RPG Vault Focus: Igromir 2008, Part One

RPG Vault has begun a new series of articles focusing on the recent Igromir consumer and trade event in Moscow, Russia. In the first portion, we hear about the show from 1C Company's Anatoly Subbotin:
Igromir did meet our qualitative expectations for 2008. It was a very good show, with a huge crowd and lots of great new games. A lot of publishers and developers brought their latest titles, and a few even made new announcements. For example, we at 1C announced King's Bounty: Armored Princess, our add-on to the critically acclaimed King's Bounty: The Legend, and also showed the first playable build.

As for the numerical side, Igromir managed to surpass the total visitor count that had been projected; the show succeeded in attracting a really huge crowd this year. The amount of high-quality games presented by the exhibitors was very impressive. The likes of GTA IV, Gears of War 2, Fable II, Dead Space, and NFS Undercover were simply impossible to pass by without noticing them. The leading Western publishers brought their top titles - and that's a great sign both for both our players and our market.

1C has been taking part in Igromir since the beginning, starting with the first show, so I have seen how it has evolved, turning into one of the biggest consumer events of its kind in the world. This time, the idea of having open-space booths turned out rather well. In previous years, the exhibitors usually had walls and decorations, so people had to actually get inside the stands to play the games. With the new concept, there was much more space for both the demo stations and the eager players.