Episode 15 in Mobidictum founder stories welcomes Rasim Kurum, Co-Founder of Youcan Games, for an interview covering Youcan Games’ investment strategies and attitude toward publisher-developer relationships.
Batuhan Avucan’s first question after introducing Rasim Kurum and Youcan Games: “Is Youcan games a game studio? What does it focus on?” Rasim Kurum explains that Youcan Games doesn’t develop games at this point. Instead, it focuses on partnering with game developers, funds them, and provides technical assistance and mentoring.
Kurum explains that Youcan Games also provides access to Ruby Games’ marketing capabilities to startup game developers. Rasim Kurum explains Ruby Games’ relation with Youcan Games. Founded by Rasim Kurum’s brother, Mertcan Kurum, Ruby Games and Youcan Games acts around common goals as the executors of different aspects of the same strategy. According to Kurum, Ruby Games undertakes the publishing-related elements of the projects.
Youcan Games Founder Kurum explains that they aim to address the issues of today’s publisher-developer relations. According to him present dynamics of this relationship can potentially push the developers to become prototype-developing studios. Instead, they prefer providing financial stability to the game developers so they can focus on the projects they believe in rather than trying to abide by the KPIs pushed by the publishers.
Kurum pointed out that their relationship with the game developers is not just a financial investment but an organic bond. Therefore they limit the number of developers that they invest in to be able to support them with experience and workforce.
Kurum also explains how developers can get involved with Youcan Games. His answer resembles an “open door” policy since he mentions that the developers can even contact him through his LinkedIn account. They can also apply through the company website, followed by technical evaluations and interviews. He also acknowledges that they also accept applications by individual developers.
Batuhan Avucan’s interview with Rasim Kurum provides insights and tips for developer candidates or entrepreneurs, and Kurum reveals the unique points they brought to the publisher-developer relationship. The interview is in Turkish and is approximately 15 minutes long.
