Independent game studios are increasingly turning to collaborative holding structures as a way to cushion themselves against the financial instability that has come to define much of the games industry in recent years. One model drawing attention is Nova Assembly, a holding company founded by Denis Fedorov that brings together five independent studios under a single umbrella. Rather than merging creative teams or diluting individual identities, the structure allows each studio to retain autonomy over its projects while sharing development and marketing resources that would otherwise be out of reach for smaller, cash-strapped teams.
Among the studios operating within this framework is Unfrozen, known for titles including Iratus: Lord of the Dead and the upcoming Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era. By working across a portfolio of titles rather than betting everything on a single release, studios under the Nova Assembly banner are able to spread risk more evenly. A disappointing launch or delayed release for one project does not necessarily jeopardize the survival of the entire group, a contrast to the all-or-nothing pressure many standalone indie teams face when a single game determines whether the studio continues to operate.
Addressing Costs That Sink Small Studios
Development and marketing remain two of the most punishing cost centers for independent developers, often consuming budgets that small teams simply do not have. The holding model addresses this by pooling expertise across the group, giving individual studios access to shared knowledge in areas such as production pipelines, publishing strategy, and audience-building that would be prohibitively expensive to build in-house. As detailed in an opinion piece published by How indie studios can survive industry volatility | Opinion, this kind of structural cooperation is presented as a practical response to an industry environment marked by funding uncertainty, market saturation, and steadily rising production costs that have pushed a number of studios out of business in recent cycles.
The broader gaming industry has seen repeated waves of layoffs and closures affecting both large publishers and small independent teams, making structural resilience an increasingly urgent conversation across the sector. For studios without the backing of a major publisher, models that distribute risk and share overhead costs are being viewed as one of the more sustainable paths forward, particularly as investor appetite for high-risk, single-title bets has cooled.
The approach also carries relevance for the Gulf region, where indie game development communities are expanding and investment interest in gaming ventures continues to grow across the UAE and wider GCC. As regional studios and investors look to build internationally competitive gaming businesses, collaborative holding structures like Nova Assembly offer a template for scaling operations and accessing shared expertise without requiring young studios to surrender creative control—an especially relevant consideration for emerging developers in Gulf markets seeking to establish a foothold in a global industry still adjusting to volatile funding conditions.
