Womenize! – Inspiring Stories is our weekly series featuring inspirational individuals from games and tech. For this edition we talked to Sofiia Voinycha, Co-Founder & Creative Director at Robin Entertainment. She speaks about her shift from M&A lawyer to game studio founder, how resilience and intuition guide her leadership through the challenges of war, and how with Polystrike she’s working to challenge industry norms and open new possibilities for women in gaming and esports. Read more about Sofiia here:
Hi Sofiia! From listening to founders’ stories as an M&A lawyer to becoming a founder yourself, what has been the most transformative lesson in shifting from analyzing businesses to building one and how has that shaped the way you lead Robin Entertainment today? Leading a studio while navigating the challenges of relocating from Ukraine to Poland amid the ongoing war must be incredibly intense, both professionally and personally. What keeps you motivated and grounded on difficult days, and where do you draw your strength from?

Overall, if we talk about my previous experience in M&A, I often had to join calls and meet business founders (particularly during pitch sessions). I loved those calls — every founder was passionate about what they were doing, whether it was a unique product, a strong team, or a successful management strategy. All of them were in love with their work, and that was very inspiring. At that time, I thought these people were truly gifted, because not everyone can just start something on their own, or that they were such experts that it would have been strange if they hadn’t. But over time, after hundreds of such calls, I noticed a certain pattern that surprised me then – nothing is perfect. Even the most progressive and promising idea has its “dark side.” Maybe that’s the charm: the person developing the idea must find a way to reduce the impact of that dark side or even turn it into a strength.

Of course, it’s easy to say this in words. I often told it to those inspired founders whose eyes were shining, but I never considered myself part of that category, and I never thought I could start something of my own. Looking back now, I realize that I had been subconsciously preparing for it for years – I just needed to step aside and look at myself from a different angle.

The idea for Polystrike was born when my partner and I were playing Overcooked. He has a strong background in the game industry and was explaining to me that it’s a top-down game, how the mechanics work, how everything functions. Before that, I had already tried to develop a gamedev direction at work and studied a lot about industry trends in Ukraine, how long game development takes, and so on. That’s when I started noticing how difficult it was for a woman with relatively limited M&A experience in this field to develop in the way she wanted. Later, I was surprised to see why in demo versions there were only male skins, why games were mostly targeted at male audiences, and why female players were not taken seriously. At that moment, a thought crystallized in me, and it has stayed with me ever since: I want to break this barrier with my own example and create a game that is designed for everyone, without bias.

I also witnessed the full-scale war, which had a huge impact on how I see things. It is very difficult to build something of your own during such a hard time for your country. Part of my team is in Ukraine, and I know it’s hard for them too. On such days, what keeps us going is our belief in the project, creativity, and those crazy ideas. I draw strength from the feeling that we are building something bigger than just a game: we are creating opportunities for Ukrainian talent and showing that even in times of crisis, it is possible to grow and inspire others. This sense of responsibility and mission is what helps me stay motivated and focused.

You’ve spoken about navigating game development without a traditional background, and yet relying on your instincts to guide both the team and the product. Looking back, what moments affirmed your belief that intuition and fresh perspective can be just as powerful as technical expertise?

I came into gamedev without a traditional technical background, and at first it felt like a real challenge. I decided to move in a direction I knew almost nothing about, but I felt deep down it was what I wanted to dedicate myself to. I was lucky to have an amazing team with diverse experience, and we learned how to create together – while they looked at things from their professional perspective, I viewed the product not through the lens of industry conventions but as a player, as an outsider. That perspective helped us notice things others might consider obvious, yet those very details often opened new possibilities. Even my partner, who has many years of experience in gamedev, was sometimes surprised at how intuitively I could come up with the right solutions.

I realized that my advantage lies in the absence of industry frameworks. I have a set of core goals I always keep in mind and cannot compromise on. For me, it’s not only about the code or mechanics, but also about the emotions the game evokes in a person – whether it addresses even in a small way some existing problem, and whether it truly matters. This ability to combine the rational and the intuitive has become the foundation of Robin Entertainment and of our game, Polystrike.

With Polystrike, you’re creating a space where women are central, both within the narrative and in the esports ecosystem. What impact do you hope this project will have on how future generations of women in Ukraine, and globally, see themselves in gaming and in leadership?

As I mentioned earlier, I noticed that there are certain preconceived markers when it comes to women in gamedev. The first is that if you’re creating a game “for everyone”, the main focus should still be on men as the primary audience. The second is the belief that women are not really interested in games oriented toward esports. From that comes another assumption: that esports is a “male profession” and that women cannot compete on the same level as men. I know this isn’t true. Polystrike is about team spirit, strategy, agility, and the ability to make quick decisions. These are not physiological traits that separate people – they are skills that can be learned and developed.

I want to create an environment that encourages women to train and compete on equal footing with everyone else, without being separated. I want to challenge the industry’s perception that female esports players must compete separately from men. I want to see women’s teams in Ukraine and around the world develop at the same level as men’s.

I dream that Polystrike will become an example showing that women can be a driving force both in gamedev and in esports. If our project inspires even one girl in Ukraine or abroad to step into gaming or to become a leader in her field, that alone will be a victory for me. And if there are dozens of such girls – it will undoubtedly push the industry forward.

Thanks for this interview, Sofiia!

Sofiia’s links: LinkedIn

 

Womenize! – Inspiring Stories Feature by Madeleine Egger