This year, for the first time, four French video game companies will travel to Istanbul for Mobidictum Conference 2026: Celsius Online, Old Skull Games, Boiler, and Exkee.
The delegation is organized by the French Embassy in Türkiye and the Institut français de Türquie. It is part of their work to strengthen economic and cultural ties between France and Türkiye in the creative industries, where video games are now one of the most dynamic sectors.
The four companies have very different profiles:
- a long-established online and mobile game studio;
- a PC, console and mobile production studio working with major international publishers;
- a tech company building its own IPs on Roblox;
- an independent studio with a long track record of published projects.
Together, they offer a faithful snapshot of French game development expertise today.
The idea behind the trip is to bring experienced French executives to Istanbul, connect them with Turkish and international founders, publishers and investors, and spark collaborations on concrete projects.
Léa Cesena, Regional Audiovisual Cooperation Attaché, said:
“Video games are both an industry and a culture. France and Türkiye have each developed recognized and complementary expertise in this field. By bringing these four companies to Mobidictum, we want to create the conditions for lasting collaborations between our two ecosystems.”
French executives with strong track records
The delegation brings together founders and CEOs who personally drive production, publishing, investment and growth decisions at their companies.
Celsius Online is a French studio founded more than 20 years ago, best known for Renaissance Kingdoms. Its CEO, Davy Chadwick, has led game studios and companies for more than 25 years. He has raised €5M in Seed and Series A funding and has built recognized expertise in applying generative AI to game production and marketing. A former Vice President of SNJV, the French National Video Game Union, he contributed to the creation of the Pégases, the French Video Game Awards. He also works with Warpzone AI, a venture capital initiative dedicated to “GenAI-first” game studios.
Old Skull Games is an independent studio crafting high-quality games for PC, console, and mobile, from original productions to trusted development partnerships.
After co-founding and leading the company as CEO for nearly 14 years, Nicolas Briere now works as an independent Business Developer. Alongside representing Old Skull Games on a part-time basis, he supports game studios, leveraging an international network of publishers, IP owners and investors. With a strong studio and creative background, Nicolas focuses on connecting the right projects with the right partners and helping teams turn opportunities into deals.
Boiler is a tech company building original IPs on Roblox. Its games reach millions of monthly active users and continue to grow. Its co-founder and CEO, Paul-César Élie, previously built the games industry’s first outsourcing platform, which was acquired by XDS and now operates as XDS Spark. Before that, he was CFO of Madbox, where he helped establish it as one of the leading mobile gaming companies.
Exkee is an award-winning independent studio founded in 2003 in Marseille. It develops original games for PC, console, mobile, and VR. The studio is both a recognized service provider and a developer of its own original games, with more than 40 titles delivered for major publishers or as its own productions. Its founder and CEO, Toni Doublet, has 27 years of experience in video games. He has worked as an engineer and developer at Kalisto and Cryo Interactive, a game designer at Ouat Entertainment and a producer at Ubisoft, and has taught at Isart Digital.
Why Türkiye?
Türkiye has become one of the most recognized mobile gaming ecosystems in the world, particularly in Casual, Puzzle and Hybrid Casual. The market is also increasingly opening up to PC and console games.
French studios want to understand how Turkish teams operate, and in return bring their own experience and projects.
What could come out of the meetings, and who to meet?
The meetings will be about sharing best practices on both sides, and also about exploring concrete collaboration opportunities:
- co-development and service partnerships, particularly for PC and console porting;
- collaborations around IPs and UGC platforms such as Roblox;
- investment, with funds active in video games;
- publishing agreements between France, Türkiye and the rest of Europe.
The delegation is looking to meet Turkish mobile and casual studios, publishers and international investors. It is also interested in companies working on growth, monetization, AI or platform development.
Meet the delegation in Mobidictum
The French delegation will be in Istanbul for Mobidictum Conference 2026 on October 7–8, at the Lütfi Kırdar International Convention & Exhibition Center.
Turkish and international founders, publishers, investors and ecosystem partners will be able to meet the executives of the four companies on the event site, along with representatives of the French Embassy in Türkiye, the Institut français de Türquie and Business France.
Meetings can be scheduled through the conference’s B2B meeting system Brella.
Get your tickets to Mobidictum Conference 2026 here.
