After 19 Years of Outsourcing, Zatun is Building for Itself

For nearly two decades, India-based game development company Zatun built games and art for other people. The clients included Ubisoft, Gameloft, NetMarble, and 2K, and the overall portfolio grew to over 250 game titles across more than 300 international brands. The company delivered VR boxing games, sniper mechanics, and full-scale horror narratives for clients worldwide for all major platforms. 

Abhinav Chokhavatia, who founded Zatun in 2007, started developing the studio's first original game in 2009, launching it in 2011 as The Legend of Vraz. Now, 19 years in, the studio is announcing two new original titles simultaneously, with a leadership transition underway. Outlook Respawn spoke to Shivani Chokhavatia, CEO of Zatun, about what this moment represents and what comes next.

Two Games, Two Genres

The two titles Zatun is bringing forward could not be more different from each other. Kartboard Dash is a free-to-play crossplay arcade racer built around a cardboard art style, featuring Web3 elements including wallet-free onboarding and evolving NFT karts. The game has been selected for the London Film Festival, a milestone for a racing game from an Ahmedabad studio. The visual identity is not arbitrary. "A cardboard box can become a race car, a spaceship, or anything your imagination allows," Chokhavatia told us.

She added, "We wanted Kartboard Dash to capture that feeling of creativity and nostalgia. The cardboard art style… reinforces the game's core idea that fun comes from imagination and from simple things in life."

SCP: Project Pneuma is the studio's most tonally ambitious project to date. A single-player psychological survival horror game set in the aftermath of a catastrophic containment breach at Site-19, it follows Alexie Kolchak, a junior researcher navigating a facility in chaos as containment systems fail and anomalies spread through the corridors. 

The game is built on the licensed SCP Foundation universe, a collaborative horror fiction project with a massive online community. It is targeting PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam. The teaser released in March 2026 is the first glimpse of a game that the studio describes as its most narrative-driven and atmospheric project yet.

Chokhvatia explained that the contrast between the two games occurred naturally. She explained Zatun’s game design philosophy, stating, "We set out to create experiences we truly believed in… If players enjoy our games, we'd like it to be because each one offers a unique experience, not because it fits into a particular genre."

The Foundation That Made This Possible

Zatun spent nearly two decades delivering production-grade work for some of the most well-known names in the global games industry. Each project was a learning experience for the team. 

Chokhavatia explained how working with leading international studios has taught them far more than production techniques. She notes that it affected how the company operates, stating, "It has shaped our culture: how we communicate, solve problems, manage quality, and think about players." 

The other significant development at Zatun is the leadership transition. Rishi Chokhavatia has recently taken over as Managing Director, representing the next generation at the helm of a studio that Abhinav spent so many years building. Zatun is looking to leverage its new leadership without abandoning the institutional knowledge and client relationships that made the studio viable in the first place.

What Indian Studios Still Need

Chokhavatia's perspective on the broader ecosystem is shaped by years of navigating it from both sides, as a services provider to global clients and now as an original IP developer. She reminisced about the previous generation of the gaming industry, "20 years ago, Indian studios were largely seen as outsourcing partners. Today, we're seeing more studios confidently build original IP, compete on a global stage, and prove that world-class games can come from India." 

She explained that building an origins game still requires years of investment, patience, and access to funding, things that aren't always easy to find. According to her, the gaming industry could do with more support from the government. Chokhavatia wants funding or grants for original game development that extends beyond startups, to include established studios that need support.

She also hopes that there are stronger initiatives to connect Indian studios with global publishers, investors, and platform holders. The London Film Festival selection for Kartboard Dash is one signal that global recognition is achievable. SCP: Project Pneuma targeting a simultaneous PS5, Xbox, and Steam release, is another. Whether Zatun can translate 19 years of outsourcing expertise into original games that find global audiences is the question it is now positioned to answer.