Stainless Veteran
Arcane
In the thread about declining Chinese RPGs somebody asked "what about the russians?" (torpid, I think). I started to type an answer, but when my comment reached xbox-hueg size I've decided to post it as a standalone topic.
So, what about the Russians? We don't have strictly RPG developer teams, at least not good ones. Sure, we have Katauri, for example - authors of King's Bounty remakes (they were also part of the team which made Space Rangers), but they don't make single genre games.
As for companies still active this days, they are usually belong to one of the following groups:
Edit: To clarify, I'm not listing multi-genre games. We've got many of them, and some are quite good (i.e. Corsairs 1, Vangers, Space Rangers, King's Bounty, Hammer and Sickle, etc), but that would be a list for general and/or strategy gaming board.
Companies which made mediocre RPGs, and now are making shit
Burut. They made Goldenland series and Hard to be God. Both were shitty, but early Goldenland were playable, if boring.
Hard to be God (based on unreleased russian movie, which in turn was based on good sci-fi novel by Strugatskie):
Nival. Quite a famous company, they've made Allods series. First games were solid, if somewhat boring, realtime RPGs:
Now series are turned to MMORPG, Allods Online:
They've also made "Night Watch" (2005) and"Day Watch" (2006) (correction: Day Watch was made by Targem games, and Nival just published it. Thanks for pointing it out, Arem!)games, based on movies by the same name. Both were pretty linear, had non-existent plot and boring combat.
Primal Software. From interesting action/RPG in spirit of Magic Carpet they turned to making bad movie-based games.
"Eye of the Dragon" (2004). It was an interesting, if rather dumb story-wise Action RPG, in which you played as (you guessed it) a dragon.
"Волкодав: Месть Серого Пса" aka "Requital" (2007). Shitty game based on movie, which in turn was based on rather bad "slavic fantasy" novels:
1С. Another famous company, right now it's our biggest software and games reseller. They acquired some game developer teams, and made quite a few games, including RPGs. For example, they've made Konung series, mediocre, if playable RPGs at first, which were turned into unplayable ugly 3d shitfest.
Konung 2 (2003)
Konong 3:Ties of the Dynasty (2009)
Also they've made "Санитары подземелий" aka "Planet Alcatraz" (2006), a surprisingly good game. Its English translation sucked dead donkey balls though.
Its sequel,"Санитары подземелий 2: Охота за черным квадратом" (2008), was way worse. Basically, it was a stand-alone addon in guise of sequel, storyline sucked, it became much easier and more buggy.
Arise and KranX Productions. 1C also published "Не время для драконов" aka "A Farewell to Dragons". It's based on quite popular steampunkish novel by two bestselling russian authors - Perumov and Lukyanenko. Novel is decent, game isn't. It's even sadder to know that one of the developers of this game made Perimiter and Vangers.
Companies which make shitty RPGs (often based on books or movies)
Quant Games: "Diamond Sword, Wooden Sword" (2008). Crap game based on popular books by russian fantasy author.
Meridian'93. "Волкодав: Последний из рода Серых Псов" (Wolfhound: Last of the Grey Dog tribe) (2006). Same setting as one above, even worse game.
Game Studio "SEMARGL". Authors of banal, shitty and boring Action/RPG "Заговор Темной Башни" aka "Conspiracy of the Dark Tower".
Companies which make mediocre-to-good RPGs (and now are often defunct)
Rostok-Games (strictly speaking it's an Ukrainian company, but whatever). Made "Beltion: Beyond Ritual" (2009). It's a rather boring (but playable) Gothic clone.
DVS. Made "Восхождение на трон" aka "Ascension to the Throne" (2007), rather solid (if not very innovative or polished) RPG/TBS hybrid.
Jonquil Software (RIP). Authors of quite an interesting, if unpolished, isometric RPG, which had an emphasis on economy - "Заклятие" aka "Spells of Gold" (2002).
