Annual investment figures in Turkey were announced. According to the report of Game Factory and Startup Centrum, the game industry became the industry that received the most investment in Turkey in 2021. In 2020, 10 gaming startups in Turkey received investment, increasing to 54 in 2021. After the games industry, artificial intelligence reached 2nd place with 46 startups in 2021, while the data & analytics field came to 3rd place with 39 startups. On the other hand, the finance field ranked 4th with 34 startups.
The number of game companies that receive investment in Turkey is increasing. Most of the investments made in the Turkish entrepreneurial ecosystem throughout 2021 were made in the gaming industry. Game Factory and Startup Centrum report presented the latest data of 2021 to us.
Investments in the Turkish game industry increased 20 times in 1 year
According to the report of Game Factory and Startup Centrum, while the investments made in the Turkish game industry in 2020 were 13.1 million dollars, this number increased to 266 million dollars last year. Thus, the investments made in the Turkish game industry increased approximately 20 times in 1 year. Although the game industry ranks first regarding the number of startups, Getir brought the delivery industry to the top in terms of million dollars.
The Turkish entrepreneurship ecosystem received 1.1 billion dollars in 2021. Approximately 1 out of every 4 dollars of the total investment in the entrepreneurial world was made in the game industry. In addition, the Turkish game industry received one investment every seven days in 2021, making it the industry that received the highest number of investments.
Investments expected to increase through 2022
Efe Küçük, CEO of Game Factory, an incubation center for game developers, evaluated the year 2021 and shared his expectations for this year. Küçük emphasized that the Turkish game industry will continue to be one of the exciting points in the world, especially in the field of mobile and blockchain technologies.
Efe Küçük, CEO of Game Factory, expressed his comments as follows:
“We see that 54 game startups were invested last year. 48 of these 54 startups are game studios, and 40 of these 48 game studios are focused on mobile games. 2021 has been one of the star years for the game industry. In 2022, at least two more game studios will have unicorns. I expect the investments to be made in the Turkish game industry to exceed 400 million dollars with the integration of the blockchain world on the game side.”
According to Küçük, the investment made in the Turkish game industry will reach 400 million dollars throughout 2022. On the other hand, the average age of entrepreneurs who have received investments is relatively young. According to the report, the average age of Turkish game entrepreneurs who received investment in 2021 is 22.8. Many high schools and university youth, such as DotFour Games and Spike Games, founded by high school entrepreneurs, managed to receive investments in the past year. There are an average of 4.3 people in the startups’ teams that receive investments.
The source of the success of the game industry is the qualified workforce
Efe Küçük, CEO of Game Factory, an incubation center for game developers, said that they brought them into the game industry by providing free training to more than 4000 people in 1 year. Küçük also added that Turkey is one of the most qualified countries in the world in terms of workforce.
On the subject, Küçük’s statements are as follows:
“We experienced many exciting developments for the Turkish game industry in 2021, and it looks like we will continue to do so. As Game Factory, we brought more than 4000 people to the game industry and paved the way for establishing 36 game studios. Eight of these studios were invested in 2021. This year, together with our partners, we will help our studios get more investment.”
As an incubator, Game Factory has brought more than 5000 developers to the game industry and has supported more than 70 game studios since the end of 2019. It supports its game developers in all areas they need, such as free training, team building support, consultancy, game publishing, and funding.
On the other hand, the mobile game industry continues to develop globally. Last year was an eventful year in Turkey and India, the Middle East, and Africa. While the Middle East and Africa stood out with their user potential in the published reports, Turkey and India came to the fore with their qualified workforce.
