Sineus opened a teleport to Svemir: for the first time in history, a Russian media franchise based on ancient Russian legends has reached a global level.

      "The New Russian Epic" enters the world: the media franchise "Sineus" has presented its own world to a global audience – Svemir: a land after a catastrophe, where the surviving lands cling to the Lightkeepers, while the Hmar absorbs the space between them. The peoples are fragmented, each with their own light, their own darkness, and their own path. A living saga about kin, memory, and choice has already reached the audience through two formats simultaneously: the cooperative action game Sineus Arena Survivors available on Steam, where players defend the Stronghold against hordes of Hmar side by side with the franchise's heroes, and the animated film "Hmar Knows" on Rutube: a smart satire on modernity through the prism of "Sineus" events, voiced by the wise Dobrozhir, Valentin Petukhov – Vilsakom, one of the largest Russian-speaking bloggers with a multi-million audience. The premiere of the animated film is scheduled for July 7.

      How it all began: from a hackathon in Vologda to the global market

      The story of "Sineus" did not begin in a Moscow office or at a venture conference. Three years ago, entrepreneur Andrey Krylov – founder of the HR platform Skillaz, sold to hh.ru for an estimated 2 billion rubles – returned to his native Vologda region to help the area. Together with the city administration and the Football Federation of the Vologda region, he revived the football club "Dynamo Vologda," significantly increased the number of children playing football in the region, and held the first gaming hackathon named after the legendary brother of Rurik – Sineus, who, according to legends, ruled on Lake Beloye.

      "Russia is a country with a thousand-year history, the richest mythology, and heroes capable of conquering the whole world. We have something to tell humanity. But until now, no one has dared to create a domestic universe that would truly be global, alive, and passed down from generation to generation. We decided to change that. When we saw players from Brazil, China, the USA, and France gravitating towards us – before we invested a single ruble in marketing – it became clear: we hit the mark. The Slavic ambiance, the terems, runes, archetypes of heroes – this works globally. The world is tired of elves and dwarves. It wants new stories. Sineus is not just one product; it is a vast world that people will return to for years," says Andrey Krylov, author and CEO of the "Sineus" media franchise.

      "Sineus": a franchise, not just a game

      "Sineus" is built on the model of the largest global media empires – where one franchise lives simultaneously in games, animation, comics, books, merchandise, and events, and the audience returns to it again and again over decades. The targeted market of the five key areas in which "Sineus" operates exceeds $1 trillion a year.

      The world of Svemir, which underlies the franchise, is a dark, multilayered world that has survived the fall of two civilizations: the magic-technological Vesh and the human era of the late Renaissance. Now is the time of the Excess, the Years of Ash. Light here is not a law of nature. It is held by people: their choices, memories, and ability to keep their word. If one breaks – Hmar takes a step closer.

      Unity is the semantic core of "Sineus." The franchise unites history, mythology, games, animation, community, social mission, the Russian cultural code, and the global language of the genre. "Sineus" is a new Russian epic about family, loyalty, Truth, memory, and a common cause. With this franchise, the community of Russian entrepreneurs has decided to remind the world of Russian culture and that strong, deep, and in-demand content of world level can be created in Russia.

      "From the very beginning, we thought not about a single game, but about how to create a world that would live for decades. Every character, every people, every rune – is not just decoration; it is a cultural asset that will only appreciate over time. We are laying the foundation on which a whole generation of heroes will grow," says Anton Galchenko, founder and CEO of Sineus Games.

      Sineus Arena Survivors: the first door to the world of Svemir

      Sineus Arena Survivors is a cooperative third-person action game designed for 1-4 players. The gameplay unfolds in the world of Svemir: players fight against hordes of Hmar, defend the Lightkeeper – the heart of the settlement – build towers and buildings right in the midst of battle, upgrade heroes, and collect artifacts. The earlier demo version received 86% positive reviews on Steam.

      But the main figure is different: 85,000 wishlists before the full marketing campaign began. 40,000 of them are foreign players who independently found the game and added it to their wishlist. This means one thing: the global audience was already waiting for "Sineus."

      "Hmar Knows": a portal to the universe of "Sineus"

      On July 7, 2026, the animated film "Hmar Knows" will be released on Rutube – the first animated product of the "Sineus" franchise. It is created in partnership with one of the leading Russian animation studios and reveals the world of Svemir through humor, characters, and simple human situations – making it understandable for family audiences far beyond the gaming community.

      The voice of the character Dobrozhir – a kind, ironic sage who reconciles and advises – is given to Valentin Petukhov, blogger Vilsakom. The voice of Sineus is performed by Ruslan (Cube in a Cube) – the very voice that speaks Billy Butcher in the Russian version of the series "The Boys."

      "When I was offered to enter this universe – I realized that this is serious. There are real heroes, a real story, and a real team here. Dobrozhir is not just a character; he is an archetype. I am very happy to be part of something so large-scale," says Valentin Petukhov (Vilsakom), ambassador of the animated film "Hmar Knows."

      A community that builds the franchise together

      During the existence of the project, three international hackathons have been held with the participation of 17 countries and the involvement of more than 50,000 people. In 2026, a hackathon for a Guinness record is planned. A literary competition for stories set in the world of Svemir gathered over 1,500 authors from all over Russia. At the same time, a free school "Heroes of Light" is being launched – an educational project for teenagers from regions, small towns, and orphanages, where they learn to create games, comics, animation, and digital content using artificial intelligence.

      Ahead: the universe continues to expand

      Today is just the first entry point into the vast world of Svemir. The team's plans include the development of Sineus Arena Survivors with expansions and new modes, the release of a second game in the universe, a full season of the animated series, comics and books, merchandise and collectibles, a board game, and – on the horizon of 2027 – the release of a large-scale online game "Sineus," which is expected to become the flagship of the entire franchise. The world of Svemir is just opening its borders – and beyond every horizon, a new story is already waiting.