Normally HR moves don’t attract a lot of community attention, however, there is a higher profile departure from the Great Battles team that has attracted some attention. Andrey (An.Petrovich) Solomykin is leaving the IL-2 Sturmovik Great Battles team.
Updated: This article was updated at 8:21 pm EDT on September 12.
Lead engineer
A post made by Andrey on the IL-2 Sturmovik forum just a few hours ago contained a lengthy message from Andrey (An.Petrovich) Solomykin indicating that some things were changing for him and he was moving on to a new studio in a new country. Here’s what he had to say:
Life does not stand still, and I am entering a new stage: leaving the IL-2 development team and going to work for another studio in another country. It is important to me to personally tell you about this, because we have spent a lot of time together in engrossing discussions on this forum. Furthermore, one way or another, we are connected by a lot: by our love for flying and airplanes, by dedication to the sky, and by our passion and commitment to simulators which our team has been working on and continues to work on.
Solomykin seemed positive about the future of 1CGS projects expressing faith in the other engineers that are working on the project.
In case anyone was concerned, the development of flight simulators will certainly not stop here after I leave the studio. Among the IL-2 staff there is a strong team of engineers, and the guys will continue the work. I am sure that many interesting projects from 1C Game Studios await you.
AnPetrovich as we knew him on the forums has been with the team since the Rise of Flight days and has been, as I understood it, a key factor in the series flight models. Many in-depth discussions on flight physics have been had between him and the community over the years.
Although I’m sure this departure will be felt, I also don’t want to speculate on what a singular departure can mean for the series. A project like this is always a team effort so I’m sure other engineers on the team will be able to bring their expertise to the fore as well.
I would like to thank Andrey for the hard work and enjoyable experience that he helped to bring to the series. Wishing him all the best and good luck in future projects!
Read the full forum post here.
Updated: A move to Asobo!
As many of you have already gathered, we’ve learned from Andrey’s LinkedIn profile that he has made a move to none other than Asobo Studio under the title of Senior Gameplay Programmer.
Hiring someone of Andrey’s calibre surely means that Asobo Studio and Microsoft intend to continue to be very serious about Microsoft Flight Simulator’s development over the short if not medium term.
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