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TURKEY
Cetin Tuker, Erdal Yılmaz, and Kursat Cagiltay

Turkish people may have encountered computer games later than many Westerners, but they have wasted
no time catching up. The modern Turkish game industry is one of the most rapidly growing markets in the
world (Newzoo 2012). Thus, almost all game hardware producers and major game development companies
have been paying special attention to Turkey. The average game playing durations, habits, and preferences
of Turkish survey respondents are similar to those of developed countries (Karakus, İnal, and Cagiltay 2008;
Durdu, Tüfekçi, and Cagiltay 2005). In the area of game development, however, Turkey remains far behind;
no game hardware development activity in Turkey warranted mentioning at the time of the writing of this
chapter. In the following sections, we will discuss digital game development activities, beginning with the
late 1980s. In order to better convey this uncovered history, significant Turkish game development activities
have been summarized through the present. Lack of academic studies in this field required the use of popu-
lar resources, personal observations, and anecdotal comments. A discussion of game development history is
followed by a current view of the Turkish game market. The future of Turkish digital game development is
addressed in the conclusion.

The 1980s: Level 1, Beginner

Until the mid-1980s, most of the Turkish population could not afford personal computers or game console
systems. Thus, no game development activity occurred in the late 1970s or early 1980s, excluding the basic
work of computer science or electronics researchers and students. Some programmers had developed simple
games such as tic-tac-toe on mainframe computers prior to 1980. In the early 1980s, famous electronics jour-
nal Elektor presented a hardware-based (AY-3-8500 chip set) circuit diagram for a PONG-like game. Based on
this diagram, some small companies tried to build and sell locally produced PONG-clone consoles. However, no
extant documentation is available about these basic projects.
The Sinclair Spectrum, Sinclair ZX81, Commodore VIC-20, Commodore 64, Amstrad, and MSX series were
the first computers that allowed Turkish people to develop software. Among them, the Commodore 64 was the Pr

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most popular, offering many games. The first Turkish computer magazines, such as Commodore, Sizin Amstrad,
64ler, and Elo Elektronik, played an important role in delivering the printed source codes of simple games. Many
people had to learn game programming from similar written documents because it was difficult to find appro-
priate resources in Turkish. In 1984, a programmer named Özden Kılıçay, PhD, published a book in Turkish,
Applied BASIC Programming Language Book for Sinclair Spectrum, Sinclair ZX81, Commodore VIC-20, Commodore 64,
BBC A/B, Electron, Oric-Atmos, Texas Instruments 99/4a, Apple IIe, and Sharp MZ80K, which contained a special sec-
tion on writing games, including code examples. His next book, Commodore 64, Peek-Poke & Machine Code, which
was published in 1986, focused mainly on graphics, sprites, and other game-related capabilities of the Com-
modore 64; it included twenty example games.
One of the first commercial development attempts in this period was Keloğlan, a game about a hero from a
famous Turkish fable. The game was released in 1989 as a group effort by Ahmet Ergen, Ilgaz Akbaş, and Derya
Yalazkan from the Byte Computer Company. Keloğlan was developed using Adventure Game Maker, a third-party
software program. Keloğlan was not a commercial success, and only a few people played it. However, it was the
first attempt targeting Turkish gamers with a story built upon a national folk hero.
Toward the end of the 1980s, the Amiga 500 series, which was the main platform for early Turkish game
titles, became popular. Although no local or global commercial titles emerged from Turkey in the 1980s, Turk-
ish game developer Mevlüt Dinç, who was living in the United Kingdom, released or adapted several games
on new platforms, such as Firebird Software’s Gerry the Germ Goes Body Poppin’ (1985), System 3 Software’s Last
Ninja 2: Back with a Vengeance (1988), Electric Dreams Software’s Prodigy (1986), and Activision’s Hammerfist
(1990). Mevlüt Dinç continued to produce successful titles in the 1990s in the UK, returning to Turkey in 2000.
His work from the 1990s and 2000s will be mentioned in the following sections.

The 1990s: Level 2, Amateur

With its superb multimedia capabilities, the Amiga encouraged Turkish developers to release text-based
adventure games, card games, and puzzle games such as Çarkıfelek (Wheel of Fortune, 1992), Para ve Güç (Money
and Power, 1992), and Pis Yedili (a card game, 1992). However, some developers planned to use the Amiga’s
power to release more professional games. Sedat Çöloğlu was a main game producer of this period. In 1992, he
led Digital Dreams during the publication of its first boxed game, Hançer (The Dagger) (see fig. 1).
The following summarizes the story of the game’s development based on experiences shared by Sedat
Çöloğlu: in 1990, Çöloğlu organized the Amiga Professional Users Club (APUC), a group with 450 members.
One of his most outstanding project ideas was producing a Turkish strategy game. In November 1990, he
finished the game scenario of The Dagger, a game about the rise of the Ottoman Empire, and shared the idea
with club members. A variety of people ranging from professional graphic artists to historians supported the
project, reviewing details such as important events and accurate accessories of the medieval age. Some aca-
demics voluntarily advised about historical facts of the era. Before the release of the game, Sedat Çöloğlu and
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Figure 1
Cover illustration and screenshots from Hançer (The Dagger, 1992). (Courtesy of Sedat Çöloğlu.)