SkyFallen Entertainment. They've made unusualAction/RPG "Магия Крови" aka "Dawn of Magic". In this game you can even play as a baker's wife. Sadly, some game mechanics were underdeveloped and it had bugs.
So, there you have it. I could have forgotten something, so don't afraid to correct me or add some games.
So, what about the Russians? We don't have strictly RPG developer teams, at least not good ones. Sure, we have Katauri, for example - authors of King's Bounty remakes (they were also part of the team which made Space Rangers), but they don't make single genre games.
As for companies still active this days, they are usually belong to one of the following groups:
Edit: To clarify, I'm not listing multi-genre games. We've got many of them, and some are quite good (i.e. Corsairs 1, Vangers, Space Rangers, King's Bounty, Hammer and Sickle, etc), but that would be a list for general and/or strategy gaming board.
Companies which made mediocre RPGs, and now are making shit
Burut. They made Goldenland series and Hard to be God. Both were shitty, but early Goldenland were playable, if boring.
Hard to be God (based on unreleased russian movie, which in turn was based on good sci-fi novel by Strugatskie):
Nival. Quite a famous company, they've made Allods series. First games were solid, if somewhat boring, realtime RPGs:
Now series are turned to MMORPG, Allods Online:
They've also made "Night Watch" (2005) and
Primal Software. From interesting action/RPG in spirit of Magic Carpet they turned to making bad movie-based games.
"Eye of the Dragon" (2004). It was an interesting, if rather dumb story-wise Action RPG, in which you played as (you guessed it) a dragon.
"Волкодав: Месть Серого Пса" aka "Requital" (2007). Shitty game based on movie, which in turn was based on rather bad "slavic fantasy" novels:
1С. Another famous company, right now it's our biggest software and games reseller. They acquired some game developer teams, and made quite a few games, including RPGs. For example, they've made Konung series, mediocre, if playable RPGs at first, which were turned into unplayable ugly 3d shitfest.
Konung 2 (2003)
Konong 3:Ties of the Dynasty (2009)
Also they've made "Санитары подземелий" aka "Planet Alcatraz" (2006), a surprisingly good game. Its English translation sucked dead donkey balls though.
Its sequel,"Санитары подземелий 2: Охота за черным квадратом" (2008), was way worse. Basically, it was a stand-alone addon in guise of sequel, storyline sucked, it became much easier and more buggy.
Arise and KranX Productions. 1C also published "Не время для драконов" aka "A Farewell to Dragons". It's based on quite popular steampunkish novel by two bestselling russian authors - Perumov and Lukyanenko. Novel is decent, game isn't. It's even sadder to know that one of the developers of this game made Perimiter and Vangers.
Companies which make shitty RPGs (often based on books or movies)
Quant Games: "Diamond Sword, Wooden Sword" (2008). Crap game based on popular books by russian fantasy author.
Meridian'93. "Волкодав: Последний из рода Серых Псов" (Wolfhound: Last of the Grey Dog tribe) (2006). Same setting as one above, even worse game.
Game Studio "SEMARGL". Authors of banal, shitty and boring Action/RPG "Заговор Темной Башни" aka "Conspiracy of the Dark Tower".
Companies which make mediocre-to-good RPGs (and now are often defunct)
Rostok-Games (strictly speaking it's an Ukrainian company, but whatever). Made "Beltion: Beyond Ritual" (2009). It's a rather boring (but playable) Gothic clone.
DVS. Made "Восхождение на трон" aka "Ascension to the Throne" (2007), rather solid (if not very innovative or polished) RPG/TBS hybrid.
Jonquil Software (RIP). Authors of quite an interesting, if unpolished, isometric RPG, which had an emphasis on economy - "Заклятие" aka "Spells of Gold" (2002).
SkyFallen Entertainment. They've made unusualAction/RPG "Магия Крови" aka "Dawn of Magic". In this game you can even play as a baker's wife. Sadly, some game mechanics were underdeveloped and it had bugs.
So, there you have it. I could have forgotten something, so don't afraid to correct me or add some games.