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PERSONA-BASED GAME DEVELOPMENT

We build games shaped by real identities: streamers, actors, performers, creators. If you have a vision and an audience, we have the team to turn that into a game they’ll actually want to play.

BUILDING A GAME AROUND IDENTITY

Persona-based game development means the creative direction starts with a person, not a genre. When a streamer, influencer, or public figure wants to make a game around their existing IP, the biggest risk is losing what makes them interesting in the process. We build around who they are: their community, their content, their voice. The result needs to be fun, monetizable, and built to scale.

N-iX Games has been shipping real projects since 2012. With a team of 200+ developers, we handle the full technical and creative execution so the creator stays focused on their vision. Game development spans creative, technical, and business decisions simultaneously — and many creators are navigating it for the first time. We help clients work through platform and art choices, budgets, realistic timelines, and monetization strategies, and we stay involved from the first concept conversation through to release and beyond.

OUR IP-BASED PROJECTS

The Bazaar

Andrey “Reynad” Yanyuk, a former professional Hearthstone player and streamer, came to us in 2018 with a prototype and a vision for a deckbuilder that was competitive yet accessible.

We partnered with his studio Tempo as a core development team, handling Unity development, backend architecture, and art direction across seven years of production. We shaped the game’s entire visual identity — a genre-blending aesthetic mixing Middle Eastern bazaars, sci-fi, and steampunk — and supported Tempo through multiple pivots, funding rounds, and eventual Early Access launch in 2024.

Chess Arena

Alexandra Botez, a chess master and one of the most recognized chess creators on Twitch, co-founded Chess Arena with a clear brief: take chess and make it watchable, playable, and fast. Built around a 40-player battle royale where pieces move on cooldowns, the game is chess reimagined for a streaming generation.

N-iX Games worked as a co-development partner for three years alongside studio Millions of Monsters, delivering the majority of Unity engineering and art production. The game launched in April 2026.

Hanx101 Trivia

Award-winning actor Tom Hanks partnered with BlueLine Studios to create a trivia game and share his love and passion for this genre. Hanx101 Trivia features thousands of questions across history, geography, food, science, and more, with 1v1 and team multiplayer and a signature wildcard system.

N-iX Games handled the full front-end implementation in Unity, including game logic, UI, and peer-to-peer systems. The game launched exclusively on Apple Arcade for iOS, macOS, and tvOS, and our team continues to provide post-launch support.

HOW WE OPERATE

End-to-end development

You bring your brand, audience, and vision as the foundation. Our team handles everything else: game design support, technical direction, art, engineering, and release. We also stay with the project post-launch, because a game built around a persona needs to keep evolving with it.
Co-development

Maybe you already have a team and need a specific gap to fill? Then we can take ownership of a defined area — engine implementation, art production, QA — or embed our developers directly into your existing pipeline to extend capacity without the overhead of growing in-house.

OUR PROCESS

For end-to-end projects, we follow a structured pipeline from concept through post-launch. Here is how each stage works.

01. Pre-Production

Before any code is written or art is made, we work with you to define what the game actually is, translating your brand and audience into a concrete concept, design documentation, and technical plan. Many clients arrive with a vision but without the gamedev vocabulary to articulate it, and that is exactly what this phase is for. Deliverables include a project roadmap, art direction, and toolchain setup.

02. Prototype

We build a playable version of the core loop as early as possible — with placeholder art, minimal features, and one goal: finding out if the game is fun. Not every prototype becomes a final product, but this stage helps to validate assumptions cheaply before committing to full production. It also gives you something tangible to react to, share with your audience, or use in early funding conversations.

03. Vertical slice

A vertical slice is a fully polished sample of the game, with real art, real audio, real UI. It represents the quality bar for everything that follows. For persona-based games, this is a critical alignment checkpoint: it confirms that the game’s visual identity, tone, and feel are authentically yours before production scales further. It also serves as a proof of concept for stakeholders, publishers, or investors.

