The biggest event in the region, Mobidictum Conference 2024, is less than ten days away, and we can’t wait for the day to finally arrive! With three different stages in our event, all featuring industry leaders in the gaming industry, our speakers will share their stories and insights with all of you.
We have prepared our speaker lineup for the White Stage in this article. With a high focus on indie game development, this stage will also feature Web Game Development, VR and AR games, emerging markets, Web3, and so much more!
Here is a brief look at what you can expect in the White Stage, with a more detailed look following:
DAY 1
| Topic | Speakers |
| What Makes Successful Indie Games Successful – A Data Driven View | Karl Kontus – VG Insights |
| ID@Xbox in 2024 | Ben Robinson – Xbox |
| Making Hit Games on the Web | Romy Halweeg – Poki Emre Şahin – Emolingo Marcus – Marus7z Lale Kübra Tanrıkulu – Unico Studio |
| How Publishing Keep Gaming Fresh | Denis Yashanov |
| The State of VR Gaming | Vlad Rannik – CM Games |
| Emerging Markets | Claire Rozain – YouthWave Games Hugo Obi – Maliyo Games Ziad Talge – Yayy Simay Dinç – Women in Games Turkiye |
| Independent Developer’s Early Release Preparation Processes and Risk Management (Turkish) | Alp Geven – Core Engage |
| Considerations in Investment, Incentives and Financial Processes (Turkish) | Onur Olgun – Bopact Partners Özkan Özdoğan – Keco Legal Arif Esen – Fina Hukuk |
DAY 2
| Topic | Speakers |
| Augmented Reality (AR) – Is the Old-New Medium Ready? | Onur Karaduman – Virtual Projects |
| How can Blockchain – Web 3 benefit UA? | Stanislaw Feidor – WeMade |
| How to Do Revenue Forecasts for an Upcoming Steam Game | Burak Tezateşer – Nowhere Studios |
| Development History of Super Market Simulator (Turkish) | Sinan Akkol – Fiber Games Yusuf Toptan – Nokta Games |
| Past to Present: How Puzzle Games Changed (Turkish) | Gökhan Üzmez – Analyst Yunus Ayyıldız – gamebra.in |
| A Guide for Indie Studios to Developing Games for Emerging Genres (Turkish) | Serkan Özay – Hero Concept |
| Big Ideas with Small Teams: Creativity and Development in Indies (Turkish) | Barış Tarımcıoğlu – Playstige Interactive Bahtiyar Ardın – Nyctophile Studios Mehmet Can Güler – Team Machiavelli Caner Pekgönenç – Wendigo Games |
Let’s have a more detailed look at our hosts and speakers and their topics for the white stage.
What makes successful indie games successful – A data driven view
Trusted by indie developers to global consulting firms and AAA publishers like Ubisoft, KRAFTON, Larian Studios, and many more, Video Game Insights offers tools for market research, competitor benchmarking, and industry trend analysis. Their data and articles have been featured all over the world.
Karl Kontus, Co-founder of VGI, will speak at the Mobidictum Conference and share his insights. His journey into the games industry began with his understanding of businesses, data and analytics, and video game commercial performance.
Karl started working for 2K Games as a Commercial Director for the NBA 2K franchise, where he focused on understanding the market, researching competitors, pricing analysis, figuring out the best promotions, how to spend the marketing money, and so much more.
His passion for his work drove him to co-found VGI, to help video game companies, developers, publishers and investors to better understand the PC and console market.
Karl Kontus will focus on his talk about how indie games are doing today, the market landscape, and success in today’s market. Do not miss out his talk at the Mobidictum Conference 2024 at White Stage!
ID@Xbox in 2024
ID@Xbox (Independent Developers @Xbox) is a program by Microsoft that allows independent video game developers to self-publish their titles for Windows and the Xbox consoles.
Ben Robinson, Regional Manager on the ID@Xbox team at Microsoft, will join the Mobidictum Conference 2024. Ben started his career at Official Xbox Magazine, where he produced the monthly demo disc for both US and European editions.
After 3 years, he moved to Microsoft, where he worked on the Production Partner Management team for 10 years. There, he closely worked with AAA third-party partners and Xbox’s First-Party teams, helping games through the Certification and publishing process.
In his current role he is working with Independent Developers across EMEA to bring their games to the Xbox ecosystem and find success on their platforms through their various partnerships and programs.
In his talk, Ben will give an overview of the Xbox ecosystem, ID@Xbox and the recently announced Developer Acceleration Program. He will also take a deep dive into the resources available to reach more gamers on the platform, including marketing opportunities and Game Pass. Ben will close out with some tips and best practices on how to pitch and work more closely with Xbox.
“I am looking forward to connecting with developers in-person and finding amazing projects from a region I haven’t visited before. Thank you for the invitation to the conference – events like Mobidictum are key to fostering new business relationships and helping the industry grow.”
