4A Games opens studio in Malta following unrest in Ukraine

Metro franchise developer 4A Games has announced that it will open a studio in Malta. The developer’s main studio office in Ukraine’s capital Kiev will remain open, however the Malta office will be the studio’s headquarters moving forward.

4A co-founder and Creative Director Andrew Prokhorov and Chief Technical Officer Oles Shishkovstov will head up the new office which is a major opportunity for the developer according to new CEO and Head of Business Dean Sharpe. “By basing our new headquarters in Malta, a member state of the EU, 4A Games will be able to better compete on the international stage” said Sharpe. “Malta offers fantastic incentives for game development, and we are confident 4A Games will be able to attract the very best talent from Ukraine, Malta and beyond.”

In February 2014 the unrest in Ukraine reached its peak as the civil uprising successfully ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. 4A Games had maintained an online presence since the beginning of the protests in November, but as the campaign intensified through January and February the studio went dark.

On 22 February Andrew Prokhorov posted a declaration of support to the protesters on the 4A Games Facebook Page saying, “People of Ukraine, Heroes of Ukraine, please do not go to the death. Within 2-3 days the Сattle collapsing itself … And his rotten soul is not worth a hundredth part of the soul of any of the Fallen Heroes. Please give a little time to make other mechanism start to work. And today it showed a bit. Please, do not die! Glory to Ukraine!. Glory to the heroes!”

Then on 24 February another post appeared on the studio’s page expressing relief and joy at the ousting of the President and the potential for “Attempt[s] to make the better country – the new Ukraine.” Following that post the studio once again fell silent until yesterday when the opening of the office in Malta was announced.