„Tehnološka dostignuća iz 90-ih godina u pogledu širenja interneta, multimedijalnosti računara, konzola, onlajn igranja, poligonalne trodimenzionalne grafike, a potom i pojava pametnih telefona oblikovaće razvoj novih igara na početku XXI veka”, navodi u svojoj knjizi „Totalna istorija video-igara” prof. Manojlo Maravić.

Svedoci smo sveprisutnosti zabave igranja video-igara koja do nas dolazi sa različitih strana –  ona se krije u našem zadnjem džepu pantalona, na TV-u, kompjuteru, konzolama, u igraonicama… I dok su video-igre stekle ogromnu popularnost u svim razvijenim zemljama sveta među korisnicima „sa one druge strane” uređaja, razvoj čitave industrije video-igara nije tekao podjednakim tempom, već je umnogome zavisio (a i dalje zavisi) od različitih socio-ekonomskih okolnosti, kao i ulaganja u nove tehnologije i nova znanja.

U Srbiji, gejming industrija kreće da cveta početkom druge decenije XXI veka, a sada, samo desetak godina kasnije, Asocijacija industrije video-igara Srbije (SGA) broji preko 140 članova, od indi timova, preko e-sport kompanija, VFX studija, do globlano priznatih proizvođača igara, što gejming industriju čini jednim od najbrže rastućih delova ekonomije Srbije, te je naša zemlja danas pozicionirana kao jedna od najatraktivnijih „novih” država za proizvodnju video-igara.

Zapaženi timovi i video-igre iz Srbije

U Srbiji, za sada, postoje 3 centra sa najvećim brojem gejming studija – u pitanju su Novi Sad, Beograd i Niš.

Beogradska kompanija Nordeus najpoznatija je po naslovu Top Eleven, evergreen fudbal menadžer igri koja je 2010. godine lansirana na Facebook-u. Tada su mečevi u Top Eleven igri imali samo tekstualni prenos, da bi 2015. godine bili dodati 2D mečevi kao prirodni sled tehnološkog napretka. Vrhunac razvoja Top Eleven-a nastupa sa 3D mečevima, jer igrači počinju da svakodnevno dele isečke svojih mečeva u 3D-u društvenim mrežama.

Nordeus, kao velika kompanija, zaslužan je u određenoj meri i za razvoj mnogih drugih studija i video-igara. Tectonic Games Studio (TGS) iz Beograda postojao je kao neformalni tim od 2013. godine, ali 2020. godine su se ozbiljnije posvetili poslu i počeli da prave svoju prvu komercijalnu igru u okviru Nordeus booster programa pod nazivom SpellTome.

Uz Nordeus, Mad Head Games je jedan od pionira razvoja video-igara u Srbiji. Osnovan 2011. godine, a trenutno broji 150 zaposlenih u kancelarijama u Beogradu, Novom Sadu i Sarajevu. Studio je do sada izdao čak 66 igara, a nakon što je pre dve godine postao deo globalnog giganta Saber Interactive (studija u okviru Embracer Group-a), u potpunosti se okrenuo razvoju akcionih igara za PC i konzole. Zapaženi AA projekat Mad Head Games-a, igra Scars Above, premijerno je prikazana na Prime Matter Twitch kanalu. U pitanju je avantura u kojoj se svet Alise u zemlji čuda susreće sa svetom Aliena.

Novosadski studio Brave Giant koji su osnovala braća Boris i Bojan Đurović, kao prvi projekat je 2012. godine realizovao igru Demon Hunter: Chronicles from beyond. U pitanju je bila HOPA igra po motivima horor filma „From beyond”. PC gejming je u to vreme bio dominantan, bar kod nas, i većini mladih studija u to vreme uzor je bio Mad Head Games. Većina igara Brave Giant-a je objavljena na svim važnijim platformama, uključujući Sony Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo switch, iOS i Play Store.

Iako takođe relativno mlad studio, osnovan 2018. godine – Alset tim čine profesionalci iz gejming industrije – koncept artisti, 3d modelari, ilustratori, dizajneri i programeri, koji su uspeli da za godinu i po dana naprave svoju prvu igru koju su samostano radili od nule.

S druge strane, igra „Farm it!“  Tummy Games-a iz Novog Sada od 2021. je dostupna na Apple Arcade platformi, što je čini prvom igrom iz Srbije koja je dospela na ovaj servis. Ljubiteljima video-igara Tummy Games je poznat po desetnima miliona preuzimanja za igre koje su radili za neke od najuspešnijih globalnih izdavača – Voodoo i Homa Games.

Niški studio Peaksel takođe je objavio svoju prvu igru za PC koja je prošla zapaženo pod nazivom 100 Worlds. Naslov je dostupan na Steam platformi, a 100 Worlds (Android, iOS, Steam) je „room escape” igra gde igrači moraju da reše niz logičkih zagonetki kako bi glavnu junakinju spasili iz magične knjige u kojoj je zarobljena.

Gejming kao nauka

Nakon detaljnih istraživanja obrazovanja u oblasti digitalnih umetnosti i gejminga, i dve godine koncipiranja i planiranja, Fakultet dramskih umetnosti u Beogradu najavio je 2021. godine pokretanje novog studijskog programa – „Vizuelni efekti, animacija i gejm art“. Time je ovo postao drugi četvorogodišnji program u Srbiji posvećen razvoju igara, nakon smera „Dizajn video igara“ na Akademiji umetnosti u Novom Sadu.

Akademija umetnosti u Novom Sadu prva je izborila akademsko mesto za video-igre u Srbiji 2017. godine, pa nije neobično što je upravo ona bila glavni organizator prve naučne nacionalne konferencije o video-igrama sa internacionalnim učešćem. Interesovanje za akademsko izučavanje gejminga od 2017. godine samo raste, te ubrzo nastaju i prvi master programi (Master 4.0) u vezi sa video-igrama, jednosemestralni kursevi koje organizuje Univerzitet umetnosti u Beogradu.

Studijski programi koji postoje za sada u Srbiji primarno su fokusirani na razvoj video-igara, što je odgovor na rastuću gejming industriju u našoj zemlji, koja trenutno zapošljava više od 2.100 ljudi. Ono što još uvek nedostaje jeste platforma za kritičko-teorijsko bavljenje video-igrama. Upravo to je konferencija Studije video-igara (SVI) – nova interdisciplinarna naučna oblast nastojala da nadomesti. Konferencija je održana u Novom Sadu 2021. godine, a njen cilj bio je da obezbedi platformu za dalje naučno bavljenje video-igrama.

Nema sumnje – gejming industrija u Srbiji razvija se neverovatnom brzinom, a brojni timovi kreativaca iz različitih oblasti – od storyteller-a, preko dizajnera zvuka do programera, imaju priliku da stvaraju različite virtuelne svetove u kojima brojni igrači uživaju, sa iščekivanjem novih igara.

Reference:
Kristina Janković, SGA
Totalna istorija video igara, Manojlo Maravić

In his book titled The Total History of Video Games (Totalna istorija video-igara), Prof. Manojlo Maravić stated the following: “Technological achievements of the 90s in terms of the spread of the Internet, the multimedia character of computers, consoles, online gaming, polygonal 3D graphics followed by the invention of smartphones will shape the development of new video games at the beginning of the 21st century.”

We are witnessing the omnipresence of the entertainment provided by video games, which are available to us in several ways – they are in the back pocket of our trousers, on our TVs, computers, consoles, in playrooms, etc. While video games have gained immense popularity in all developed countries in the world among users on the “other side” of the device, the development of the video game industry as a whole was not uniform and linear, but rather depended (and still does) to a large extent on various socio-economic circumstances, as well as investments in new technologies and new skills.

In Serbia, the gaming industry began to flourish at the start of the second decade of the 21st century, and now, only ten years later, the Serbian Games Association (SGA) has over 140 members including indie teams, e-sports companies, VFX studios and globally acclaimed game developers, making the gaming industry one of the fastest growing branches of the Serbian economy. As such, our country is nowadays considered to be one of the most compelling “new” countries involved in the video game development.

