A Russian entrepreneur has launched a media franchise with a targeted market of over $1 trillion: the first game has been released on Steam, and an animated series has been announced on Rutube.

      Andrey Krylov, the founder of the HR platform Skillaz, has launched the media franchise "Sineus" – the first project in Russia built on the model of global media empires: one universe, monetized simultaneously through games, animation, comics, books, licensing, and merchandise. The first game of the franchise, Sineus Arena Survivors, was released on the Steam platform. At the same time, the release of the animated cartoon "Who Knows" on Rutube was announced. The total addressable market of the five key directions of the franchise exceeds $1 trillion per year.

      Business model: IP as a long-term asset

      "Sineus" is built on the principle of creating and monetizing intellectual property – author IP based on Slavic mythology and ancient Russian legends. The franchise protects its IP through copyrights, trademarks, industrial designs, and licensing agreements with royalties. The monetization strategy includes five directions: games ($187.7 billion market in 2024), animation ($420.73 billion), licensing and merchandise ($369.6 billion), comics and books ($16.8 billion), board games ($19.9 billion).

      The key competitive advantage is the depth of the universe. The world of Svemir, which underlies the franchise, includes seven peoples, an original pantheon of heroes, a developed value system, and a visual language integrated into products of all formats. The stronger the world and the heroes, the wider the product line and the higher the value of the IP.

      "We thought from the very beginning not about just one game, but about how to create a world that will live for decades. Every character, every people, every rune – is not just a 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.

      First products and market indicators

      Sineus Arena Survivors – a cooperative action game in the Svemir universe – has been released on Steam. Before its release, the game gathered 85,000 wishlists, of which 40,000 were users from Brazil, China, the USA, France, and other countries who added the game themselves. The demo version received 86% positive reviews. The game is designed for 1-4 players, includes 10 heroes from 5 factions, and 13 types of buildings.

      The animated cartoon "Who Knows" is being released on Rutube – the first Russian video platform with a daily audience of over 17 million people. Media figures with a combined audience of tens of millions are involved in the project: blogger Valentin Petukhov (Vilsacom) voices the character Dobrozhir.

      In active development: the second game in the universe, a full season of the animated series, comics and books, a board game. The flagship product – a large-scale online game "Sineus" – is scheduled for release in 2027.

      Investments and team

      Total investments in the ecosystem at the start amounted to 100 million rubles. The total amount of investments in the development of the franchise is planned to be at least 3 billion rubles – of which 1 billion is for the creation of the online game "Sineus" and 2-3 billion for scaling and international expansion.

      The franchise team is formed at the intersection of the gaming industry, technology, and media. Key specialists have experience working at Yandex, Sber, Tinkoff, and Kaspersky. The director of artificial intelligence is responsible for applying AI in content production, visuals, and development – significantly reducing the costs of creating franchise products.

      "Russia is a country with a thousand-year history, a rich 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 become truly global, alive, and passed down from generation to generation. We decided to change that. When we saw that players from Brazil, China, the USA, France were drawn to us – before we invested a single ruble in promotion – it became clear: we hit the mark. The world is tired of elves and dwarves. It wants new stories. Sineus is not just one product; it is a big world that people will return to for years," says Andrey Krylov, author and CEO of the media franchise "Sineus."

      Audience and community as an asset

      The community around the franchise was formed three years before the release of the first products. During this time, three international hackathons were held with teams from 17 countries and involving over 50,000 people. In 2026, a hackathon for a Guinness record is planned. A literary competition for stories in the universe gathered over 1,500 authors from different regions of Russia.

      A separate direction is highlighted as a social mission: the "Heroes of Light" school – a free educational program for teenagers from regions, small towns, and orphanages, where they learn to create games, animation, comics, and digital content using AI. The social component enhances audience trust, opens access to grants and partnerships with regions, and creates a talent pool for the creative industry.

      With this franchise, the community of Russian entrepreneurs decided to remind the world of Russian culture and that strong, deep, and in-demand content of world level can be created in Russia.