2024-08-13
PlanetPlay’s Make Green Tuesday Moves campaign wouldn’t be possible without the support of our studio partners. Thanks to their passion and commitment to working with us to tackle the climate challenge, we are collectively leveraging the power of gaming to make a real impact.
So, we are throwing the spotlight on some of our awesome partners, highlighting their studios, their games and their ideals.
Here, we speak to Pixel Federation, which has embraced the Make Green Tuesday Moves initiative via its top-selling TrainStation 2 game…
Tell us about Pixel Federation.
Pixel Federation, the biggest Slovak game dev studio, was founded in 2007 in Bratislava by four gaming enthusiasts alongside Co-Founder Simon Sicko, with the sole aim of developing their own games against the odds.
At the time, Slovakia was just 18 years into its democratic transition, still navigating economic integration, and with a limited background in IT or gaming.
Today, Pixel team is 270-strong, it has six successful mobile games on the market, and brings joy to over 140 million players worldwide.
The company’s success has grown from profound R&D, strong live ops, and intense dialogue with fans. Pixel Federation develops games – from players to players – with a deep understanding of players’ passions for transportation, collecting, architecture, and puzzle solving.
Your HQ is in Slovakia – how significant is the games industry in the country?
In recent years, Slovakia's games industry has seen impressive growth, with 66 game companies employing over 1,000 developers and generating a total turnover of €77 million in 2022. Pixel Federation alone contributed significantly to this figure, with over €47 million in revenue. The local talent and creative industries are thriving, and the Slovak gaming scene is poised to fully realise its potential in the coming years.
You’re something of a specialist in the tycoon game genre – how did that come about?
We ventured into the tycoon game genre with our first transport tycoon game, launched in 2010 on the then-popular Facebook platform. Over the years, we've explored various gaming platforms, genres, and art styles, but we've always felt a deep affinity for the tycoon genre. It has become our specialty, and we now focus entirely on what we do best: free-to-play tycoon mobile games. With 14 years of experience and a deep understanding of the niche community of train enthusiasts, we are confident in our expertise in this field.
Tell us about Train Station 2 and how the game has incorporated the Make Green Tuesday Moves campaign.
TrainStation 2, launched in 2019, has become our strongest project for the second year in a row, achieving sales of nearly €18.7 million in 2023. The game expanded its player base by 380,000, reaching 1.78 million monthly active users. Additionally, our production team successfully tripled the monetisation of new game content.
TrainStation 2 is an engaging railroad tycoon game that offers players a captivating train simulation experience filled with surprises, achievements, and challenging contracts. As part of the Make Green Tuesday Moves (MGTM) campaign, we featured the iconic David Hasselhoff as the seasonal contractor during the special event 'Summer Games‘. Players followed David's heroic storyline, which included rescuing a stranded whale and collecting a special train collection. Many players supported the cause by purchasing the special PlanetPlay locomotive, contributing to the noble goals of the PlanetPlay initiative.
What is coming up in the game?
In response to our players' feedback, we're excited to announce several upcoming updates for TrainStation 2. We're diligently working on introducing a new train region, launching special historical game events, and most notably, developing a new PC version of the game. These updates are designed to enhance the player experience and bring even more exciting content to our community.
How does the Make Green Tuesday Moves fit with your CSR goals?
At Pixel Federation, we are passionate players, and as such, we believe in playing fair! Paying respect to our employees, customers, the local community, and the environment is an integral part of our corporate culture.
Since our beginnings, we have focused on educational and environmental initiatives as a core aspect of our CSR efforts. Locally, we support the conservation of rare habitats and green planting projects in the capital.
On a global scale, we joined the Playing for the Planet Alliance, under the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). Alongside world-renowned studios, we have pledged to drive environmental change within the gaming industry. Our objectives include reducing our carbon footprint, incorporating green themes into our games, and encouraging the gaming community to adopt environmentally friendly practices in real life.
Our co-operation with PlanetPlay and joining the initiative Make Green Tuesday Moves was just the next logical step in our common goal.
Trains have always been a core theme for us, as we see them as the most eco-friendly mode of transportation. Our passion for trains drives us to create engaging train tycoon games, which have proven to be our most successful genre. We aim to promote this environmentally sustainable form of transport through our games. Our marketing plans include positioning our games as not only entertaining experiences but also as advocates for the ecological benefits of train travel.
To find out more about Pixel Federation and its games, click here
#MGTM #MakeGreenTuesdayMoves#PlanetPlay #ClimateChange
