When considering countries with emerging gaming ecosystems, several stand out for their unique advantages — from lower costs of living in cities like Montpellier, to generous cultural grants in Copenhagen and Berlin, to tax incentives and vibrant creative communities in hubs like Barcelona.
But Lithuania is emerging as a promising hub for gaming startups in the Baltics, thanks to its combination of strong technical talent, low operational costs, and a supportive business environment.
From developer-for-hire to industry leader
Most known is Nordcurrent, a developer and publisher of casual games for smartphones, tablets, and PC/Macs. The company was established in 2002 in Vilnius, Lithuania, and currently has an additional development studio in Odesa and Dnipro, Ukraine. Nordcurrent currently employs more than 200 people.
Over 20 years, Nordcurrent has released more than 50 games for various platforms.
I spoke to CEO Victoria Trofimova to learn about the company’s journey, how gaming is changing, and what’s coming next for the successful company.
Lithuania is a small country — just under 3 million people—so it has far smaller-scale initiatives in gaming hubs like Spain or Portugal.
But according to Trofimova, the ecosystem is healthy with an effort to connect newer developers with more experienced folks.
“In recent years, we’ve also seen more international talent take an interest in working here. The quality of life in Lithuania is very high, similar to our Nordic neighbours. We’ve had applicants from Portugal, Spain, Italy, and France who have relocated to Vilnius to work with us, and they’ve settled in really well.”
Nordcurrent turns 23 in August. It originally started as a developer-for-hire, creating games for other publishers, mainly for consoles and handheld devices, but it always had the desire to make the kind of games it wanted to.
Victoria Trofimova recalled:
“So we transitioned to developing and publishing our own games—first on console and PC, back when physical boxed products were still the norm.
Then came the smartphone boom, which we saw as a great opportunity for a smaller player like us.
We released our first mobile hit as a paid game on iOS, then followed up with a free-to-play version on Android, which became a major success. Since then, we’ve focused on iOS and Android free-to-play games.”
Further, while mobile is still the company’s core business, its expanded into publishing and is working with external indie teams in addition to its development efforts.
The studio’s biggest hit is Cooking Fever, a time-management game where players can cook meals from all over the world. The game is available on all mobile platforms and Windows, with almost 250 million downloads and 15 million monthly active users.
Other recent Nordcurrent games include a fully interactive crime novel with amazing gameplay features, Murder in the Alps, and the newest super hit - Airplane Chefs! Currently, a game for trendsetters – Pocket Styler, keeps your health happy with the Happy Clinic game. The company has more than a dozen new titles in development.
The mobile-first democratisation of gaming
Over the last decade, mobile phones have changed the sector.
According to Trofimova, “mobile has made gaming much more accessible. Before smartphones, gaming was largely limited to people who could afford a console or a PC—there was a clear financial barrier. Now, with everyone having a smartphone, it means that anyone can be a gamer. It’s truly democratised the industry.”
It also resulted in flexibility, allowing people to play games in short bursts or longer sessions at home or on the move. This adaptability has made gaming more seamlessly integrated into daily life.
This shift has also changed the demographics of who plays. Gaming is no longer the domain of just young males.
Designing for everyone starts in the studio
Part of the demographic shift has seen more women gaming Many of Nordcurrent’s biggest games — Cooking Fever and Airplane Chefs, for example— have a majority-female audience. The time-management genre, which both of these games fall under, is especially popular with women aged 21 and over. This inclusiveness has extended into Nordcurrent as an employer.
Trofimova contends, “as a company, we’ve always seen ourselves as an equal opportunity employer — even back when diversity wasn’t as widely discussed as it is now.
“For us, it just made sense. Diversity brings different perspectives to the table and helps us build better, more inclusive games that appeal to a wider audience.
The industry as a whole has become much more diverse since I started over two decades ago. When you attend a games conference now or visit other studios, you really notice the difference. It’s great progress.”
Diversity by design
Rather than repeating past successes, the studio has focused on diversifying across genres and platforms to stay resilient.
“Even when we’ve had a successful title, we’ve avoided simply cloning it over and over. That mindset goes back to our early days when we were just four people— we couldn’t afford to put all our eggs in one basket.
So we’ve always looked to diversify across genres and platforms. That willingness to explore new territory has really helped us grow and stay resilient over the long term.”
Trofimova characterises the mobile and PC markets as “saturated”
“It’s difficult to break in with a new title unless you already have a strong user acquisition strategy and big marketing budgets. For smaller studios, that makes things really tough.
That said, mobile remains very attractive to us. We know our audience, we know what works, and we feel confident about continuing to succeed in that space.”
As for the “next big thing,” Trofimova asserts that the next disruption might not come from an entirely new platform. It might be innovation in monetisation, new genres, or even small shifts within existing ecosystems that ultimately have a significant impact.
And for anyone considering opening a gaming studio, Trofimova advises, “go for it! This is a very exciting industry to be in. What could be more fun than making games?”
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