04. Production

Full development begins once the vertical slice is approved. Our team works in sprints, delivers regular builds, and tracks progress against agreed milestones. We keep communication open throughout, listening, advising, and challenging ideas that don’t serve the game when needed. You always stay involved in playtesting and review sessions, with a dedicated Producer as your point of contact.

05. Alpha and beta

Alpha is when the game is feature-complete and moves into detailed QA and stabilization. Beta is content-complete: final testing, platform compliance, and preparation for release. Both stages include playtesting sessions — internal and, where appropriate, with a slice of your actual audience — so the game is validated by the people it was built for before it ships.

06. Release and post-launch

We support certification and submission for PC, console, and mobile platforms, and stay involved after launch. As we mentioned earlier, a game tied to a creator’s brand needs to keep up with that brand. That includes updates, new content, balance adjustments, and live operations support as your audience grows.

MORE ABOUT N-IX GAMES

N-iX Games was founded in Lviv, Ukraine in 2012, and has grown into a studio of 210+ specialists with offices across Europe and the US. We cover the full range of game development disciplines — engineering, art, design, QA, and production.

We always focus on building lasting relationships with the teams we work with, understanding their products deeply, and staying involved long after launch. Today, we are proud to work with partners such as Supermassive Games, Paradox Interactive, Blizzard, Netflix, and many others.

Beyond client work, we run our own product development and an XR branch, and we are backed by the wider N-iX software company, with its global engineering network and infrastructure.
- 210+
  Professionals
  
  Every role a game project needs, under one roof.
- 14
  Years in gamedev
  
  Over a decade of shipping real projects.
- 100+
  Delivered projects
  
  Across genres, platforms, and production scales.

WHAT WE OFFER

Specialized talent

Project Leadership

Platform support

Specialized talent

We field full development teams or targeted specialists, depending on what your project needs. Our roster covers Unity and Unreal engineers, including niche technical profiles, alongside 2D and 3D artists, animators, game designers, and dedicated QA. Whether you need a complete team or a single expert to fill a gap, we can put the right people on it.

Project Leadership

We bring the structure to keep complex projects on track. That means technical and art directors embedded in production, experienced producers managing timelines, and a pipeline built around clear milestones and transparent reporting. You always know where the project stands and what comes next.

Platform support

N-iX Games is an official development partner of Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch, with development kits on hand for console projects. As an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner, we support cloud-based game infrastructure at any scale. We also have hands-on experience across current VR and AR platforms, and full mobile development capability for iOS and Android.

HAVE A QUESTIONS?
CHECK OUR FAQs.

Can’t find an answer? Drop us a line using the form above.

What does an end-to-end game development include?

We handle everything from concept and pre-production through engineering, art, and release. You get a complete development team built around your identity and vision, delivering a finished game from the ground up.

What if I already have a game design document or concept?

We build on what you have. We review your materials, validate assumptions, and fill any gaps in technical planning, scheduling, or production scope without replacing your existing work.

How long does an end-to-end development project take?

It depends on the scope. A smaller title can ship in under a year; a more ambitious project may take two to three. We set milestones upfront and keep you informed at every stage.

How do you ensure confidentiality and IP protection?

We sign NDAs before any work begins. All code and assets produced belong to you. Our team operates under strict internal IP policies with private repositories and need-to-know access controls throughout the project.

How will we collaborate and stay informed during development?

You get a dedicated producer as your point of contact, regular milestone reviews, and access to our project management tools. You see the game evolve step by step with no surprises.

OUR CREDENTIALS

We work within proven engineering standards, with workflows verified by the platforms we build on. Our process is structured and transparent.

GET IN TOUCH

Let’s start with an in-depth analysis of your idea, a high-level quote, and project plan. Once we smoothen all the rough edges we can proceed to the complete design, development, and production of your game, followed by release and post-release support.