Ben Robinson – Regional Manager on the ID@Xbox team at Microsoft
Making Hit Games on the Web
Hosted by:
- Romy Halfweeg (Poki)
Panelists:
- Emre Sahin (Emolingo Games)
- Lale Kubra Tanrikulu (Unico Studio)
- Marcus (Marcus7z)
Looking for a new platform for your games? This panel is a deep dive into the exciting potential of web games, a re-emerging platform for game developers of all sizes. Join developers like Emolingo (Disaster Arena, Escape from School) and Unico Studio (Brain Test, Who is?) as they share their experiences, from overcoming challenges moving to the web to finding success and defining winning strategies.
Whether you’re new to web games or have plenty of experience, you’ll gain valuable insights into navigating this growing and profitable market and could find out if it’s something you want to explore. Don’t miss the chance to learn from those shaping the future of web games at the Mobidictum Conference!
The State of VR Gaming
Vlad Rannik, Co-Founder and CEO of CM Games, is one of the boldest game developers out there. CM Games’ journey started with Vlad wanting to put his expertise in the Android platform and utilizing his experience in mobile gaming’s touch-screen needs while everyone at that time was working on developing games for Apple’s App Store.
His efforts culminated in the success of Drag Racing, a side-view racing game that soared to 400 million players and propelled CM Games to new heights.
Following their success in mobile gaming, the team transitioned to VR game development. With an early adopter mindset, they worked hard on Into The Radius, which became a significant hit in the VR space. Today, CM Games is working on Into The Radius 2 while continuing to develop mobile titles like Nitro Nation World Tour.
At the Mobidictum Conference, Vlad Rannik will talk about the current state and future of VR Gaming, sharing his insights with the audience.
Emerging Markets
Founder of Rzain consulting and Co-founder of Youthwave Games, Claire Rzain will host the Emerging Markets Panel at Mobidictum Conference 2024.
Founder of Maliyo Games, Hugo Obi, Founder of Yayy Ziad Talge, and Founder of Women in Games Türkiye, Simay Dinç, will join Claire in this panel to discuss emerging markets in the video games industry.
Hugo Obi is the driving force behind Disney’s first African game project, Disney Iwaju Rising Chef, and a trailblazing figure in the African Games Industry. A passionate advocate for the growth of the African gaming ecosystem, Hugo launched GameUp Africa, the largest training program for aspiring game developers on the continent, in partnership with Google.
Ziad Talge is the Founder of Yayy, a publisher of casual and hyper-casual games. He is also running a podcast about how MENA is growing.
Finally, Simay Dinç is a Game Producer, co-founder of Recontact Games, and Founder of Women in Games Türkiye. Women in Games Türkiye aims to incorporate the energy and creativity of women into the gaming industry, make people realize that this sector is enriched by different disciplines, and ensure that women act as creators, not players.
Independent Developer’s Early Release Preparation Processes and Risk Management
One of this year’s most prosperous city-builder games, New Cycle, is developed by a Turkish company called Core Engage. Alp Geven, Co-Founder of Core Engage, will attend the Mobidictum Conference 2024 and share his insights on indie game development, early access period, and risk management.
Key Considerations in Investment, Incentives, and Financial Processes
The “business” side of video game development is something consumers don’t really think about. However, it plays a massive part for game makers, and it is crucial to learn about it. This panel will feature Onur Olgun from Bopact Partners, Özkan Özdoğan from Keco Legal and Arif Esen from Fina Hukuk.
Bopact Partners offers growth-oriented consultation services to its users. Their goal is to help startups grow as efficiently and intentionally as possible.
KECO is an Istanbul-based independent law partnership established in 2019 and supports its clients in all core areas of law.
Finahukuk is a proactive consultation company serving clients in the tech industry, bridging the gap between finance and regulation with a focus on innovation.
Özkan Özdoğan advises a wide range of local and foreign clients on mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, and banking and finance transactions. His experience includes acquisitions of technology, gaming, food and e-commerce companies.
I am excited to be speaking at the Mobidictum Conference 2024, taking place on October 15-16. My session will cover ‘Investment, Incentives, and Key Considerations in Financial Processes.’ Looking forward to insightful discussions with industry leaders and participants. See you there!
Arif Esen – Partner at Finahukuk
Augmented Reality (AR) – Is the Old-New Medium Ready?
Virtual Projects is a research and practice based polymath hub for innovative games and creative technologies.
Onur Karaduman, the Founder and CEO of Virtual Projects, is an architect, designer, and technologist. He researched and developed projects on cyber-physical space, human-machine interaction, and gaming at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he pursued graduate studies in 2016.
He taught at several universities following his initial work as a Digital Experience Designer. As an anti-disciplinary generalist, Onur Karaduman has been rediscovering the notion of experience through innovative games and creative technologies.
Augmented Reality (AR) is no longer just a futuristic promise – it’s becoming a dynamic medium/tool in entertainment and storytelling. But where does AR truly stand today?
In this session, Karaduman will explore AR’s current role in gaming and interactive media and ask the critical question: is AR ready to be the next major platform, or is it destined to remain a secondary feature in the entertainment landscape?
He will examine where AR is heading in the near and mid-term future and discuss what creators and developers should do today to harness its potential.
How can Blockchain – Web 3 benefit UA?
