Imperia Online Ltd. is a Bulgarian game production and publishing company founded by Moni Dochev and Dobroslav Dimitrov. Based in Sofia, Bulgaria, the company originally concentrated primarily on browser-based games with their main title being Imperia Online, but later started developing mobile games as well.
As of 2016 the company has more than 15 games in its portfolio with several more in development. Imperia Online Ltd. now develops games for web browsers, iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and social networks like Facebook, Odnoklassniki and Vkontakte.
Imperia Online Ltd. was officially founded in September 2009, but the idea for it was born along with its main product - the MMORTS Imperia Online. Detailed research and crafting of the gameplay, mechanics and programming for the company’s main product were done by the game’ and company’s founders Dobroslav Dimitrov - Gameplay Designer, and Moni Dochev - Freelance Developer.
In January 2005 an idea grows into a concept and on August 23 Era 1 of Realm 1 of Imperia Online goes live and the story begins.
In 2006 realms of 2 brand new upgraded Imperia Online’s versions are officially live. The game is translated into 12 languages thanks to the freelance Community managers and translators the company assigned.
In the same year the first of its kind Imperia Online tournament is held - Nomads Invasions.
In 2007 Imperia Online Ltd. launched Galactic Imperia - a new web-based project with Modern Military context.
Almost a whole year of conceptualizing complicated game mechanics leads to the final publication of Global Wars in March 2008.
In 2009, Imperia Online Ltd. launched its first role-playing game - Imperial Hero. The RPG was published after a year of conceptual and technical development.
Again in 2009 Ludo was launched for iOS and Facebook - the classic turn-based board game now can be played with thousands of real players online.
The next year - in 2010 - Imperia Online Ltd. launched Online Artillery - a turn-based cannon shooter.
In 2011 Imperia Online’s World Cup tournament was held for the first time with the Bulgarian national team winning the first place.
In 2012 the second World Cup was held, won again by the Bulgarians.
The medieval strategy got its official appearance in the Apple App Store.
In 2012 Imperia Online Ltd. was among the exhibitors at On!Fest.
In 2013 the third Imperia Online tournament was conducted and this time it was won by the Croatians.
By that time there were already more than 100 people working in the company and the first of its kind school for game developers – Imperial Training Camp - was opened.
Throughout 2013 the main product of the company - Imperia Online - kept spreading by getting released on iOS and in the largest Russian social network Odnoklassniki.
In the same year it also became available for Android users.
Later in 2013 the newest - and current - version of Imperia Online is launched - Version 6, called ‘The Great People’ with brand new graphic design, enriched and diversified gameplay.
In 2013 Imperia Online Ltd. was among the exhibitors at Gamescom, Dubai World Game Expo and On!Fest.
In the same year Imperia Online Ltd. sponsored the Bulgarian Boogie Woogie Dance team for the World Championship in Moscow, Russia. The company also sponsored Sofia Game Jam, Intergame, Tallinn and the #archHackaton.
In 2014 ‘IO: The Great People’ is also launched for Android, Windows Phone, and Facebook; Microsoft chose Imperia Online for its ‘Featured’ section in Windows Store.
In the second half of 2014 Imperia Online Ltd. launched several mobile games, starting with Mad Moles and Online Artillery 2 in August - both of them for iOS and Facebook. Later that year Mad Moles received an Android version as well.
In October 2014 Rocket Chameleon was released for iOS and later got an Android version as well.
In November 2014 Imperia Online Ltd. released Egg Tales for iOS. - a casual game that follows the adventures of an egg that tumbled out of the safety of its nest and landed deep in a terrifying cave. The arcade jumper quickly rose to the top of the Bulgarian App Store in the ‘Free’ category.
In the meantime - from mid-October until the end of November 2014 the fourth Imperia Online World Cup was held, this time won by Brazil.
In 2014 Imperia Online Ltd. sposored the Black Sea Solo Kayak Expedition and HackFMI.
In 2014 Imperia Online Ltd. was among the exhibitors at Gamescom.
In the same year the company was exhibitor at Intergame in Tallinn and Dobroslav Dimitrov took part in it as a speaker, giving a talk on 'Winning the War for Software Engineering Talent'.
Imperia Online Ltd. is among the sponsors of Launchub.
Imperia Online Ltd. is a member of BAIT (Bulgarian Association of Information Technologies) and BASSCOM (Bulgarian Association of Software Technologies)
In January 2015 Imperia Online Ltd. released the medieval turn-based strategy Seasons of War for Android that allows the player to become the Governor of a distant Imperial city and grow their holding through wise rule.
In 2015 the RPG Imperial Hero II - a remake of Imperial Hero, is launched for Android, Facebook and web.
Imperia Online for Windows Phone is published by Game Troopers and featured Xbox title by Microsoft.
In 2015 Seasons of War is launched for iOS.
In January 2015 Jolly Join is launched for iOS - a charming color matching puzzler with simple rules.
That same month Imperia Online Ltd. released Golem Wars for iOS - turn-based strategy game that allows the player to become the Master of a golem army.
In February 2015 Robo Risk is launched for iOS - Sci-Fi climbing simulator with random level generation and endless gameplay.
That same month Imperia Online Ltd. released Cluster Six for iOS - side-scroller game that sends the player to a feature.
