"The industry has shed some of its illusions and has become much more mature," Yulia Lebedeva on the situation in Turkish game development

The first Turkish event by WN Media Group was held in April 2022. Since then, the company has organized nine events in the country. A week from now, the tenth event will take place—on June 18, WN Istanbul’26 will open its doors. We spoke with Yulia Lebedeva, Executive Director and Partner of the company, about how the Turkish gaming industry has changed over these four years.

Alexander Semyonov, App2Top: How would you describe the Turkish game dev industry four years ago? How did you perceive it back then? What surprised and captivated you about it?

Yulia Lebedeva, WN Media Group: When we first started holding events in Turkey, it felt like we were witnessing a market just beginning to realize its potential. Peak Games had already shown the world that a globally scaled company could be built from Istanbul, Dream Games was rapidly gaining momentum, but there were also countless young teams searching for their path.

What surprised me the most was probably the combination of ambition and pragmatism. In many countries, developers love talking about creativity, unique ideas, and dream games. In Turkey, conversations more often started with the product, metrics, testing, and business. People weren't afraid to experiment, launch quickly, fail quickly, and try again quickly.

Even then, it was evident how strong the local community was. Developers knew each other well, met regularly, communicated, and shared experiences. This is very important for the industry because successful markets are usually built not only by companies but also by the community around them.

What path has the Turkish industry traveled from 2022 to 2026? How challenging have these years been for it?

Yulia: I think the Turkish gaming industry has followed a fairly typical path of a rapidly growing market over these years.

Turkey largely made a name for itself through hyper-casual. Sure, games were made in the country before, but it was hyper-casual that first drew the world's attention to Turkish developers. At that time, the entry barrier was relatively low, success stories were highly inspirational, and many saw that small teams from Istanbul could indeed create a game, achieve millions of downloads, and establish a successful business.

This resulted in a vast number of new studios emerging. However, it's important to understand that there is a significant gap between releasing your first game and building a sustainable company. I remember in 2023, at the WN Conference Istanbul, we held a Hyper-Casual Pitch with about 30 teams participating. A year later, we invited them again and found that only one email from the entire database was still active. To me, this is a very telling story. It means many tried their hand, faced reality, and realized that creating one game is much easier than building a studio that can consistently earn revenue for years.

So, I wouldn’t say the past few years have been bad for Turkey. Rather, the opposite. The industry has shed some of its illusions and become much more mature. Today, there is less excitement than there was several years ago, but there are more teams thinking not just about the next hit but about long-term business.

How do you see the Turkish game dev industry today? What has changed, and how does it stand out against the gaming industries of other countries? What is its strong point now?

Yulia: If we compare it to 2022, the Turkish market today looks much more diverse.

A few years ago, almost every conversation revolved around mobile games. Today, it remains the foundation of the industry, but there's a noticeable interest in other areas. For example, at last year's Developer Showcase within the WN Conference, over half of the presented projects were either PC games or included a full PC version considered a crucial part of their strategy.

I think this is a good sign. Usually, such a shift occurs when the industry starts accumulating experience, funds, and confidence in its abilities. There's a desire to create more complex products, develop their own IPs, and work across multiple platforms.

Meanwhile, speed and team costs remain Turkey's strong points. Turkish teams are quite quick at making decisions and adapting to market changes. In the gaming industry, this is often more important than having a perfect five-year strategy.

How open is it to collaboration with international companies, and what can it offer them?

Yulia: It is very open. I think this is one reason why Turkey has quickly gained a prominent place on the global gaming map.

Turkish teams inherently build products for a global audience, so it's easy to communicate with them. They have a good grasp of metrics, marketing, monetization, and working with publishers and investors. For international companies, this is crucial because many things don’t need explaining from scratch.

Additionally, Turkey remains a very convenient bridge between different regions. When we host events in Istanbul, companies from Europe, the CIS, the Middle East, and Asia fly in. So, the Turkish market is interesting not just by itself, but also as a convergence point for different ecosystems.

One of the features of the Turkish industry is the high number of unicorn studios. What contributes to their emergence?

Yulia: I don't think there's a single reason for this.

Firstly, the early success stories played a crucial role. When Peak Games demonstrated that a world-class gaming company could be built in Istanbul, it significantly changed the mindset of many entrepreneurs. Such examples work better than any government programs or investment funds.

