Pavel Konstantinov, founder and CEO of game outsourcing company RetroStyle Games, said that Beatshapers CEO Oleksiy Menshikov owed $3,000 for services provided. Konstantinov pointed to financial problems at Beatshapers, including the long-term non-payment of salaries to employees.
Pavel Konstantinov, founder and CEO of game outsourcing company RetroStyle Games, said that Beatshapers CEO Oleksiy Menshikov owed $3,000 for services provided. Konstantinov pointed to financial problems at Beatshapers, including the long-term non-payment of salaries to employees.
According to the head of RetroStyle Games, he wants to «shed light on the actions of entrepreneur Alexei Menshikov», known in the field of game development, and «help everyone who may have been affected by his business practices».
Alexey Menshikov is the CEO of Beatshapers, a company based in Kyiv, and has worked on games such as #killallzombies, StarDrone Extreme, Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter, Enigmo, StarDrone Extreme, Wizorb, BreakQuest: Extra Evolution, Jetpack Joyride. Menshikov currently lives in the USA.
«He also founded a new mini-company, Fortell Games, which is reviving the game Blocksworld. The company successfully ran a Kickstarter campaign, but according to numerous reports, financial problems continue», — Konstantinov claims.
He said that RetroStyle Games provided 3D art services to outsourcer Beatshapers, which «experienced payment delays and discount demands».
«The situation escalated when I asked Alexey to help accept payments through Google Play (at that time, Ukrainian companies could not do this). The result: an unpaid bill for $3,000. Menshikov promised to make the payment, but refused to provide confirmation, and later ignored all requests,» said the CEO of RetroStyle Games.
Pavel Konstantinov also published correspondence with anonymous Beatshapers employees who spoke about the delay in paying salaries. They claim that the studio’s financial difficulties worsened in the spring of 2024. Some developers have not received monetary compensation for 4 months.
Beatshapers employees note that management explained financial difficulties by the lack of investors for projects; and last fall, Alexey Menshikov said that negotiations with potential investors were ongoing.
According to Konstatinov, such actions harm not only individual employees and companies, but also the Ukrainian game development industry as a whole.
«Payment issues, broken promises, and an evasive communication style are what undermine trust in the industry. The actions of Alexei Menshikov and his companies leave many questions unanswered. The lack of payments, disregard for employees and contractors, and opaque financial management require attention from the community,» said CEO Pavel Konstantinov.
Recall that last summer, RetroStyle Games released its debut game Codename: Ocean Keeper in Early Access on Steam. The developers were inspired by such popular projects as Vampire Survivors and Doom Keeper.
dev.ua reached out to Alexey Menshikov and the Beatshapers studio for comment, we will update the material when we receive a response.
