How about getting game development done in Poland? It’s a great choice because the local gaming industry is thriving, with over $922 million in market revenue. There are more than 530 new game releases annually and 494 game producers and publishers. No wonder why more and more American and European companies hire Polish programmers.
Stay tuned if you’re interested in learning more about the Polish game industry, the top game dev companies on the local market, and the best way to work with Senior, Lead, and C-level game developers in Poland.
Development of the Gaming Market
Polish Gamedev is 38 years old. The first more or less serious game, from which it is accepted to count, was released in 1983 and was called Web Master. According to the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, the workforce in the Polish game industry numbers 15,290 (the same as in France), of which 24% are women. Poland lags behind the UK with 21,000 people. Because of this strong market development in the country, many local companies find it advantageous to get game development here. Besides, Poles are the 13th best at speaking English in Europe. This is another advantage for European and US companies.
Revenues in this sector in 2022 amounted to almost EUR 1.3 billion, and the industry’s total income has increased by about 250% over the last five years. Regarding revenue, the Polish game industry is ahead of the UK, France, Germany, Finland, Sweden, and likely Spain and Turkey. After the elimination of the most significant player, the company CD Projekt, an essential feature of the Polish game industry is its systematic growth. 97% of the Polish game industry’s production is exported.
The industry got its main impetus in 2007, of course, when The Witcher was released. The first ‘The Witcher’ was very peculiar. However, it still needed to become commercially successful: the game sold 1 million copies within a year. Poles, as a result, are charged not only financially but also morally. Earlier, Painkiller and Call of Juarez could have given a similar boost. Still, sales and hype — a word nobody knew then — were minuscule.
3 Most Popular Game Development Companies in Poland
More than 1,290 software development firms from Poland are listed on Clutch. Numerous Polish IT outsourcing firms were included in Software 500, Inc 5000 Europe, and the Top 100 Global Outsourcing Companies.
CD Projekt
This company was once called the “best Polish game developer.” Two years ago, CD Projekt was at the top among other Polish video game developers. Investors who were expecting the release of Cyberpunk 2077 valued the company at $8.08 billion. Due to the disappointment related to the game’s premiere, the company lost half its value a year ago and found fifth place on the list of the largest game development companies.
The achievements of the studio include:
- Creation of ‘The Witcher’ series of role-playing games based on the works of Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski.
- Release of ‘The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’, which received many awards and recognitions from players and critics.
- The launch of the digital distribution platform GOG.com offers players a wide range of quality games.
However, the decline did not stop there. After a short stabilization until January 2022, CD Projekt’s shares plunged even lower, and the company lost half its value again. However, its valuation is still high compared to the world’s largest game development tech companies, at least according to stock exchange indicators.
Techland
This company is ranked second among the “best Polish video game developers”. The increase in Techland’s valuation and position coincided with the further weakening of CD Projekt and the release of the second part of Techland’s game, Dying Light.
The achievements of the studio include:
- Development and release of the ‘Dying Light’ series of games, including the original game and add-ons, which became popular among fans of the zombie apocalypse genre.
- Dying Light’s games are distinguished from other genre representatives by their creation of an open world with unique parkour mechanics and combat systems.
Asseco
Asseco is another representative of video game development companies in Poland. The studio’s achievements include:
- Software development for financial institutions, corporate clients, and the healthcare sector.
- Stable profit growth and sustainable business development over the years among video game development companies.
Asseco absorbed about 80 video game development companies. On their basis, multi-regional companies such as Asseco Central Europe (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary), Asseco South Eastern Europe, and Asseco Western Europe were created, operating mainly in the Iberian Peninsula. Eventually, all the foreign companies absorbed by the Polish company were merged into one group — Asseco International. Today, Asseco is almost entirely an international business — foreign markets account for 90 per cent of its revenue.
Also Explore: How to hire a mobile game app developer?
Working with Polish Game Developers is Easy
On the one hand, cooperating with outsourcing agencies that offer video game development services may be viable. There is no need to hire developers yourself or manage the development process. On the other hand, you’ll likely end up with cloudy pricing due to huge markups by outsourcing providers, questionable game quality due to lack of supervision from your side, and IP rights transfer issues. So, is there another solution?
Yes — your own software R&D centre. This branch of your company is in a foreign location with a rich tech talent pool and lower developer wages than in the US, created from scratch by a reliable software R&D centre solutions provider. For example, Alcor is a full-cycle service provider establishing software R&D centres for US product tech businesses in Latin America and Eastern Europe.
Our services are:
- Recruitment of Senior, Lead, and C-level game developers who are scarce in every country’s tech market;
- Employer of Record service that practically eliminates the need to establish your legal entity in a foreign country and deal with the employment, payroll, accounting, taxes, and even employee benefits;
- 360° operational support: equipment procurement, office search and lease (if needed), stock options assistance, visa support, etc.
98,6% of our hires pass the probation period and stay on average with the client for 2.5 years. Plus, you get a 3-month warranty for substitutions of the candidate if they don’t pass the probation period. BigCommerce, Sift, Ledger, People.ai, and Dotmatics were our clients, and we opened R&D centres for them in the areas.
Final Thoughts
The Polish game development market is brimming with success and opportunities, so if you want to work with Polish game developers, you’re thinking in the right direction. And even though there are many game development companies in the Polish tech market, it’s up to you to decide whether the risks of cooperating with them, like unclear pricing, software quality issues, and IP rights transfer difficulties, are worth it. If you answer no, consider other cooperation models with experienced game developers in Poland, such as your software R&D centre.
