Game Dev Talks with Adrien Bacchi

This year, together with our friends at ARC Academy, we participated in one of the most significant gaming events in Bulgaria – Sofia Game Night. The event happened at multiple locations around the country, and we somehow managed to split in three -? simultaneously to host and participate in some of the events.

One of these events was ARC’s discussion called “Game Dev Talks: What is happening in the game industry in our country and what is to come?” where our Founder and CEO Adrien Bacchi shared his insight on the topic and went above and beyond about the future of the gaming industry in our own little piece of land - Bulgaria. Here is what he had to say about it in this short interview:?

Q: What’s going on in the game industry in Bulgaria right now? How many companies are operating? What kind of games are in development??

A: The industry is, in my opinion, slowly developing. The acquisition by Sega of Black Sea Studio, renamed into Creative Assembly in 2017, was a positive development for the local market's maturity. Then the arrival of the Arc Academy in 2019 has also been a very positive addition, a very necessary one because we can't develop the gaming industry without the collaboration of training centers, universities, and schools.

There are 35 to 50 active studios, the biggest owned by foreign companies.

But there's also a big "support industry" with call centers and BPO that have big outsourcing contracts for the gaming industry. Bandai, Riot, and other big names have outsourced their customer support in Bulgaria with companies like Telus, Pontican and Concentrix.

And I believe we must not limit the gaming industry to only gaming studios. The player support industry is big in Bulgaria and it is an inseparable part of the gaming industry. Thus, if we count this part of the industry, it's not hundreds of people that work in the gaming industry in Bulgaria, but thousands!

Q: Tell us more about your studio - how many people are working in it; the games you are developing.

A: ChibiPhoenix employs around 200 talents worldwide, with about 75 people in our Bulgarian HQ and 120/130 artists decentralized everywhere on the planet. We developed our model with management and decisions being taken in Sofia, and art creation being mostly outside. Drawings, coloring, writing, animating... is controlled from Sofia, and executed where the talents are, the country does not matter.

We're working on new games and services for 2024... check out MangaRPG.com and ChibiPay.com and you'll have a glimpse of our strategic direction ;)

Q: What kind of challenges are you facing as a studio?

A: Remaining independent is a hardcore challenge. We are financing our growth organically, which is great to remain in full control, but it is also slow and fragile... if we underperform in a given trimester, we can't ask for money from investors, we have to fund the gaps ourselves.

Q: How can young people start a career in the gaming industry? What advice would you give to them??

A: Learn and practice! Too many young people think that the gaming industry is only fun, and that all you need is to be a good gamer to make games. And that's far from totally true. Being a gamer might help understand games, but being a "professional game maker" is a profession that requires knowledge, skills, experience, and discipline. It can be fun because the products and colleagues are fun, but it's a real job that requires hard work to survive in a highly competitive environment.

What's the best thing about working in the game industry??

Victories over challenges. I love the adrenaline of challenges, and I love when we're crushing it ?? !

What’s going to be the next big thing in the game industry?

Stronger microchips will increase the possibilities of browser gaming... soon browser games will be as powerful as most console games, and you will have what AAA games look like inside of a browser. This means more freedom to develop games outside the marketplaces, which means more freedom and better margins to invest in games themselves.

How do you see the Bulgarian game dev scene in 5 years?

Strong and organized as a cluster. It's missing, right now most studios are doing stuff in their corner, and we would gain so much to synergize and mutualize our efforts. I think that Bulgaria could be a lot more attractive for the gaming industry as a whole and manage to attract more talent and foreign investments.

It's working so well in neighboring countries like Serbia and Turkey, so there is no reason we can't do it too.

Let's make it happen ?? !