Nival is a

video game developer A video game developer is a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with em ...

and publisher founded by

Sergey Orlovskiy Sergey Orlovskiy (Russian: Сергей Орловский) is the founder and CEO of Nival, one of the oldest game development companies in Eastern Europe. In addition to heading Nival, Orlovskiy is a member of the board of directors of Alawar ...

in 1996. It is headquartered in

Limassol Limassol, also known as Lemesos, is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the Limassol district. Limassol is the second-largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population of 195,139 and a district population o ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

History

The company was founded by

on November 18, 1996 as Nival Interactive, and became famous as the developer of several successful role-playing and strategy series, including ''

Rage of Mages ''Rage of Mages'' is a PC game that combines role-playing and real-time strategy. Produced by Nival Interactive it was first released in Russia under the name of ''Allods: The Seal of Mystery'' (''Аллоды. Печать тайны''). The gam ...

'' (known as ''Allods'' in Eastern Europe), ''

Blitzkrieg ''Blitzkrieg'(Lightning/Flash Warfare)'' is a word used to describe a combined arms surprise attack, using a rapid, overwhelming force concentration that may consist of armored and motorized or mechanized infantry formations, together with ...

'', and ''

Etherlords ''Etherlords'' () is a series of fantasy turn-based strategy and card-dueling video games for the PC, by Russian developer Nival Interactive. The first game was published November 15, 2001 by Ravensburger Interactive Media under their mature gam ...

'', all of which would receive sequels. Nival also created the

Silent Storm engine Nival Interactive developed a proprietary game engine for its turn-based tactics video game ''Silent Storm''. The engine was reused for ''Silent Storm: Sentinels'', ''Night Watch (computer game), Night Watch'', ''Hammer & Sickle'' and ''Day Watch ...

and developed several games using it, beginning with the eponymous ''

Silent Storm ''Silent Storm'' is a 2003 turn-based tactics video game developed by Nival Interactive and published by JoWooD. The game is set in a fictionalized World War II Europe with science fiction elements. An advanced game engine, the Silent Storm eng ...

'' series in 2003. Among these was ''

Heroes of Might and Magic V ''Heroes of Might and Magic V'' is the fifth installment of the ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' fantasy turn-based strategy video game series. The game was released by Ubisoft in Europe on May 19, and then in the United States and Canada on May 2 ...

'' and two add-ons, published by

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...

. Nival began to self-publish its own games in 2005. Nival financed and published external developers including KranX Productions, creators of '' King's Bounty: Legions'' and Bytex, developers of ''Berserk Online''. In early 2005, the part of Nival operating under the name Nival Interactive was bought by

Ener1 Enerdel was an American company that developed energy storage technology based on building compact lithium-ion-powered batteries for the transportation, utility grid and industrial electronics markets. The company was headquartered in Greenfiel ...

Group, a Florida-based holdings company, for around $10 million. On November 30, 2007, Sergey Orlovskiy regained full control of Nival Interactive. In early 2010, another part of Nival, Astrum Nival, was bought by

Digital Sky Technologies VK, known as Mail.ru Group until 12 October 2021, is a Russian technology company. It started in 1998 as the parent company of Mail.ru, an e-mail service and went on to become a major corporate figure in the Russian-speaking segment of the Int ...

for more than $100 million, becoming a part of Astrum Online Entertainment. Nival's internal development studios became focused on PC and mobile projects. Nival has developed and launched '' Prime World'', '' King's Bounty: Legions''. In December 2013, Nival raised $6 million in its Series A funding round led by Almaz Capital. The funds were to be used for global expansion. In 2017, Nival claimed to have released the world's first

neural network A neural network is a group of interconnected units called neurons that send signals to one another. Neurons can be either biological cells or signal pathways. While individual neurons are simple, many of them together in a network can perfor ...

AI for the now-defunct RTS game ''

Blitzkrieg 3 ''Blitzkrieg 3'' () was an online massively multiplayer online real-time strategy computer game, based on the events of World War II, a sequel to '' Blitzkrieg 2'' and is the third and latest title in the ''Blitzkrieg'' series. Nival publishe ...

''.

Technology

Games

* ''

'' (1998) ** '' Rage of Mages II: Necromancer'' (1999) * '' Evil Islands: Curse of the Lost Soul'' (2001) * ''

'' (2001) ** ''

Etherlords II ''Etherlords'' () is a series of fantasy turn-based strategy and card-dueling video games for the PC, by Russian developer Nival Interactive. The first game was published November 15, 2001 by Ravensburger Interactive Media under their mature game ...

'' (2003) ** ''

'' (2014) * ''

'' (2003) ** ''

Blitzkrieg 2 ''Blitzkrieg 2'' () is a real-time tactics computer game based on the events of World War II. The game is an evolution of its predecessor ''Blitzkrieg'' and is the second title in the ''Blitzkrieg'' series. The game takes place in North Africa, t ...

'' (2005) ** ''

'' (2017) * ''

'' (2003) ** '' Silent Storm: Sentinels'' (2004) ** ''

Hammer & Sickle ''Hammer & Sickle'' () is a tactical role-playing game for the PC, co-developed by the Russia-based companies Novik&Co and Nival Interactive and published by CDV in 2005. The game is set in the same universe (and runs on the same game engine) ...

'' (2005) * ''

Hard Truck Apocalypse ''Hard Truck: Apocalypse'', known in Europe as ''Ex Machina'', is a vehicular combat post-apocalyptic science fiction video game developed by Russian game developer Targem Games. It is part of the '' Hard Truck'' series. It is a ''Privateer''-li ...

'' (2005) * ''

Night Watch Night Watch or Nightwatch may refer to: Being on duty at night * The nighttime shift worked by a security guard (night watchman) * Watchman (law enforcement), organized groups of men to deter criminal activity and provide law enforcement * One of ...

'' (2005) * ''

'' (2006) ** '' Heroes of Might and Magic V: Hammers of Fate'' (2006) ** '' Heroes of Might and Magic V: Tribes of the East'' (2007) * ''

Allods Online ''Allods Online'' () is a free-to-play 3D fantasy MMORPG developed by Allods Team, formerly Astrum Nival, and published by Mail.Ru Group globally, with the international version operated by their subsidiary My.com. The game was originally releas ...

'' (2010) * '' King's Bounty: Legions'' (2011) * ''Emaki'' (2012) * '' Prime World'' (2012) ** ''Prime World: Alchemy'' (December 2012) ** '' Prime World: Defenders'' (2013) ** ''Prime World: Defenders 2'' (2015)

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Companies based in Limassol Russian companies established in 1996 Video game companies established in 1996 Video game companies of Cyprus Video game development companies Video game publishers