Stan Fiedor is the General Manager Europe at WEMADE, a prominent Korean game developer and a pioneer of web3 gaming. Being deeply committed to the gaming community, Stan actively mentors emerging industry leaders, helping them transform initial concepts into thriving studios and businesses.
His extensive expertise in securing investor and VC funding, obtaining grants, and negotiating publishing deals has been pivotal in elevating early-stage founders. He is intensely focused on the evolving roles of Generative AI, web3, blockchain , and their transformative potential in the future of gaming.
Recently, he has supported CBDO – Elympics.ai, the web3 competitive gaming infrastructure aiming to innovate skill-based social gaming.
In times when UA is super expensive and less effective, the use of blockchain can be a new way to acquire users without spending millions on paid advertising.
Interested how?
Join the presentation at Mobidictum Conference to learn about recent examples of driving millions of users to games without crazy big marketing budgets.
How to Do Revenue Forecasts for an Upcoming Steam Game
Burak Tezateser is the founder of Nowhere Studios. His primary roles are design, marketing and production. He founded Nowhere Studios in 2011 and he is currently working on their 3rd Steam game Good Heavens!
Burak has a background in economics and game theory. He has also been lecturing in the “Game Production” class for post-graduates since 2016.
Burak will be talking about making sales predictions for Steam games. This is rather an unexplored topic for most publishers and investors compared to mobile.
There are essential benchmarks such as total wishlists, wishlist velocity, conversion rates, and demo play time metrics. Burak will cover the importance of these metrics, how to make estimations using them, and how major players use them in their marketing and business strategy.
“I’m expecting to address an audience who are stakeholders in PC games as a publisher, investor, or studio owner. My goal is to present the recently conducted studies on these areas and help the audience to make better prediction models for their games and portfolio.”
Burak Tezateser, Founder of Nowhere Studios
Development History of Supermarket Simulator
Supermarket Simulator, one of the biggest indie hits of this year, took the simulation genre to another level and became a viral hit in the gaming community. Creator of Supermarket Simulator Yusuf Toptan will join the Mobidictum Conference this year and share his development history.
Sinan Akkol, a 19-year industry veteran games journalist and Co-Founder of Fiber Games and GameDev, will moderate this session and talk with Yusuf about the hit game.
Past to Present: How Puzzle Games Changed
One of Turkiye’s brightest game designer and puzzle game developer, Yunus Ayyıldız of gamebra.in, will share the stage with Gökhan Üzmez. Yunus has been developing puzzle games for over 12 years and has an incredible amount of experience in the historic development of puzzle games.
Gökhan Üzmez was head of communications and game manager at Rollic, one of the biggest mobile game publishers in the world. After his venture in Rollic, Gökhan jumped into Ludus Ventures, where he worked as a Senior Business Development Manager.
If you are a game developer who is focusing on puzzle games, do not miss this session at Mobidictum Conference 2024!
A Guide for Indie Studios to Developing Games for Emerging Genres
One of the most successful studios from Turkiye, Hero Concept‘s Co-Founder and Creative Director, Serkan Özay, will be at the Mobidictum Conference 2024.
After working on numerous projects, Özay founded Hero Concept in 2017. Since 2017, the company has released three titles and is gearing up for its fourth title, Mayhem Brawler II, in 2025.
Serkan Özay, one of the most important figures and industry leaders in the Turkish gaming industry and the Founder of Hero Concept, will speak to future game developers at Mobidictum Conference 2024.
Big Ideas with Small Teams: Creativity and Development in Indies
The Turkish indie gaming scene is still extremely small, but the leading indie game companies from the region will meet in this panel.
Let’s have a look at our speakers for this panel:
- With 15+ years of experience, Baris Tarimcioglu owns and operates Playstige Interactive. Baris has designed and produced more than 20 titles for PC and consoles, specializing in horror titles such as Solarix and their latest game, Venatrix. Playstige also provides game development help, porting, and QA assistance to studios.
- Wendigo Games is developing two titles. The first is a fast-paced FPS called Orpheus: Tale of a Lover. The second game is called WHAT THE PAK?! and it’s a casual party game to play with your friends. Co-founder and Lead Game Designer of Wendigo Games Caner Pekgönenç will be at the Mobidictum Conference to talk with his fellow indie game developers.
- Mehmet Can Güler is the Co-Founder, Game Developer, and one-half of Team Machiavelli. Their first game, Castle of Alchemists, launched last year and is going strong in Early Access. While the updates keep rolling on Castle of Alchemists, the team is also gearing up for their next game, Deckfort Alchemist.
- Nyctophile Studios is developing its first game, Death Relives, featuring an Aztec god as an antagonist with real Aztec language dialogue! The ambitious and exciting game is scheduled to come out in the final quarter of 2024 for PC and PS5. Bahtiyar Ardin, Founder, Director, and Art Director of Death Relives, will attend the Mobidictum Conference 2024 and talk with his fellow indie developers. Connect and discuss horror, adventure, and creating a natural Aztec language for a video game with Ardin.
This fantastic team of indie game developers will share their insights and experiences at the Mobidictum Conference 2024.
Do not miss this opportunity, and secure your spot now!
