Who Are the Founders of Gardenscapes?

Most players know Austin, the match-3 levels, and the countless areas that have been added to Gardenscapes over the years. Far fewer know who the people behind the creation of the game are, or how a small project from the Russian city of Vologda grew into one of the biggest success stories in mobile gaming history.

The founders of Gardenscapes are brothers Dmitry Bukhman and Igor Bukhman , who founded Playrix in 2004. Although Gardenscapes appeared several years later, its history is directly connected to their own path, because the company they created evolved from a small game development studio into one of the largest independent mobile game developers in the world.

What makes the story even more interesting is that today’s Gardenscapes was not the original form of the game. Before becoming the well-known match-3 title played daily by millions of people, it existed as a different kind of computer game, while Playrix itself had already spent more than a decade building its presence in the casual games industry.

To understand who the real founders of Gardenscapes are, we need to go back to the late 1990s, when two brothers with a simple Pentium computer began creating their first games, without knowing that only a few years later they would be behind one of the largest mobile gaming companies in the world.

1999: The Beginning

The first references to the company appear in 1999 under the name TERMINAL Studio.

At that time, the team was extremely small and focused exclusively on casual games for personal computers. Mobile gaming essentially did not exist yet, and the market was mainly based on downloadable PC games.

This stage is important because it shows that Playrix was not born as a mobile company. The transition to smartphones would come several years later, after the studio had already gained experience in the PC casual gaming era that shaped the original Gardenscapes.

2004: The Official Founding of Playrix

2004 is considered the official founding year of Playrix in Vologda, Russia.

Dmitry and Igor Bukhman turned their early activity into a proper game development company and began producing titles that would be released internationally.

In its first years, the company focused exclusively on games for Windows and Mac, building experience in the casual games space.

2004–2009: The Period Before Gardenscapes

During this period, Playrix released several titles that gained significant recognition in the casual gaming market.

The company became known for games such as:

• Fishdom
• 4 Elements
• Royal Envoy
• Call of Atlantis

The success of these games created the financial foundation that later allowed Gardenscapes to be developed.

At the time, casual gaming looked very different from the modern mobile industry. Players downloaded games directly to their computers, and many of the design ideas that would later appear in Gardenscapes can still be traced back to the broader evolution of casual gaming during the 2000s.

2009: The Creation of the First Gardenscapes

On October 1, 2009, the first Gardenscapes was released for Windows.

Many modern players are surprised to learn that the original Gardenscapes was not a match-3 game.

It was a hidden object game in which the player searched for items inside scenes and used the earnings to renovate an old garden.

Although the gameplay was completely different, several elements of the game’s current identity were already present:

• Austin
• garden restoration
• gradual progress
• the feeling of transforming an abandoned space

These ideas remained alive and became the foundation for the future development of the series.

2010–2012: International Growth

After the success of the first Gardenscapes, Playrix continued to expand.

Its games were distributed in more and more countries, while the company gained an international presence in the casual games market.

This period was transitional, as the market slowly began moving away from personal computers and toward smartphones and tablets.

2013: Headquarters Move to Dublin

One of the most important milestones in the company’s history came in 2013.

Playrix moved its corporate headquarters to Dublin, Ireland.

Since then, the company has operated as an international organization headquartered in Ireland, while maintaining staff in many countries.

This move became a decisive step in the company’s global development.

2016: The Biggest Transformation

In 2016, Playrix made one of the most important decisions in its history.

Instead of continuing Gardenscapes as a hidden object series, it completely redesigned the game and turned it into a mobile match-3 experience.

The new version was released in August 2016.

The success exceeded every expectation.

Gardenscapes became one of the top mobile games in the world and effectively changed the direction of the entire company.

2017–2021: The Breakout Period

After the success of Gardenscapes came Homescapes, and Playrix evolved into one of the most powerful mobile gaming companies in the world.

The user base grew rapidly, and the company invested in new studios, acquisitions, and international expansion.

During this period, Dmitry and Igor Bukhman entered the lists of the wealthiest people in the video game industry.

2022: Withdrawal from Russia and Belarus

In 2022, Playrix officially announced that it was ending its operations in Russia and Belarus.

The company closed its offices in both countries and relocated staff to other European locations.

At the same time, it kept its corporate headquarters in Ireland and continued operating as an international organization.

This decision marked the end of the company’s physical presence in the country where it began.

Where Is Playrix Today?

Today, Playrix is officially headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

The company’s employees are spread across dozens of countries, while a large part of its operations is carried out remotely.

The company continues to manage games such as:

• Gardenscapes
• Homescapes
• Fishdom
• Township

Its player base exceeds 100 million active accounts worldwide.

Who Owns Gardenscapes Today?

Gardenscapes belongs to Playrix.

Playrix remains a private company and has not been acquired by companies such as Tencent, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, or Zynga.

The main shareholders and the people who continue to control the company remain its founders, Dmitry and Igor Bukhman.

This means that more than two decades after the company was founded, Gardenscapes remains essentially under the control of the same people who started the project.

Looking at the game today, it is easy to focus only on the modern mobile version, but the history of its ownership and direction is also part of the larger transformation that shaped Gardenscapes over time.

Timeline

• 1999 – Creation of TERMINAL Studio.
• 2004 – Official founding of Playrix in Vologda.
• 2009 – Release of the first Gardenscapes for PC.
• 2013 – Corporate headquarters moved to Dublin.
• 2016 – Release of the mobile match-3 version of Gardenscapes.
• 2017 – Release of Homescapes.
• 2020 – Playrix becomes one of the largest mobile developers in the world.
• 2022 – Withdrawal from Russia and Belarus.
• 2026 – Playrix continues as a private company headquartered in Ireland and owned by Dmitry and Igor Bukhman.

Sources

• Playrix – The official company website with information about Playrix and its games.
• Wikipedia – Playrix – Background information about the company’s founding, headquarters, and founders.
• MobyGames – Playrix History – A chronological record of the company’s history.
• MobyGames – Gardenscapes (2009) – Documentation for the original version of the game.
• Wikipedia – Gardenscapes: New Acres – Information about the 2016 mobile version of Gardenscapes.
• Playrix Official Announcement (2022) – Official announcement about ending operations in Russia and Belarus.