Again in February 2015 Egg Tales is launched for Android.
In June 2015 Imperia Online Ltd. released Ishi for Android - arcade game where the player takes control over a stone creature called Ishi. They have to navigate their way around deep dark caves while collecting gems and defeating nasty baddies.
In October 2015 Imperia Online Ltd. released Ludo Blitz for iOS, Android and Facebook. The game is the upgraded version of IO’s Ludo from 2009.
That same month FlapOTron 3D Touch is launched for iOS. The players have to avoid touching the towers using 3D Touch to control the Electron.
Again in October 2015 Imperia Online Ltd. visited Game Connection Paris, where the company COO, Cvetan Rusimov, was a speaker at the conference.
In November 2015 Online Artillery 2.0 is launched for Android and released a 3D Touch Edition for iPhone 6s.
In 2015 Imperia Online Ltd. was among the exhibitors at Gamescom.
In December 2015 Ishi GO is launched for iOS. Another addictive game where the players have to dodge through the rocks using 3D Touch control.
In April 2016 Imperia Online was launched on Steam.
That same month Dobroslav Dimitrov, Imperia Online’s Co-Founder, took part in Webit 2016 in a panel discussion entitled ‘Introduction to Endeavor and lessons learned from leveraging global, local or no capital’.
In May 2016 Imperia Online Ltd. released the game Viber Emperors for Android and iOS. The game is translated to 30 languages, features modules like ‘Ask a Viber Friend’ and has its own custom sticker package.
Again in May 2016 Ludo Blitz is released in Windows Store.
During the summer of 2016 Cvetan Rusimov, the COO of Imperia Online Ltd., took part as a speaker in the conferences Pocket Gamer Connects in Helsinki and Vancouver and Mobile Game Asia 2016.
As of January 2016 Imperia Online Ltd., has more than 35 million registered users in its main product - Imperia Online.
The company and its games have nearly 650,000 fans across their Facebook pages.
The annual revenue of Imperia Online Ltd. for 2014 is 6,7 Million Euro.
The revenue for the period 2005-2014 is 22.7 Million Euro.
The game production company currently resides on 3,000 square meters of office space in Bulgaria’s most luxurious office building - Infinity Tower.
As of January 2016 Imperia Online Ltd. has more than 160 employees.
Imperia Online Ltd. and its products are popular in more than 170 countries.
Training and education
In 2013 Imperia Online Ltd. established the first tuition-free school for game developers in Bulgaria. It was originally named Imperial Training Camp and its first season prepared 40 enthusiasts for the professional PHP/MySQL and Java/Android fields. 20 of those 40 graduates were hired by Imperia Online Ltd., and the rest were recommended to other software companies.
The second season of IO’s Training Camp drew even higher interest and this time there were 80 students, divided into 4 groups of 20: 62 graduated, 30 were hired by Imperia Online Ltd.
For the third season Imperia Online Ltd. was joined by another Bulgarian company - Trader.bg - and the school was renamed to “IT Talents Training Camp”. By that time the courses are PHP/ MySQL, Java/ Android, JavaScript, Objective-C/iOS, and Java SE / Java EE. As of January 2015 the third season is ending with a big part of the 115 participants getting hired.
In the autumn of 2015, upon the 5th season, there are already 170 successfully released in the profession cadets of the academy. IT Talents Training Camp is already partnering with over 30 companies in the IT industry, to provide them qualified IT specialists. In October 2015 the initiative has registered 3284 applications, from which the 215 most motivated candidates were allowed to enter the intensive 6-month courses.
In May 2015 Imperia Online Ltd. founded a private company for IT outsourcing called Imperia Mobile Ltd. Till the end of the year the new unit led by Radoslav Gaydarski has already successfully released more than 10 major projects. The outsourcing company offers a full range of services to execute a technical project and overcome any challenges, relying on the full capacity of the over 160 professional developers, designers, artists, QA specialists and business developers that currently work at Imperia Online Ltd.
Awards and nominations
Imperia Online Ltd. was awarded in the ‘Corporate and Social Responsibility’ Category and nominated for the ‘Education’ Category of BAIT’s 2014 Awards.
Imperia Online Ltd. was proclaimed ‘A Rising Star’ in Deloitte’s Fastest Growing IT companies ranking for 2014 with a growth of 498%.
Imperia Online Ltd. was nominated in three categories of the 2014 Game Connection Awards:‘Promising IP’
‘Desktop Downloadable’
‘Hardcore Game’
Imperia Online Ltd. was nominated for ‘App Developer of 2014’ at The Appsters.
In 2015 Imperia Online Ltd. was awarded by Deloitte as the 14th fastest growing IT company in Central Europe, having 592% revenue growth from 2011 to 2014.
Again in 2015 Imperia Online Ltd. was nominated in three categories for ‘Forbes Business Awards 2015’:
Employee of the Year
Business Development
Human Resources Development
Imperia Online Ltd. employee, Ilian Iliev, was awarded 2nd place as Employee of the Year, by Forbes Bulgaria Magazine.
In 2016 both albums with the music of Imperia Online has been featured in ‘Amazon Hot New Releases’ in Soundtrack (best-selling new and future releases). The music, by the composer Hristo Hristov, climbs to Top 10 in Amazon.de Germany.
