Istanbul-based Circle Games has secured $7.25 million in seed funding to accelerate the development of its mobile puzzle game portfolio. Bitkraft Ventures led the round, with participation from a16z Speedrun, Play Ventures, e2vc, and APY Ventures. The funds will be used to scale its debut title, Sort Express, globally and expand the company’s 12-person team.
Founded by industry veterans from Gram Games, Dream Games, and Good Job Games, Circle Games is targeting the casual mobile puzzle genre.
CEO Gokturk Balıkcı spoke with GamesBeat and said:
“We want to double down on our talent and scale our first title… 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’ expectation 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.”
Gokturk Balıkcı – CEO & Co-Founder of Circle Games
Jasper Brand, Bitkraft Ventures partner, said in a statement:
“Circle Games is one of the most promising studios we’ve seen at seed stage. They combine deep domain expertise with a strong game sense, fast shipping velocity, and a clear understanding of how to win in today’s mobile gaming market. With their innovation in progression systems, dynamic difficulty, and playable ad strategy, we believe they have all the ingredients to become Turkiye’s next major casual gaming success.”
Jasper Brand, Bitkraft Ventures partner
Team background
- Gokturk Balıkcı, Co-Founder & CEO – Product Manager experience at Playable Factory and Gram Games
- Co-Founder, Arda Özarslan – Software Engineer experience at Playablabe Factory and Dream Games
- Co-Founder, Mehmet Ay – Growth Manager experience at Good Job Games
- Co-Founder, Mustafa Özdemir – Studio Lead at Playable Factory and Product Manager at Good Job Games
