Deconstructor of Fun

Alex Siamantas of Holyday Studios reflected on eleven years of building a profitable idle-RPG studio as one of the island’s few Greek founders

Julia Lebedeva of WN Media Group spoke about launching the first Women in Games Cyprus event

Alexey Morozov of Horns Up Games shifted the tone completely. His project, Lord of Metal, is a festival-management sim built with the Swedish band Sabaton, combining the logistics of live events with the chaos of rock culture. It’s equal parts management game and love letter to heavy music.

GDCy founders Tim Fadeev and Andrey Ivashentsev shared the story of how a single pub meetup evolved into the region’s largest developer festival. They credit the island’s mix of sunlight, low taxes, and openness to business. Cyprus, they say, isn’t just a haven for founders - it’s starting to feel like Europe’s next creative cluster.

Leonid Zhuravskyi, CEO of MysteryTag, said he’s found Cyprus to have a rare sense of openness - competitors who still share notes over coffee or wine.

Andrey Feinberg (Kuznetsov), an independent advisor who’s seen the investment side of the story. Despite tougher global conditions, he says Cyprus remains busy, with founders rebuilding after relocation and finding stability in a global business that rarely offers it.

Aleksandr Bogdanov, CEO of Studio 42, spoke about Cyprus as a new mixing pot, with veterans from Turkey, Ukraine, and Russia now calling Limassol home. He believes the island could rival Istanbul as the next tech powerhouse.

Scaling hybridcasual games is like solving a puzzle with moving pieces: CPI, retention, and platform dynamics constantly shift. Samantha Benjamin explains why profit-sharing doesn’t guarantee profit, how the spray-and-pray era is over, and why scaling is now a perpetual process of adjustment and reinvestment.👉 Understand what it takes to grow efficiently when downloads plateau.

Monetization in hybridcasual is a balancing act: ads for early players, IAP for the committed ones. Maayan Eshkol dives into player segmentation, the real role of a game economist, and why monetization has to be part of the design loop from day one.👉 Learn how to integrate ads and IAP without sacrificing retention.

Pim De Witte, founder of General Intuition and Medal.tv, turned down a deal reportedly worth $500 million from OpenAI, and instead raised $134 million to build an AI lab rooted in games, not words.In this conversation, Michail Katkoff (Deconstructor of Fun) dives deep into:1) How world models could replace game engines2) Why games are the best simulation layer for developing intelligence3) What “AI-native” really means for future studios4) And the paradox of ther AI bubble

00:00The Decision to Walk Away from OpenAI

02:24Building for the Games Industry

05:24The Future of Game Development and AI

08:06 Understanding World Models and Their Impact

10:38 Talent Acquisition in AI and Gaming

13:17 Strategic Risks of AI Integration

16:11 The Role of AI in Game Design

18:52 Navigating the Future of Game Engines

26:31 The Future of Game Distribution and Economics

30:06 Generative Systems in Game Design

36:29 The Role of Game Designers in AI

40:18 AI Integration in Game Studios

52:02 AI's Impact on the Economy and Employment