Being seen in a heavily populated games development market is no easy task, as hundreds of studios produce near-identical titles every month, creativity goes toe-to-toe with popularity and it can feel commercially dangerous to take a risk.
Vitalii Zalievskyi, Chief Executive Officer of Ebaka Games, delves into why the studio is embracing chaotic energy, bold mechanics and a distinct visual identity over cookie-cutter content, discussing the risks of originality, the commercial logic behind Ebaka’s rapid expansion and how creative ambition is balanced with regulatory discipline on a global scale.
Let’s start by introducing Ebaka Games to our readers. Where does the company originate and what were the drivers behind its creation?
Ebaka is our answer to the question “what would you like modern games to be”. The idea was born at the intersection of cookie-cutter titles and how games are moving toward the mainstream mobile industry. Games are becoming simplified and players expect an instant impact from their actions. Ebaka isn’t just another provider. We’re the ones changing the perspective on games and the experience they deliver, and that’s exactly what drives our team. Our goal is to create our own gaming culture.
Ebaka Games states on your website that your product is “not for everyone, but will be the go-to choice for those who get it”. What makes it so different from other providers and why would you say “not everyone might get it”?
First, it’s about the approach to the product: crazy dynamics and true thrill, where max multipliers reach up to 100,000x, alongside unique Ebaka-modes. It’s also about stylised, acid-neon visuals and a mascot that sticks in your memory. All these factors make Ebaka distinct from other releases.
All of this leads to the fact that not every player is ready to step up to this level of gaming experience. That’s why Ebaka will be most appreciated by those who sync with our values: chaos, drive and putting our soul into what we do. This applies to newcomers as well as those who have been in the game for a very long time.
Why did you decide to take a different route with your content? What did you identify as lacking in the iGaming space?
We are treading our own path. That means being real, chaotic, and driven. We’re not like the majority, which prefers to pick a pattern and follow it. Our idea is to preserve originality and bring it into the world of iGaming, naturally, with our own style.
How risky is originality in a market that often rewards familiarity? How do you convince risk-averse operators to allocate prime lobby space to unconventional titles?
As in any business, originality is a risk. But we aren’t placing a bet completely blind. We had the foundation and the opportunity to conduct preliminary tests and a launch.
We’ve found that when operators see and understand what we are doing, they very quickly begin to believe in our mission. This is about letting the product do the talking.
We’ve wrapped up our exclusive with Menace.com and we’re now available live on Hub88. We’re scaling up incredibly fast and capturing market share – we’ll go live with a number of additional aggregators and operators this month alone. And our waitlist has fewer and fewer open integration slots left.
Many studios compete on speed and volume. Ebaka competes on originality. How does that strategy affect your production costs, timelines, and scalability?
The key feature here is that we aren’t aiming for speed. Creativity takes time, but it isn’t infinite – that’s where the power of the Ebaka-modes kicks in. We work on modernising the familiar and amplifying the “Wow, how is that even possible?” effect. Of course, there is discipline within our timelines and business interests are embedded in our scalability, but all of this is done to allow time for a signature approach and the opportunity for our game designers and artists to realise their potential.
Expenses are certainly an important issue with such a creative approach, but effective risk management helps keep them within our P&L, even considering all the madness we plan to bring to market.
How do you balance creative freedom with the operational realities of regulation, certification and operator compliance across multiple jurisdictions?
I’ve mentioned this above: creative solutions and the chaos we love are smartly integrated with business interests. This leaves space for “hand-made” solutions while balancing with operations. Speaking of certification and regulation: the chaos remains in the visuals, gameplay and user experience, while the security module, RNG and provably fair mechanics strictly adhere to mathematical models. This is confirmed by independent experts; for instance, our RNG was certified by BMM Testlabs in accordance with GLI-19, in record time.
What can we expect from the company in 2026 and beyond, and (based on your strategy and expectations) how do you imagine Ebaka growing in the future?
You can definitely expect high-profile partnerships and for Ebaka Games to appear on major operators and aggregators. And, of course, fresh approaches to mechanics that feel familiar. As for the numbers, all we can say right now is that they will keep rising, but if we look at projections, we’ve already smashed our release plan several times over. So, from here on out, it’s only going to get bigger.