The war stopped most of the business in Ukraine. Companies tried to take care of safe working conditions for their employees, helped with relocation, and improved business processes. Today we want to share how Kevuru Games works during the war.
Currently, more than 90% of the team is actively working in the company. Everyone has already managed to find a safe place from where they can do the work, focusing on their abilities. Many workers are now in the west of Ukraine. Women have relocated to Europe: Poland, France, Hungary, Italy, etc. The company does not stop looking for specialists, therefore, in parallel with new developments, new specialists appear in all areas. The level of wages is kept at the pre-war level. “We have to work to pay taxes so that our country can survive economically. We hope that our work, together with the support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and volunteering, will contribute to the victory of Ukraine!” CEO of the company Oleg Goncharenko says.
Business Processes, Clients and Requests
From the first day of the war, the principled position of the company was the rejection of any business relations with russia. Kevuru Games does not accept requests for services and has terminated all contracts with russian clients.
At the same time, there is a lot of support from other customers from all over the world. In the first weeks of the war, most of the clients wrote words of support and were interested in whether the team was safe. They also offered assistance with relocation and legal support with the opening of temporary offices in Poland, Germany, and Portugal.
At the beginning of hostilities, there were cases when some customers directly said that they were not yet ready to work with Ukrainian studios, but they were considering cooperation in the future and were ready to recommend us to their partners. Or they asked that all the specialists who would work on their project be not in Ukraine, away from hostilities. Now everything is back to normal, the company has proven that it can guarantee an impeccable level of work, and the number of requests has returned to pre-war levels.
Clients have become more responsible in paying for services, often making a 100% prepayment at the beginning of a project, and thus demonstrating their support and trust.
Communication with clients has not been affected – with two years of experience during the pandemic, everyone can easily get in touch, communicate and sign contracts with companies from any country in the world. Also, for the first time in two years, the company’s salespeople had the opportunity to visit the large venue of the GDC (Game Developers Conference in San Francisco) and communicate with colleagues and clients from all over the world.
In terms of demand, the GameDev market has changed. The sanctions imposed on russia apply to almost all areas, including GameDev. In the next few years, there will be a great demand for Ukrainian IT specialists, developers, and in general everyone involved in full-cycle game development. The gap between supply and demand will bring significant benefits to our country. Because Ukrainian specialists will become even more in demand and highly paid in the professional field.
Support for the Ukrainian Armed Forces and Humanitarian Aid
For all employees of the company who have gone to the front or the Territorial Defence Forces, a job is retained and a salary is paid. “We are proud of these guys who have voluntarily left to defend the country and are trying to support them in every possible way,” one says in the company.
Many employees volunteer in their free time, and this is also a contribution to winning. They sew unloading vests, cook food, weave camouflage nets, pack humanitarian aid, take part in cyberattacks, help the Red Cross and wage an information war. Everyone does what they can in their own circumstances.
Financial support for the army and volunteers is also very important. Since February 24, Kevuru Games has donated more than 1.5 million hryvnias to help the army (body armor, drones, thermal imagers) and for humanitarian purposes.
By the way, according to the CEO, you need to carefully choose charitable foundations and volunteer organizations, and work only with trusted people. Unfortunately, there are many pseudo-volunteers, and it is no longer a secret that some unscrupulous people sell humanitarian aid. “We work only with those whom we know personally, or whose work results are immediately visible,” Oleg says. “For example, today an organization buys thermal imagers in the Czech Republic, tomorrow they will be in Uzhgorod, and the day after tomorrow they will arrive where they are most needed – we send funds to such people, because we are sure that these volunteers do not put money in their pockets.”
Kevuru Games plans to continue to allocate at least 1 million hryvnias monthly for financial support of the army and volunteers. Every help, hryvnia or a million, brings Ukraine closer to victory. “We encourage other GameDev companies to do the same. We are the only industry and must show that we support our soldiers and volunteers to the maximum,” the CEO of the company says.
