Hot Five
Hot Five: New VC funds for mobile, Turkish investments, and Baby Shark makes a splash in Brawl Stars
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Investment Incoming
Ludus Ventures invests $1M in Turkish studio Midas Games
Midas Games plans to launch multiple titles later in 2024
Funding News
Laton Ventures secures $35 million for games investments in Turkey and beyond
Founder Görkem Türk tells PocketGamer.biz why he's so bullish on games and how Turkey's rising games industry has helped spur its fund raise
Tax Free
Turkish game studios don’t pay tax as government supports burgeoning industry
Games from Turkiye head of advisory board Tugbek Olek outlines Turkey's tax incentives to support its growing games industry at Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco
First Round Funding
Istanbul-based game studio SuperGears successfully completes first investment round led by TMRW foundation
SuperGears first investment round is based upon a valuation of $10 million and will add Crytek founder Cevat Yerli to the board of directors
Investment
Turkish studio Yamy receives investment from UP Venture Capital and $4m valuation
Another example of foreign investment into the Turkish mobile gaming scene
Actively Acquiring
Moon Active to acquire Zen Match from Good Job Games
The associated Istanbul-based team will also be joining
Investment In Istanbul
Turkish studio Pink Games has $1.2 million valuation after first investment
Investment comes from Geometry Venture Development, Alesta Investment and an individual investor
Business Casual
X-Flow invests $6 million in casual developer Plummy Games after Star Merge launch
Company founded by veterans of Peak Games
Acquisitions
Matchingham Games acquires two IPs from Pow Games in $11.7m deal
UK-based Matchingham have reportedly cut a deal with Pow Games to acquire Food Match 3D and Tile Match: Home Design Puzzle from the Turkish-based developer
Investment
Turkish mobile studio Manc receives $50m investment from GEM Digital to accelerate global growth
The Turkish developer Manc has reported a $50m investment for their Mancium mobile game token.
News
Turkish mobile developer Umuro secures significant investment
The Turkish studio which produces games on iOS, Android and Google Play has secured $1.75m in investment from a Turkish firm.
Hot Five
Hot Five: Supercell makes first NFT commitment, Apple Arcade execs leave tech giant, and only 16% of mobile players want blockchain games
The hottest news articles on PG.biz
Committing To Casual
Turkish mobile puzzle games developer Cypher Games raises $3.2 million
Investment will be used to expand the team sixfold, open a new office in Berlin, and create the firm's first casual title
I Got It
Zynga was right about Turkey. What’s next in the acquisition boom?
Zynga president of publishing Bernard Kim details the company’s success in supporting the Turkish mobile games industry, and his thoughts on the sustainability of M&A
Turkey's Silicon Valley
Turkish hypercasual studio Tiplay joins Snap Inc's accelerator programme
"A very important step towards our goal of making Denizli the Silicon Valley of Turkey"
Zynga's Keen Eye
Zynga subsidiaries are some of Turkey's highest-earning internet companies
Peak Games, Rollic Games, and Gram Games make the cut
International Women's Day
Infinite Arcade's Ekin Eris: "Compared to traditional businesses, the gaming scene in Turkey is more developed in gender equality."
The change to remote working, more women wanting to join the games industry, and ensuring the company values align with your own
International Women's Day
"The number of female designers in the games industry is higher than ever, but this doesn’t apply to developer and management roles"
Playable Factory's Gökçe Nur Oğuz talks the women joining the Turkish mobile games industry
Scaling Studios
SciPlay acquires Alictus in $100 million all-cash transaction
Initial acquisition of 80 per cent
Region Lock
Region Lock: Turkey's hypercasual truimph, and what it means for its young population
PocketGamer.biz takes a look at the meteoric rise of Turkey as a mobile games behemoth, and what it means for the country’s young workforce
Wildlife Worldwide
Wildlife Studios launches new affiliate studio Playabit
Led by Toy Blast and Toon Blast devs
Real World Racing
Adverty launches In-Play ad technology in first major racing title from Wolves Interactive
Adverty’s multi-patented In-Play ad technology is coming to Wolves Interactive global hit Motorbike - Traffic Racer.
Royally Funded
Royal Match sees Dream Games raise $255 million
Valued at $2.75 billion
Building Blockchain
Loop Games to invest $100 million to expand Pethereum.io blockchain metaverse
Initial coin offering coming soon
Built To Win
CEO Rina Onur Sirinoglu on Spyke Games' massive $55 million seed round
UA is a bloody competition
Mobile In Menat
WePlay Ventures invested in more mobile companies in 2021 than console or PC
60% of portfolio is mobile games studios
Strengthening Studios
Tiplay Studio raises $500,000 at $25 million valuation
Funding to scale team and advance development
Mena Expansion
Waysun acquires majority share of Boss Bunny Games to lead MENAT publishing operations
First expansion into MENAT region
Playable Ad Polishing
Playable Factory launches new features for playable ad editing
Allows marketers to "refresh" visual identity
Creating Casual Titles
Turkish dev studio Hadi raises $5.2 million for casual mobile games
Currently working on several unannounced titles
Rocket Fuel
Ludus invests in three Turkish mobile game startups
Istanbul cluster is blooming
Five-year Payout
Rovio acquires Turkish hypercasual studio Ruby Games
$10 million will first be paid for 20% of shares
Rock And Roll(ic)
Hypercasual developer Rollic surpasses one billion downloads
"We are blown away by Rollic’s performance…"
Next Level
Turkish indie studio Udo Games raises $420,000 to begin self-publishing
"We will take serious steps to raise qualified human resources…"
A Very Royal Match
Dream Games valued at $1 billion after closing $155 million funding round
Ex-Peak team accelerate business
Expansion
Nazara buys a majority stake in MENA publisher Publishme
Spends $3 million for a 70% stake
Turkey Thriving
Istanbul-based Hungri Games raises $1.1 million, opening new UK studio
"Hungri Games is revolutionising the core mobile games…"
Driving Down Cpi
How Bridge Race reached #1 with Supersonic
Garawell Games' CEO Nebih Başaran explains
Delight
Turkish-developed mobile games accounted for 20% of US top 100
10th largest country for angel and VC investments
New Blood
Ace Games raises $7 million in seed funding
Ex-Peak co-founder starts again
Standing Tall
Zynga-owned Rollic acquires High Heels dev Uncosoft
Hypercasual M&A
Acquisition
Rollic buys mobile puzzler Onnect from Chef Game Studio
"We are proud to be a part of the rapidly expanding games community in Turkey"
Investment
Voodoo invests in Istanbul-based developer studio Fabrika Games
"We will help Fabrika to develop their team and gather Turkish talent seeking to create successful Hyper-Casual games with Voodoo"
Bluff Plus
Interview: How Zynga mixed casual card gaming with strong social mechanics in Bluff Plus
Zynga Turkey general manager Buğra Koç talks us through the design and development
Bluff Plus
Zynga launches new casual card game Bluff Plus
Zynga Turkey gets its first game launched since being acquired in 2017
Fast Mover
Zynga buys hypercasual outfit Rollic for $168 million
All-cash deal gains 80% equity
Keep It Lean
Turkish startup Dream Games raises $7.5 million for mobile puzzle titles
Makers Fund leads the round
European Expansion
Interview: Hyper-casual specialist Voodoo opens new Istanbul studio
“The move to Istanbul follows recent studio openings and that growth really demonstrates our drive to develop the sector and expand the hyper-casual market”
Turkey
Gaming Istanbul celebrates its fourth birthday in Turkey's billion-dollar gaming market
“The gaming bridge of Eurasia” wraps up its fourth year with international exhibitors