During a government meeting, Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov promised to play a game developed by Kazakhstani developers, as reported by a correspondent from the Kapital.kz business information center.
“I will download it; let’s play during our free time. I encourage all my colleagues. I know some of our colleagues play, especially the younger ones. If we are going to play, let’s try our own games, and it will be great promotion for the developers,” noted Olzhas Bektenov.
At the government meeting, Grand Mobile CEO Roman Lineytsev presented the Kazakhstani mobile game development, Grand Mobile.
“This game combines the vastness of role-playing mechanics with user-friendliness. The goal of our project is to create a world where users can freely interact, choose their paths, and realize their dreams. The project launched at the end of 2022, and today we have over 60 million players,” he stated.
He discussed the current challenges in the gaming industry. In 2024, the global video game market is expected to reach $188 billion, with minimal overall growth over the past two years.
“This indicates a lack of a stable influx of new players, leading to increased competition for audience engagement. However, despite such conditions, Grand Mobile has achieved the following results. The company's revenue in 2024 reached $20 million, maintaining a monthly growth rate of 10-25%, with over 60% of the company’s revenue coming from international markets. By the end of 2024, the project doubled its user registration figures compared to the same results from the previous year. We have over 4 million unique players each month and more than 400,000 daily active users,” added Roman Lineytsev.
In the fall of 2024, two European servers in English were launched. Revenue from these servers is increasing by 200% monthly.
“We recorded over 1.3 million registrations in the first two months after launching the European servers. Grand Mobile entered the top 3 in the playmarket in Poland and Romania within just two weeks. These achievements were made possible thanks to government support and the unique conditions created within the Astana Hub. The platform allows us to attract industry professionals to our team and offers favorable financial conditions through tax preferences and export support. This policy enables us to actively grow and build a successful tech business,” he clarified.
The next step in the development of our product will be the implementation of AI technologies to create a unique experience for player interaction. This approach aligns with the president's directive on developing artificial intelligence as one of the key areas of technological progress in the country.
“We are developing AI-controlled NPCs that not only perform programmed tasks but also learn and adapt to player behavior, making the gameplay as lively and dynamic as possible. These characters will not be limited to the game. They will be integrated into social platforms like Instagram and TikTok, where they will continue to exist, interact with users, and even influence the game’s storyline. This innovation allows us to transcend traditional notions of mobile games, creating a product that bridges virtual and real worlds,” he explained.
Next, Higgsfield AI CEO Yerzat Dulat spoke about his project.
“Higgsfield AI demonstrates that Kazakh engineers can be leaders in the field of artificial intelligence. We secured $16 million in investments from Silicon Valley funds like Menla Ventures and AI Capital. Our goal is to develop cutting-edge technologies and strengthen Kazakhstan's position in the global economy,” he noted.
The company employs 22 Kazakh AI engineers, six of whom are winners of international physics and mathematics olympiads.
“Typically, such specialists leave for abroad, but now they are working for the benefit of our country. We have achieved significant results. In just nine months, we launched two products that have already received international recognition. These achievements have placed us in the top 25 startups in the world according to Google. Our mobile studio simplifies video creation from text, and our content generation platform opens new opportunities for business and education. Defuse, the name of the app based on a special text-to-video conversion model, can create videos from scratch or take selfies and create clips featuring the person. Our technologies democratize access to content generation tools and reduce costs. All developments are carried out by a local team, emphasizing the potential of Kazakhstan’s AI sector, and today our products are used by over 2 million people, placing the company in the top 185 AI organizations,” added Yerzat Dulat.
“These are the heroes of our time. Aida Galymovna (Balaeva – Ed.), we need to showcase such individuals from morning till night on television and social media. These are modern people, Kazakhs, who, having received the appropriate education, are implementing the most advanced technologies, making it to the top 25 startups according to Google,” emphasized Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov.