MyGames restructures to exit Russian market and focus on "international business development"

gamedeveloper.com:

MyGames, the publisher and developer previously owned by Russian company VK, has restructured in order to exit the Russian market.

The company, which was sold by VK to Aleksander Chachava, managing partner of LETA Capital, for $642 million in September 2022 said it will be ceasing all operations in the region.

"As a result of the restructuring, the part of the business generating revenue in Russia will be spun off into a new independent entity with no affiliation to MyGames, and MyGames will cease all operations in Russia," reads a press release sent to Game Developer. 

"MyGames will focus solely on international business development, as well as improving infrastructure for its distributed team."

The company said the licenses for all Russia-related products will be fully transferred to Astrum Entertainment, which is described by MyGames as an "independent Russian company."

Once those licenses have been transferred, MyGames claims it will "no longer earn revenue from these game titles on the Russian market."

Here's where things get muddled, though. Details on Astrum are scarce, but it seems like the business is a holding company that operates in Eastern Europe where it develops, publishes, and operates a range of video games.

Based on what we've gleaned about the company, it seems that MyGames CEO and co-founder, Vladimir Nikolsky, currently works as a general director at Astrum––having previously served as CEO of the business until 2010 (according to Nikolsky's own Linkedin page).

Given there appears to be significant links between both companies, we've asked MyGames to clarify the structure of the deal and provide more specifics on the nature of Nikolsky's position at Astrum.

Looking ahead, MyGames explained it will now focus