VG Entertainment explained

VG Entertainment Ltd
Former Name:Vostok Games (2012–2023)
Type:Private
Industry:Video games
Predecessor:GSC Game World
Founder:Oleg Yavorsky
Hq Location City:Kyiv
Hq Location Country:Ukraine
Key People:Oleg Yavorsky (marketing manager)
Products:Survarium
Num Employees:40
Num Employees Year:2013

VG Entertainment Ltd (formerly Vostok Games) is a Ukrainian video game developer based in Kyiv. The company was founded in March 2012 by former employees of GSC Game World, including Oleg Yavorsky, after GSC had been shut down. The company developed the battle royale game Fear the Wolves (2019) and is working on Survarium, a free-to-play shooter game in early access since 2015.

History

On 9 December 2011, Sergiy Grygorovych shut down his video game development company, GSC Game World. Following the closure, Oleg Yavorsky, who had been GSC's public relations manager, and several other former GSC employees set out to create a game on their own. They contacted several investors in Ukraine and Russia, but none had a large enough budget to fund the development of a game on the same scale as S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, which had been cancelled with GSC's demise. Consequently, the development team lowered their ambition for the game to a free-to-play multiplayer shooter game for personal computers. This led several investors to step forward and, in March 2012, the team came in contact with Vostok Ventures, which was looking for a game development team. An agreement between the two parties was reached within two weeks, and Vostok Games was founded that same month, shortly after which the company settled in offices in an industrial park in Kyiv. In September 2013, Vostok Games employed 40 former GSC employees in these offices.[1] Yavorsky acts as the studio's marketing manager.[2] Vostok Games' first project became Survarium, which it released into early access in 2015. It also created Fear the Wolves, a battle royale game set in Chernobyl, in 2019. In March 2022, shortly after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Vostok Games put the development of Survarium on hold to ensure that its developers were safe.[3] In July 2023, the company rebranded as VG Entertainment and announced that it was working on a new game.[4]

Games developed

YearTitlePlatform(s)Publisher(s)
2015 (early access)SurvariumWindowsVostok Games
2019Fear the WolvesWindowsFocus Home Interactive

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Stalker fallout: Polygon traces the exodus from Kiev's legendary GSC Game World . Charlie . Hall . 8 September 2013 . . 26 July 2021 . 28 March 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190328115749/https://www.polygon.com/features/2013/9/8/4568598/stalker-fallout-gsc-game-world . live.
  2. Web site: STALKER: Who's the rightful heir? . Ben . Seeder . 30 June 2014 . . 2021-07-26 . 2019-02-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190223185040/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-06-30-stalker-whos-the-rightful-heir . live.
  3. Web site: Kyiv-based Survarium developer confirms work paused . Tom . Phillips . 10 March 2022 . . 29 July 2023 . 29 September 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220929103721/https://www.eurogamer.net/kyiv-based-suvarium-developer-confirms-work-halted . live.
  4. Web site: Ukrayins'ka studiya Vostok Games zminyla nazvu. Teper vona VG Entertainment . uk:Українська студія Vostok Games змінила назву. Тепер вона VG Entertainment . uk . Ukrainian studio Vostok Games has changed its name. It is now VG Entertainment . Asya . Harbuzova . 25 July 2023 . GameDev DOU . 29 July 2023 . 26 July 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230726020511/https://gamedev.dou.ua/news/vostok-games-vg-entertainment-now/ . live.