Creata Group: what we've been building, and where we're heading

August 2026. A good moment to record what has been done across every Creata track over the past months, and where we go next. I’ve grouped it into five blocks: policy and institutions, GameDev and production, education, impact and international, investment and events.

Policy and institutions

A creative economy does not grow without rules of the game. That is why a significant share of this year’s work is institutional: research, strategy documents, and measure packages that set the frame for the whole sector. We run this track through CIAQ, the Creative Industries Alliance of Qazaqstan.

• A national creative-industries strategy to 2030. We ran a research cycle: country benchmarks (the UK, South Korea, the UAE and others), a registry of creative infrastructure, and indicator analysis. The strategy to 2030 was built on that base.
• A film-industry measures package. From financing mechanisms to bringing Kazakhstani cinema to international markets.
• Tax-reform proposals. Tax incentives for the creative industries, prepared for inclusion in Kazakhstan’s tax legislation reform.
• Creative Lab R&D centre. We opened a research and development centre for the digital creative industries together with Astana Hub.
• A GameDev development council. We are forming an industry body that brings together studios, publishers, education, and the state.

GameDev and production

Games are the fastest-growing segment of the creative economy, and we are building the full cycle here: from accelerating studios to our own production and publishing. The production side is assembled in Creata Games, the investment side in Creata Ventures.

• The GameDev accelerator is live. We are accepting applications from studios across the CIS.
• The first AA-game investment contract is signed. This is the shift from support programmes to direct investment in projects.
• A publisher and a fast-production studio. We are building a publisher and our own fast game-production studio for B2B/B2G work.
• A producer centre. We assembled a team of creative producers testing hypotheses for effective B2B projects.
• A GenAI platform. We are preparing to launch a generative-AI platform in partnership with an international AI Video leader.

Education and talent

Talent is the base asset of a creative economy. We are building the full ladder: from a schoolchild trying a creative profession for the first time to a founder entering the market. The education track runs through Creata Academy, the entrepreneurship track through Creative Start and BAZAART.

• The Future Skills Academy. Built; this autumn we begin the rollout to every school, college, and university in Kazakhstan.
• A digital creative-industries incubator. Delivered for talented young people in Kazakhstan across four tracks: GameDev, Comics, Music, Digital Art.
• An incubator in Tajikistan. We launched a programme for creative entrepreneurs, the first international step of our incubation line.
• “Innovators of the Future”. Out of the mentorship programme and the country’s largest STEM competition, we are preparing an almanac book and a portal on the best engineering projects by young teams. August brings the cohort final and the launch of the book and the portal.

Impact and international

The impact track runs through TransforNATION.

• Impact projects. We launched a line of projects joining creative industries and inclusion: creative professions as a social lift.
• A collaboration with the Kazakhstan Chess Federation. An open call for designers for the national team’s official kit for the World Chess Olympiad.
• GameFest, Tashkent. We represented Kazakhstan with a national pavilion at the region’s largest GameDev event.

Investment and events

• Smart investors. We brought international investors into Digital Creative Industries: GameDev, esports, and adjacent segments.
• A DeepTech pre-accelerator. Launching in September, covering the CIS.
• Astana Finance Days. We are preparing a panel session on investing in the creative industries.
• A digital creative-industries conference. At Digital Bridge, on the GCA line.
• International Youth Festival. We are preparing an international Digital Creative Industries + Impact accelerator: three months of tracking plus grants for implementation.

Autumn calendar

What’s next

The architecture of Central Asia’s creative economy is being set right now. Our position is simple: be a co-author of that architecture, not a latecomer to it.

We are currently raising investment to scale these projects and looking for impact investors who believe in the potential of talent. If that is you, write to me: I’ll show you the numbers, the teams, and the plans.