The phenomenal commercial success of just a few gaming studios has provided a powerful boost to the entire Turkish gaming industry.
This is the opinion of Irmak Tamgac, an expert from the closed tech park of Bilkent University. As an example, she cites the story of Peak Games.
In 2020, the American company Zynga acquired the studio for an astronomical $1.8 billion. The subsequent exit in numbers: 108 former employees of Peak Games launched 82 of their own startups.
Not all of these were gaming-related. According to Tamgac, only 37 of the founded companies pertain to gaming. One such company is Dream Games, the developer of the top hit Royal Match (monthly revenue of the game as of January 2025 — $150 million).
Altogether, by the expert's estimates, there are currently 858 gaming studios in the country, supported by two specialized clusters, as well as 12 gaming incubators and 22 accelerators.
Tamgac also noted that just in the past 12 months, Turkish gaming studios have attracted at least $125 million. Among the largest deals:
- involving Spyke Games — it received $50 million from Moon Active;
- involving Grand Games, which raised $30 million in a round led by Balderton Capital;
- involving Agave Games, which secured $18 million in a Series A led by Felix Capital and Balderton Capital.