It is with a heavy heart that we at Image‑Line announce the passing of Eugene Kryukov, a valued member of our development team. He left us unexpectedly in 2024.

Eugene was not just a colleague, but a brilliant mind and a dear friend whose contributions have left an indelible mark on FL Studio and its community.

Joining Image‑Line in 2016, he brought with him a passion for Delphi and a mastery of software development that he readily infused into our projects. His work on FL Studio helped shape the software into the tool loved by millions today.

Eugene’s innovations and dedication are evident in every aspect of the platforms he helped shape. As the founder of VGScene, his visionary work not only revolutionized graphical interface development but also set new standards for user experience and performance. His creation was later acquired by Embarcadero and became a cornerstone of FireMonkey. Or to summarize the weight and value of his ideas in one sentence: It’s become a testament to his enduring impact on the industry.

Beyond VGScene, Eugene also developed TurboCocoa and CrossVCL, tools that bridged the gap between multiple operating systems and development environments. These achievements greatly influenced the Delphi community, pushing the boundaries of what could be achieved with cross-platform development.

His Time at Image‑Line

While these accomplishments stand out, his influence can be subtly seen in the powerful features of FL Studio, which many artists rely on for their creative expressions. Eugene’s legacy doesn’t just lie in the tools he developed, but also in the community he nurtured and the countless developers he inspired along the way. By showing them that certain things are indeed possible to achieve.

One of Eugene’s last projects at Image‑Line focused on enhancing the user experience by developing a solution, which allowed UIs of third-party plugins to attach directly to the FL Studio interface on macOS. This addressed the issue of detached plugins that previously hovered over other windows, complicating workflow, a thing which existed since the beginning of FL Studio on macOS.

Eugene played a crucial role in optimizing FL Studio for macOS, ensuring it performed as seamlessly as possible. His efforts included integrating the OS’ menu bar into FL Studio, implementing Audio Units (AU) support, and enabling the FL Studio VSTi to function on that platform. He also undertook significant refactoring of FL Studio’s codebase for better compatibility with it, and developed a bridge to allow Intel-based plugins to run on Apple Silicon, thus greatly expanding plugin support. Beyond these technical achievements, Eugene also enhanced our support processes by improving crash log parsing, test modes, and much more. This helped immensely to consistently push our platform forward, while assisting whenever it was possible.

His absence will be profoundly felt by everyone whose lives he touched.

Eugene Kryukov with his good friend Alexey Shargin

Thank you

As we say goodbye to Eugene, we extend our deepest sympathies to his family, his friends, and all who knew him. In honour of such a remarkable life and his invaluable contributions, we are committed to continue the development of FL Studio in ways that would make him proud: By ensuring that his impact will resonate inside the music world for years to come.

His time and memories with us will forever be a guiding light for our team. His legacy will continue to inspire all of us at Image‑Line and the community we serve. Rest in peace, Eugene. You will be dearly missed, but never forgotten.

“Eugene was a brilliant coworker who could often do the impossible and find innovative solutions for problems we thought were unsolvable. His technical skills in Delphi and FreePascal were at the absolute highest level. He was also a very nice and friendly person, thoughtful, and with a good sense of humour. He is highly missed here at Image‑Line.”

— Ville ‘VilleK’ Krumlinde (FL Studio Developer)

“Eugene was refreshingly straightforward and incredibly efficient. He got to the heart of any issue quickly and was committed to resolving it as soon as possible. His direct approach and rapid solutions were a tremendous help to our technical support team, enhancing our ability to analyze and address issues effectively. His presence and work ethic truly made a difference. Thank you by heart.”

— Tom ‘Hevy’ Apell (Senior Technical Support Officer)