ANKARA, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's growing gaming industry has been thriving during the COVID-19 pandemic and several Turkish gaming companies have been sold for hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars, reaching record levels.
Three young and ambitious Turkish investors who founded Rollic Games less than two years ago partially sold it to a U.S. gaming giant Zynga for 168 million dollars in early August.
Another acquisition made headlines when Zynga purchased Turkish Peak Games for 1.8 billion dollars last month, a record amount so far for this industry which hasn't exist until a decade ago.
In 2018, Zynga also acquired Turkish company Gram Games for 250 million dollars.
Chinese investors have also showed an interest in Turkish gaming companies, with tech-giant Tencent buying Masomo for 100 million dollars last year.
Sector insiders and specialists attributed the boom in the industry to Turkey's young population and the growing interest in digital games in the nation.
"Global demand for digital entertainment has expanded due to the coronavirus pandemic. People who were not previously interested in games started playing them", said Beril Ozge Danaci, editor of the Istanbul-based gaming magazine Savebutonu, which is specializing on geek culture and the latest news about the industry.
"Turkey has also a relatively young population compared with western European nations, and among the youth, there is a sizable number of people who founded new gaming startups," she told Xinhua.
Danaci pointed out that if a good game is noticed by major companies around the world, it immediately gets attention, causing a rapid growth of the start up and eventually its acquisition for millions of dollars in the next stages.
The Turkish government has also taken a keen interest in supporting these gaming companies, which are helping exports and employment at a time when the country's economy is reeling under difficulties partially caused by the global health crisis.
Turkey's Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank hailed the success of the gaming industry and stressed that the government will assist Turkish companies in their growth by providing incentives and setting up tech parks.
The minister said Peak Games was the first Turkish unicorn, and the acquisition was a milestone for the country's startup ecosystem.
"It is fair to say that Turkish game developers are living in their golden age," said Ali Erkin, chairman of Turkey's game developers association TOGED.
Because of very limited social interactions during the coronavirus pandemic, interest in digital games rose to record levels, he told semi-official Anadolu agency.
"Working from home was even more beneficial for game developers who adapted very quickly to the working environment, as the only thing they need was the Internet and nothing else," he said, noting that the Turkish industry benefited also from this momentum.
"While other sectors of the economy shrank during the outbreak, the gaming industry flourished. Many local gaming developers founded their companies on-line from home," Erkin added.
Turkey's over 500 gaming studios also provided a much-needed relief for Turkey's rising unemployment, a problem made worse by the pandemic.
Youth unemployment is high in Turkey, as one out of four job seekers is under 24 years old.
Danaci indicated that universities in major cities have special programs and projects for game developing and designing, a lucrative field of work chosen by many of their talented graduates in a country where the population is consuming high number of digital games.
"With a dedicated workforce, we expect that the Turkish industry will contribute even more to the exports in the years to come," she added. Enditem
