Turkish studio Circle Games raises $7.25m to expand puzzle portfolio

Turkish studio Circle Games has raised $7.25 million to build puzzle games and expand its mobile portfolio. 

As reported by GamesBeat, the team will also use its newly secured capital to further develop its debut title Sort Express, work on other upcoming projects, and grow its development team of 12.

Circle Games was founded by veterans from Gram Games, Dream Games, and Good Job Games with a focus on the casual mobile puzzle genre. 

The leadership team includes CEO Gokturk Balıkcı, formerly a product manager at Playable Factory and Gram Games; Arda Özarslan, a software engineer with experience at Dream Games.

It further includes Mehmet Ay, previously growth manager at Good Job Games; and Mustafa Özdemir, who served as a studio lead at Playable Factory and product manager at Good Job Games.

Meeting player expectations 

Bitkraft Ventures led the round, with participation from a16z Speedrun, Play Ventures, e2vc, and APY Ventures. 

“We want to double down on our talent and scale our first title…," said Circle Games CEO and co-founder Gokturk Balıkcı. 

“The first focus area for Circle is the casual puzzle market, and we know players expect better visuals, better user experiences because the competition is really high compared with 10 years ago. The game should meet players’ expectations in terms of skill.

“Turkiye’s biggest hits are from the mobile puzzle genre, so the talent experience is there… We’re trying to innovate in the later game phase for player experience by introducing new mechanics. We think that will be vital for long-term player retention.”