Mission Control Games announced its launch and the close of a $4 million pre-seed funding round led by General Catalyst, with participation from Arcadia Gaming Partners and e2vc. The mobile studio was co-founded by Kivanc Okutur (CEO) and Murat Gurel (CTO), both veterans of the team behind casual gaming mainstay Merge Dragons, and is headquartered across London and Istanbul.
The studio is building within the casual puzzle genre, but not replicating it. Mission Control’s ambition is to create entirely new sub-genres: experiences that feel familiar enough to welcome players in, yet original enough to define a new category.
Speed is at the core of how the studio operates, shaping idea creation, decision-making, and execution.
“Casual gaming is where the biggest audiences are — but it’s also where the most interesting design space remains unexplored..
Conway’s Game of Life is our kind of inspiration: simple rules, emergent magic. We want to move fast using emerging capabilities of AI and build games that feel alive. Our ambition is to become the largest mobile gaming company with the smallest team.”
Kivanc Okutur, Co-Founder and CEO at Mission Control Games
“Simplicity sounds like a principle, but in practice it’s a constant fight.
Every week there are good reasons to add more. Resisting that pull — in the product and in how we work — is genuinely hard. But it’s the only way to build something new that lasts.”
Murat Gurel, Co-Founder and CTO at Mission Control Games
“Puzzle is one of the largest and most enduring genres in mobile gaming, yet it still offers significant room for innovation. Kivanc and Murat are true veterans of the space, having worked on Merge Dragons, a rare evergreen franchise.
We’re excited to partner with them as they combine analytical rigor with creative excellence to build a lean, AI-native studio focused on creating the next generation of simple, yet deeply delightful games.”
Rahul Garg, Partner at General Catalyst
Mission Control Games is hiring. Learn more at missioncontrol.gs