Notable teams and video games from Serbia

For now, there are three centers in Serbia with the largest number of gaming studios – Novi Sad, Belgrade and Niš.

The Belgrade-based Nordeus company is best known for Top Eleven, an “evergreen” football manager game which was launched on Facebook in 2010. At that time, the matches in Top Eleven were purely text based. 2D graphics were implemented in 2015 as a natural consequence of technological advancement. Top Eleven’s development peaked with the implementation of 3D graphics, as players started sharing 3D clips of their matches on social media every day.

As a large company, Nordeus impacted the development of many other studios and video games to a certain extent. The Tectonic Games Studio (TGS) from Belgrade was informally formed in 2013, but in 2020 they became more serious about game development and began working on their first commercial title SpellTome as a part of the Nordeus booster program.

Alongside Nordeus, Mad Head Games is one of the pioneers when it comes to game development in Serbia. The studio was founded in 2011 and currently has 150 employees in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Sarajevo-based offices. The studio has released 66 games so far, and after becoming a part of the global giant Saber Interactive (a studio that’s a part of the Embracer Group) two years ago, it entirely devoted its attention to the development of action games for PC and consoles. The game Scars Above, a notable Mad Head Games AA project, was shown for the first time on the Prime Matter Twitch channel. It is an adventure game in which the world from Alice in Wonderland collides with the world from Alien.

The Novi Sad-based studio Brave Giant founded by brothers Boris and Bojan Đurović realized their first project in 2012, a game titled Demon Hunter: Chronicles from Beyond. It was a HOPA game based on the horror movie From Beyond. PC gaming was dominant at the time, at least in Serbia, and most new studios looked up to Mad Head Games. Most of the Brave Giant games have been released on all major platforms, including Sony Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, iOS and Google Play Store.

Although also a relatively young studio, founded in 2018 – the Alset team is comprised of gaming industry professionals – concept artists, 3D model artists, illustrators, designers, and developers which managed to develop their first game from scratch in a year and a half.

Additionally, the Farm it! game developed by Tummy Games from Novi Sad became available on the Apple Arcade platform in 2021, the first game from Serbia to find its way onto this service. Video game enthusiasts will recognize Tummy Games by the titles they developed for some of the most successful global publishers such as Voodoo and Homa Games, as many of these games have reached tens of millions of downloads.

The Niš-based studio Peaksel also published their first notable PC game titled 100 Worlds. It is available on Steam, and 100 Worlds (Android, iOS, Steam) is a room escape game where players have to solve a series of logic puzzles in order to rescue the main heroine from the magic book she is trapped in.

Gaming as a science

After detailed research conducted on the education in the field of digital art and gaming, and two years of design and planning, in 2021 the Belgrade Faculty of Dramatic Arts announced the launch of a new study program – “Visual effects, animation and game art”. Thus, it became the second four-year study program in Serbia dedicated to game development, following the program Video game design available at the Novi Sad Academy of Arts.

The Academy of Arts in Novi Sad was the first to introduce the topic of video games to academia in Serbia in 2017, therefore it is not surprising that the Academy was also the main organizer of the first national conference of video games with international participants. The interest in academic study of gaming has only grown since 2017, and soon the first video game master’s programs (Master 4.0) were formed , one semester long courses organized by the Belgrade University of Arts.

The study programs currently available in Serbia primarily focus on video game development, which is the response to the growing gaming industry in our country currently employing over 2,100 people. What is still missing is the introduction of a platform for critical and theoretical study of video games. This is precisely what the Video Games Studies (SVI) conference – a new, interdisciplinary field of study – tried to accomplish. The conference was held in 2021 in Novi Sad with the goal of providing a platform for further academic study of video games.

There is no doubt – the Serbian gaming industry is developing at an incredible speed, and numerous creative teams from various fields – from storytellers to sound designers and developers – have the opportunity to create different virtual worlds for numerous players to enjoy, all while anticipating new releases.

References:
Kristina Janković, SGA
Totalna istorija video igara, Manojlo Maravić