Secondly, an ecosystem has formed. People gain experience working in successful companies and then leave to start their own projects. A few years later, these projects begin nurturing the next generation of founders.

And finally, Turkish teams take a very pragmatic approach to their products. They rarely try to reinvent the wheel. More often, the approach is: let’s find a working model, understand how to make it better than the competitors, and build a sustainable business around it.

The Turkish gaming industry originally focused on mobile. Is the situation changing?

Yulia: Yes, as I noted earlier, there are changes, though I wouldn't call it a revolution.

Mobile remains the foundation of the Turkish gaming industry and will likely continue to do so for a long time. It is what brought money, expertise, and international recognition to the country.

However, we do see a gradual shift towards PC and cross-platform projects. A few years ago, such teams were more of an exception. Today, they are becoming noticeably more prevalent. At least we can see this clearly in submissions for showcases and in discussions with developers at our events.

I think this is a natural stage of market development. As the industry matures, some teams start seeking opportunities outside the usual segments.

What challenges do local teams face today?

Yulia: The main challenge now is probably the emergence of more successful mid-sized studios.

When people talk about the Turkish market, they usually recall the most notable success stories. And this is absolutely justified. But from the perspective of international partners, investors, platforms, or service companies, it's not only the largest players that matter.

In the b2b industry's viewpoint, having five unicorns is less important than having fifty solid mid-level studios. These are what create a stable market, they are the ones buying services, seeking partners, scaling products, and making the ecosystem truly vibrant.

We see this clearly at our events. In 2022 and 2023, many international companies approached us, saying, "We want to be in Istanbul." In 2024, this interest noticeably declined, and by 2025, many took a wait-and-see approach. The reason is quite simple: service companies need studios that are already making money and are ready to scale. They don't need to be unicorns, but they do need to be robust, growing companies.

However, now I see much more optimism than a year ago. Perhaps many teams really needed time to rethink their strategies after the hyper-casual boom ended. Plus, the government has announced new support measures for gaming studios, which might help in the emergence of a new generation of companies.

Do local teams have perennial and favorite topics that are always discussed first?

Yulia: Honestly, Turkish developers are not that different from developers in any other country.

When people gather, they first discuss not lofty matters but quite practical things: where to find users, how much traffic costs, which genres are currently working, what's happening with monetization, which tools yield results, and which don't.

In recent years, discussions about investments and deals have been added to this. After the successes of major Turkish companies, many have started to take a much more serious look at scaling their businesses, attracting investors, and potential exits.

And, of course, the topic of people remains ever-present. Where to find strong specialists, how to retain a team, how to compete for talent—these conversations are heard at every conference almost without exception. This allows us to apply the expertise gained within the WN Talents recruitment agency.

What is your favorite game developed in Turkey?

Yulia: Probably Royal Match.

It is a very good example of how far a Turkish team can go when they consistently work on one product for many years. From the outside, such games often look simple. But the more you understand how the gaming business works, the more you begin to appreciate such stories.

And a final question. This one isn’t about Turkey but about events in general. Why attend conferences today at all? It seems like you can find anyone on LinkedIn and talk to them on Zoom.

Yulia: I've been hearing this question for many years, and each time it seems to me that it's asked by people who haven't attended a good conference in a long time.

Of course, if you need a specific person, you can write to them on LinkedIn and set up a call. Moreover, I do that all the time. But the problem is that the most important things in business very rarely happen according to a prearranged plan.

People go to conferences not just for the meetings that are on their calendar. They go to understand what is happening in the market. To listen to what people are discussing in the corridors. To notice themes that everyone suddenly started talking about. Sometimes market changes become apparent there—several months before analysts write about them.

Additionally, in Zoom, you can't unintentionally meet a person. Yet, it happens all the time in real life. Over the years in the industry, I've seen numerous stories where one meeting at a conference led to investments, company sales, launching new projects, or partnerships lasting many years.

There are things that people are only willing to share in person. There are questions that are uncomfortable to discuss publicly. There is a level of trust that arises only when you look someone in the eyes, shake their hand, and spend a few hours together.

I think that now, when everyone is used to calls, the value of live communication has become even higher than it was ten years ago. There's more information around, but less genuine human contact. That's why good conferences have not disappeared and, I think, will continue to exist for a long time.

Thank you for the interview! And good luck with the conference!

Yulia: See you in Istanbul next week!