AB Games at DOU Day 2025: HR practices and the struggle for players' attention

This spring, we became a part of the most anticipated IT event of the season – DOU Day 2025. This event brought together developers, designers, analysts, HR specialists, and industry leaders. We are proud that AB Games specialists were among the speakers of this event. It was a day of live networking, experience exchange, and honest conversations about the challenges facing the IT industry today.

Liudmila Kaplii. HR-quest in a game-driven environment: how to go through all stages of the employee life cycle and not give up

In her speech, our HRD, Lyudmila Kaplii, presented a survival guide for HR in the world of unlimited development and constant deadlines. She took her audience through all the stages of the specialist life cycle.

Our HRD said that building a strategy includes such priority tasks as working out the request and expectations from the company owner, HR audit, developing a phased implementation plan, and creating a RoadMap of HR activities. Using the example of AB Games, Lyuda shared our strategy for 2025 and spoke about global HR trends that are in line with HR goals.

The speaker also said that at AB Games, we approach each process as a product creation, so each project has its own “passport” – description, goals, budget, stages, steps, timelines, and workflow.

Lyuda told us what HR trends are in line with HR goals. This list is headed, of course, by continuous learning and development, which is extremely important for the well-being of a modern company. Training specialists is no longer a “nice bonus” but a critical part of the team’s well-being. HR should also focus its resources on motivation management and employee experience.

For the successful implementation of HR strategies, Lyuda advised to develop in the field of HR-Tech & data, take into account the growing role of AI and automation, and develop holistic team support programs.

In her speech, our HRD also emphasized the importance of each specialist understanding their career path in the company. The audience especially appreciated the practical cases that are already working at AB Games. For example, we have fully automated pre-onboarding: the process starts by itself after a trigger in PeopleForce. We already have a clear adaptation plan for new specialists and control milestones. And a cool Welcome pack and branded greeting cards for newcomers are already in development. All this is important because it creates an atmosphere of care from the first day.

Lyuda also shared how we automated most of our HR processes with PeopleForce. From recruiting to performance reviews, the system allows us not to waste resources on routine, but to focus on what is really important – team development, support, and growth.

One of the most important messages was the emphasis on transparency. Each specialist should have a clear understanding of their career path in the company, when and for what they can revise their remuneration, how to develop and where to move on. AB Games is actively working on this right now. It is not just motivation, it is a sense of control over one’s professional life.

The audience noted the systematic, structured, and practical approach presented by Lyuda. It was a live, real, mature HR model that is already working and helping our team grow every day.

Eugene Bal. Competition for player’s attention: is there any room for long games today?

Our GD Team Lead, Eugene Bal, participated in the GameDev-corner panel discussion at this year’s DOU Day. In addition to Eugene, other speakers were Vyacheslav Ryzhkov, level designer at VG Entertainments, and Matviy Prokopenko, feature designer at Frogwares.

The main question was: is there any room for 60-100 hour games in the modern world? Or have we finally moved into the era of short but intense games lasting 15-20 hours?

“I believe that long-lasting games will not disappear, as they occupy their own niche and have already won the hearts of a certain audience. But, as with everything else, these games will have to evolve to remain competitive in the fight for the player’s attention. We live in the world of TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, an era of short, quick dopamine rush provided by a few seconds of funny or interesting videos. Therefore, games also need to adapt and offer similar experiences to keep the user’s attention.” – Eugene

Many examples of real projects were given, both positive and negative.

“We mentioned Assassin’s Creed as an example of oversaturated, stretched, and sometimes boring gameplay. That is why, according to some, this series should be transformed into a session model.

At the same time, Baldur’s Gate 3 offers a varied, rich gameplay with sessions of different lengths. There are many hidden mechanics in this game that are not directly taught to the player – they either find them by accident or deliberately explore them. They diversify the gaming experience and make it easier to pass. However, if a player wants to complete the game quickly, they can do so without even paying attention to these deeper elements.” – Eugene

In the end, the speakers agreed that the future belongs to hybrid games that combine long and short-term experiences. The game design of such games should be built in such a way that the player can both get a quick “dose of dopamine” through the “depth” of interesting mechanics and “get lost” in the game for tens of hours, exploring its “breadth”.

DOU Day 2025 was really exciting. This event once again reminded us that the Ukrainian IT community not only creates the future, but also actively shares it. We are grateful to the DOU Day team for this opportunity, and to our speakers for their professionalism and inspiration.

At AB Games, we believe that experience sharing and openness are the drivers of progress. See you at the next events!