Merry Christmas & have a Happy New Year!
Another year of war, and another year of fighting for survival, dignity, liberty, and freedom. Another year of trying to keep our heads high and preserve what makes us Ukrainians, our identity, our traditions, and our core values. 2025 marked the fourth year of the war. Another year that began with family, friends, colleagues — people close to us — but ended with some of them gone, carried away into the winter winds. Winter strikes mercilessly. It grips the innocent with cold hands, day and night. Yet there is always hope, the warm light of a candle burning in the heart of every Ukrainian, waiting for a better day.
Air raids, frequent power outages, and the pain of saying goodbye to those who left an empty place in our hearts forever, none of it broke our will to keep moving forward, no matter how injured or heartbroken we are. This year was also special for us as a Ukrainian video game company. We started again from scratch, rethought where we stand, and made hard decisions to pave the way toward a better future.
After years of silence and isolation, we built our own Discord community in 2025. We recovered and uploaded archived videos to our YouTube channel, organized its content, and created our own X account. With your help, we gave new life to our first title, Soldiers: Heroes of World War II, releasing six updates, one after the other. We also supported Beiei Societies in the development of 1937: Songhu Defence Line.
Above all, we endured the difficult chapter of Men of War II and began a new project, closer to our roots, and with more freedom to do what we believe we should. At the same time, we started building a smoother, easier path for GEM engine enthusiasts, from mod makers to full developers. We worked on Procedural Content Generation (PCG), Spline Tool, and many other behind-the-scenes additions.
We carefully examined the technical debt we’ve been carrying for years and began paying it down, so we can give the engine’s iron horse the blazing-hot breath of the old days once again. None of this was easy. None of it would have been possible alone, without our fans and supporters.
2025 has been an eventful year, one of clearing old dust, meeting new faces and old ones, and renewing friendships.
For us, 2026 isn’t just a new year. It’s the year we take the necessary steps to push player experience forward, confidently, even if slowly. It’s a year we’ve planned carefully, and we intend to make the most of every moment. We’re under no illusions, this journey will bring its share of difficulties and setbacks. Still, we hope it will be a year of serious advancements in the GEM engine, pushing the boundaries of what strategy games can be.
We also want to express our unwavering support for those who left the warmth and comfort of their homes to keep us safer, giving us the chance to be here through their sacrifice. May they return home safe and sound to their families and loved ones soon. May this New Year bring Ukraine closer to peace and bring all our people closer to home.
From the bottom of our hearts, we wish nothing but the best for our community, our friends, our families, and our colleagues across the video game industry, no matter how near or how far. We wish you a New Year filled with good health and happiness, peaceful mornings, cozy evenings, and meaningful improvements in your life. May you find calm in your mind, strength in your body, warmth at home, steady progress, and lovely surprises along the way.
Merry Christmas & have a Happy New Year!
Warm wishes,
Best Way
