Base Building

Steel Ark is a first-person survival game set in a post-apocalyptic world after a technological catastrophe. The player controls a survivor who finds an old train and turns it into a mobile base.

In the game, you need to explore ruined territories, gather resources, craft items, and establish production chains. The core gameplay revolves around developing the train, building modules, defending against enemies, and gradually automating all processes. There is co-op for up to four players, an upgrade system, and base management in a top-down planning mode.

Warcos
Genre: Multiplayer Shooter, Tactical FPS, PvP

Warcos is a multiplayer tactical shooter focused on team-based PvP battles. Players engage in dynamic combat where coordination, positioning, and tactical choices are crucial.

The project emphasizes competitive gameplay, various match modes, and team interaction in online battles.

Everwayne
Genre: Action RPG, Fantasy Adventure, Open-World

Everwayne is a fantasy action-RPG focusing on world exploration and character development. Players travel through an open world, complete quests, fight enemies, and develop their hero's skills.

The game combines adventure elements, real-time combat systems, and character progression through equipment and abilities.

Uzbekistan

Windrose
Genre: Pirate Survival, Co-op, Adventure

The Tashkent-based studio Kraken Express released Windrose into early access on April 14 — and within six days, sold a million copies, peaking at 222,000 concurrent players. In 10 days, the game earned $30 million — one of the fastest launches in the history of survival games on Steam. The approval rating is 88%, with players comparing it to Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and Valheim, noting the water physics and naval battles.

The team consists of about 60 people. The game is developed on Unreal Engine 5, and the publisher in Japan is Pocketpair, the same studio that released Palworld.

The Golden Horde: Survival
Genre: Survival RPG, Open World, Medieval

The Golden Horde: Survival transports players to the times of the 13th-century Golden Horde. Players must survive in a vast open world, build settlements, explore the steppes, and participate in conflicts between hordes. This is one of the most notable game development projects in Central Asia, created by Doomers Entertainment from Tashkent.

Ram Fights
Genre: Action, Party Game, Physics

Ram Fights is a chaotic multiplayer action game with physics, where players control rams and ram each other off the arena in chaotic matches. The project focuses on humor, absurd situations, and dynamic PvP battles.

Happy My Friends
Genre: Party Shooter, Battle Royale

Happy My Friends is a vibrant multiplayer action game for eight players featuring chaotic shootouts, shrinking zones, and a character customization system. The game includes voice chat, a Battle Pass, and a ranked mode. The project is created by the studio Doomers Entertainment from Uzbekistan.