“War is not an excuse not to work.”
Note: this article contains depictions and images of war that some readers may find harrowing.
“We are doing what we can.
We’re trying to unite people with games and as human beings.”
The studio is now headquartered in Cyprus.
Theirs is a story of compassion during incredibly difficult times.
Most recently it washacked by members of a Russian social data pipe, though it remained defiant.
Frogwares, developer of Sherlock Holmes The Awakened, willfinally release its game next monthafter frequent delays.
It’s based in Vilnius, Lithuania, but with additional offices in Odesa and Dnipro, Ukraine.
A further office was opened in Warsaw, Poland, after war broke out.
Before then it was business as usual.
“Prior to this, none of us have ever experienced war this close.”
While some developers fled Ukraine, others stayed behind.
Tatjana Margolina, head of the Dnipro office, is one of those people.
“There was huge uncertainty of knowing what will happen.”
Thankfully employees were offered housing or a place in hotels in Vilnius.
The majority of employees, however, decided to stay in Ukraine.
“Of course, what is safe?
That’s the big question.
So for various reasons, the majority of both offices decided to stay.”
A lot of employees chose to live in the office due to its large and well-equipped basement.
In fact, the team had just released its latest game a month before the war started.
Then in September, a bomb fell around 50 metres from the office, shattering windows and destroying walls.
We have to think the building was constructed really well and withstood both bomb attacks."
As if that wasn’t challenging enough, lack of electricity and blackouts were a frequent issue.
The office has two generators for backup power to continue operating.
“Both bombings and the lack of electricity did not demotivate us,” said Margolina.
“It made us even angrier with the invaders from Russia, but we continued persevering and working.”
Now the team has adjusted to its new normal.
“We have adapted quite a bit,” said Margolina.
“And our morale is high because Ukrainian forces have been very successful in recapturing the occupied territories.”
Dnipro now has public transport and shops open, plus streetlights at night.
Yet the war is not over.
“We have adjusted well, but of course these are not normal circumstances,” said Margolina.
“The team continues to work and live their life.”
Aurum Dust has also been impacted by the war, despite its developers working from home across multiple countries.
The cost of living in Russia has skyrocketed, but salaries have decreased.
Perhaps the biggest stumbling block, though, was investment in the first place.
“A lot of publishers were actually just saying no because you are Russian,” they said.
Also propaganda is pretty convincing.
“Most young people definitely don’t cheer for war.
We speak English, we can get the information from different sources.
So when it comes to work, it’s really hard to find a partner.”
The only thing that really matters for us is mutual respect.
“All of us have relatives, friends or fellow developers in Ukraine.
We worry about everyone who is there very much.
And it’s scary for us to understand that we can hardly help them.
But at least we are able not to be silent.
“We are young, and we know about wars only by hearsay.
It’s frightening to watch the things that are happening now.
But we can’t imagine how terrified are the people right in the middle of the action.
“We want all of us to have a future.
The future where no one has to be afraid.
The future where there is no place for missiles and hatred to each other.
And we hope it will come as soon as possible.”
But Aurum Dust did find financial support from investor Game Seer, based in Germany.
“They really are great,” said the producer.
“They support us.
They treat us like regular human beings and that’s something.
Not everyone is the same, of course.”
Game Seer’s Bertrand Vernizeau explained further some of the reasons for investing in Aurum Dust.
Of course, the team said they would.
It’s a message of humility.”
We were like ‘OK, it doesn’t matter what it’s going to look like.
We’re going to support the team.'”
“Reading news is not a pleasure,” they said.
It’s like from another world, but that’s the world we’re living in, right?
So the only way is to keep working, I guess.
Working together as a team, though, has never been a problem for Aurum Dust.
“It’s not like we are doing it just for money,” said the producer.
“We actually support each other.
We talk to each other.
It’s never a question for us.
It’s all about people.”
But as Aurum Dust’s story attests, it’s not always so simple.
“Every single project is different.”
I will support that.
I will buy that product.
“If you take just a look at the last century, we’ve had two world wars.
We’ve had so many economical crises.
We’ve had a pretty terrifying pandemic.
And we pushed through.
For both Aurum Dust and Nordcurrent, game development has brought focus and motivation during an incredibly harrowing time.
Both studios are living and working during a time of great violence and terror.
This article was edited to include details on Aurum Dust’s founder.
