“We don’t just make games. We create art that speaks, excites and lasts,” says Dimitr Gibinski, founder of ArtDock, a Moldovan game studio that won the People’s Choice Award at Nordic Game this year.
Before relocating to Moldova and founding ArtDock in 2022, Gibinski was running his business in Ukraine, surrounded by family and friends. Then, in a single moment, everything changed. “It was shocking,” he recalls. “I was living near Kyiv airport when the first explosions started at 4 a.m. on February 23, 2022. I never imagined a real war could happen.”
They gathered only the essentials and set out toward the Polish border. With hearts heavy, they waited in Poland, hoping the war would end. But it became clear it wouldn’t.
A friend suggested relocating to Moldova, a country with a growing IT sector and supportive policies for tech startups.
It didn’t take long for Dimitr to settle in Chișinău and open ArtDock. What started as a team of eight in Ukraine has now grown to 47 colleagues: Ukrainians, Belarusians, Moldovans and Russians. “MITP gives stability and predictability,” he says about Moldova Innovation Technology Park. “The taxation system we get through MITP makes forecasting much easier. I know future salaries, costs and extra taxes, without worrying that rules might suddenly change.”
On his desk, small figurines from the video games the team created are lined up. As Dimitr talks about his games, his face lights up. Each project takes up to six months, from concept and design to coding and testing. Catching the audience’s attention from the start is crucial. “People have no patience now. If a game doesn’t catch them from the start, they move on.”
Their first game, SOS OPS, launched in November 2023. It’s a cooperative action game where players team up to save the city. It quickly found its audience, with roughly 150,000 players so far.
Then came Penguin Helper, a 3D adventure full of humor and chaos. Next up is Pao Pao, a culinary game where players run a restaurant and manage orders solo or with friends.
ArtDock’s evolving game Lootbound challenges players with turn-based tactics, clever strategy, and careful resource management.
Since its founding, ArtDock has helped showcase Moldova’s potential in the gaming world. The team won the People’s Choice Award at Nordic Game 2025 and participated in a series of international exhibitions this year: in the Netherlands, China, Germany and Japan.
Moldova’s gaming scene is growing
ArtDock isn’t alone. In Chișinău, new studios keep popping up, testing how far Moldova’s game industry can go. One of them, TroFilm Group, has teamed up with EGOVERSE Limited from Hong Kong to build a AAA video game, the kind usually made by big international studios.
Local teams are now scanning real-world objects and sets with photogrammetry to create lifelike 3D worlds. It’s tough work, as producer Trofim Gutanu shared. The team had to train fast, but proved they can deliver at a global level.
Moldova’s creative sector is evolving fast. Since 2022, four Moldovan universities have launched Bachelor’s programs in Game Design, Animation and Multimedia Production.
These projects show what’s changing: Moldova’s not just coding or outsourcing anymore. It’s creating.
And it may not just be fun, but also very profitable. Globally, the games market is expected to generate $188.8 billion by the end of 2025, a 3.4% year-on-year increase, and by 2028, it is projected to reach $206.5 billion.
Building talent, building trust
For Dimitr, success isn’t just about games. It’s about people. “People, people, people. That’s our first, second, and third priority,” he says. “Every single person here really loves games.”
Hiring hasn’t been easy. “To gather these 47 professionals under one roof, we went through maybe 500 interviews, 5,000 CVs,” he laughs. Hiring and training new students takes about a year before they’re fully productive.
Every player’s comment matters. “Even if you find a mistake or something that could be improved, we’ll be grateful if you tell us,” says Dimitr. “We read them all.”
To him, it’s about understanding the community and creating an environment where players and creators grow together.
He hopes Moldova will soon become a regional gaming hub, much like Finland once did with Angry Birds. “The industry here is still at the beginning,” he says, “but it has everything it needs to succeed.”
This story was written by Olga Cernea of the Journo Birds, a media team that works with nonprofits to tell human-centered stories. This story was supported by UMAEF.
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