VGTimes Interview with the Head of Development of Lekano World Online

At Comic Con IgroMir 2025, our editor-in-chief Rodion Ilin managed to talk with several developers behind intriguing indie projects. One of them was Lekano World Online. In a conversation with Artur Lekano, head of the LEKANO GAME studio, Rodion learned many details about the upcoming hit. Read the full interview below.

Artur Lekano: Hi, I represent my small indie development team of seven people. At the moment, we have an alpha version of the game. It’s PvP, specifically an arena-based experience.

In simple terms, these are the Pokémon we all wanted as kids. We call them Lekamons. You play as them in the arena. The core element of the game can be described as extraction, but not a shooter, just pure extraction. We have a camp. You play as a Lekanite, a character summoned from another universe. From the camp, you go on expeditions. Each expedition lasts about 30 minutes, and during that time you need to find artifacts and try to capture Lekamons.

If you manage to make it back, you raise your Lekamons in the camp. Each Lekamon has unique characteristics. Then you start leveling them up and competing in the arena for prizes, decorations, and so on. We have a ton of content there. All of that happens in the arena. That’s the short version of the game’s concept and story.

VGTimes: Who designs the Lekamons? What are they inspired by? Are they animals, or are they based on Pokémon?

Artur Lekano: No, all Lekamons are absolutely unique. Nothing is copied from Pokémon, 100%, so we don’t get into trouble later (smiles). I’m a 3D artist myself. I also have Sergey, another 3D artist, who worked with me to create the Lekamons.

I have the evolution of Tatoru in my Discord (points at a Lekamon figurine). He’s our mascot. Just like Pikachu in Pokémon, Tatoru is our main mascot. He went through four iterations. At first, he looked like a little bulldog. Everything starts with rough sculpting sketches, then you refine and adjust. Mostly, the artist and I tweak things together. That’s how they’re born.

VGTimes: How many of them are there in total?

Artur Lekano: Right now, around 25. We have the first phases presented, which you can see in the image (points to the game banner), and the third phases are also shown in the artwork there.

VGTimes: You’ll probably add more over time?

Artur Lekano: Of course. Right now, to be honest, I’m in a bit of a sad state, because we’ve been developing the game for four years already. I’ve invested more than 600,000 dollars of my own money into it. I sold apartments in Dubai, sold my car. I’m basically putting in the last of my money. My teammates joke that it’s my personal casino, since I keep throwing money into it.

So now we’re looking for investors. We need to find strong investors or publishers. We need powerful partners, and specifically ones who won’t be focused on profit. For me, this story isn’t about money at all. It’s purely about creating something meaningful. We all understand that this is Pokémon-inspired, and we all understand where this could lead. You can talk about how promising the project is, about the high level I’m maintaining. I personally control the visuals. I can vouch for that. I can’t fully vouch for the programming side, and that’s where we have issues. But visuals and video are my responsibility. The artwork we have is also all overseen by me. So I keep the visual quality at a very high level. Let’s be honest: in Russia, there’s hardly anything like this visually in the indie segment. That’s why we need someone who, like me, wants to create something great. That’s it.

VGTimes: We’ll try to help you by publishing this piece. And over there in the center (Rodion points to the center of the game banner), am I right in thinking that’s you?

Artur Lekano: Yes, that’s me.

VGTimes: And who are you there, lore-wise?

Artur Lekano: According to the lore, there are three survivors, and one of them is my character, who gives out quests. I’m the face of the brand and, accordingly, a hero. If you put your face out there, you might as well work hard too (smiles). On top of that, many people now notice that the gaming industry, especially indie, is an author-driven story. It’s about who can step forward and take responsibility. I’m the only person responsible for everything. I can accept both defeat and victory. If we did something badly, then it’s my fault.

VGTimes: When are you planning to launch early beta?

Artur Lekano: We wanted to enter early access by the end of 2026, but I don’t know, we’ll see. We really need to find someone or something right now. Everything is kind of up in the air.

VGTimes: Good luck to you.

Artur Lekano: Thank you!

Lekano World Online truly feels like something capable of bringing its creators incredible success. Our own take on Palworld and everyone’s beloved Pokémon sounds great and promising. We wish Artur the best of luck and success, and we also hope that by the time early access arrives, the domestic developers will add Russian language support to their potential hit, since for now the Steam page lists it only for the interface.

Interview by Rodion Ilin.

VGTimes have attended dozens of exhibitions and festivals, where our journalists have collected numerous exclusive materials. Last year, we visited the Land of the Rising Sun for TGS 2024, where we were amazed by the scale of the Tokyo event. This year, we experienced one of Asia's leading gaming exhibitions, ChinaJoy in Shanghai, with our own eyes. We also made it to the Thai version of gamescom 2025 in Bangkok.