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Swedish casual games developer and publisher Qiiwi Games AB has acquired a majority stake in British hypercasual studio Playright Digital Entertainment Limited at deal size of $1.1m.
Cofounded in 2020 by experienced games industry entrepreneurs Evtim Trenkov, Kristina Trenkova and Daniel Rechter, Playright’s vision is to make exciting, but simple mobile games that can work both and without deep metagame. The company is making products for people who are looking to start playing games for the first time. It is unique in its developing process, by focusing on providing polished and smooth experience with each of their games.
Playright’s Co-Founder Evtim Trenkov is an accomplished games expert, with 8 years’ experience in the mobile games industry. His career includes game design and product management roles at Gameloft, Square Enix, NaturalMotion(Zynga) and MAG Interactive. Most recently Evtim was a part-time consultant at Naavik, offering market research and game design advise to clients. He and Qiiwi have also previously enjoyed a fruitful working relationship on one of Qiiwi’s hit games – Backpacker. The breadth and depth of his games’ market knowledge and his passion for innovation and game design experimentation have driven his focus on the hypercasual space. At Playright, Evtim concentrates on researching the market for emerging trends, designing exciting, consistent core loops for each of the games, and tuning the experience to better fit players’ expectations.
A Faber Academy alumna, co-founder Kristina Trenkova has a passion for gameplay and narrative. She is mainly working on game design and level design with a focus on player experience aiming to create a positive environment for new and seasoned players alike. Her varied interests in games and storytelling provide her with the creative freedom to experiment even with the simplest gameplay in order to help Playright’s games achieve a satisfying experience, be it challenging or relaxing. She’s been working alongside Evtim Trenkov and consulting clients since 2018.
Daniel is a serial entrepreneur in the mobile games industry. He co-founded Big Blue Parrot that developed Poker Friends, a turn-based poker game which was then acquired by Playtika. He then founded Feel Good Gaming that partnered with a large Japanese games publisher to release Maika Fantasia, (Aka Dance Sparkle), a Japanese music rhythm game, which Evtim had a part in making. Daniel’s focus at Playright is to make sure that the product design and the art fit the target audience. He also provides overall company strategy and product management advice to Evtim and Kristina.
As part of Qiiwi, Playright will be spearheading the company’s entry into the still growing hypercasual and the emerging hybridcasual games markets.