his development team‚ Digital Dreams‚ advertised it in a local Amiga magazine. One of the most interesting
parts of this story took place during the diskette preparation pipeline. Each set included three diskettes, and
copying one diskette required approximately five minutes, including verification. Volunteer APUC members
with external floppy drives helped speed up this production problem. After a year of hard work, the game
was ready for release in 1992. In the early 1990s, software piracy was quite rampant in Turkey. Original boxed
game sales for very popular Amiga titles were only around 300 units. The Dagger sold more than 2,200 original
copies in two years. The price was USD $15, while the development cost of one set was USD $7. These figures
were clearly not encouraging for Turkish game entrepreneurs in the 1990s.
Siliconworx comprises several high-school student game veterans and is another important player of this
era. It released Amiga games such as Umut Tarlaları (Fields of Hope, 1993), İstanbul Efsaneleri: Lale Savaşçıları
(Legends of Istanbul: Tulip Warriors, 1994), and Muhtar (the term for an official village headman, 1995). Fields of
Hope was Siliconworx’s first commercial game, a farm management simulation. This game had almost all of
the properties of a professional game, such as retail packaging, a user manual, an original musical score, and
copy protection. Such professional properties were handled by assigning multiple roles to every member of
the team. For example, lead programmer Özgür Özol also worked on game music, design, graphics, and the
user manual. Further, each team member reportedly visited potential sellers with backpacks full of game Pr

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Figure 2
Umut Tarlaları (Fields of Hope, 1993); front cover of the game’s box (left) and a screenshot from the game (right). (Courtesy
of Siliconworx.)

boxes. The game was offered on consignment, not much different than goods in arts and crafts markets. They
managed to sell 1,000 copies via this method. Total revenue was barely enough to recover box, diskette, and
labeling costs. No matter the number of sales, this game is still remembered as one of the most successful and
enjoyable Turkish digital games. Siliconworx released its second game, Legends of Istanbul: Tulip Warriors, in
1994 (see fig. 2). Development and delivery phases show many parallels to its first game. Tulip Warriors was the
first Turkish role-playing game (RPG), remembered for its original music, graphics, and easy controls. This
game also sold fewer than 2,000 copies.
In the mid-1990s, personal computers (PCs) began to overtake the Amiga in Turkey. In 1996, Cartoon Stu-
dios released its comedy adventure game Dedektif Fırtına (Detective Storm), and later, a movie adventure game,
Gerceğin Ötesinde (Beyond the Truth, 1998).
Considering the increasing role of PCs, Siliconworx and Compuphiliacs (another young game development
team) decided to cooperate on a port of Legends of Istanbul for the PC. Compuphiliacs rewrote the game several
times to keep up with changing technology and overcome technical challenges. Eventually, they began to con-
sider delivering the game on CD-ROMs. One of the leading music industry companies of Turkey offered to dis-
Pr tribute the game. In 1996, after another period of development in a basement office provided by the publisher,

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Compuphiliacs completed the game. The publisher set the price at USD $35, which was quite expensive for a
single game in 1996. Total retail sales were around 2,000. One year later, 45,000 copies of the CD-ROM were
bundled with popular game magazines. Distribution by a professional company was new for the Turkish game
market, and total revenue of the developers was only USD $10,000 including bundle sale shares. The same
multiple-role approach was used in this game; it was possible for a programmer to work as a cameraman or
composer as well.
Piri the Explorer Ship (1997) was an outstanding edutainment application produced by SEBİT Education and
Information Technologies. It was a point-and-click adventure game published on CD-ROM in which all scenes
were pre-rendered 3-D images from a first-person perspective. The player takes on the role of the captain of
a sixteenth-century ship following routes on the first world map as prepared in 1513 by Piri Reis, a Turkish
admiral. During gameplay, the player solves puzzles to advance, learning cultural, social, historical, techno-
logical, and artistic facts about the sixteenth century. This game was released in Turkey, the United States,
and some Asian countries.
The 1990s were a transition period from amateur game development to professional game development in
Turkey. Mevlüt Dinç continued his game development work in the UK, developing several well-known games
such as First Samurai (1991), Street Racer (1994), and S.C.A.R.S. (1998). The amateur groups that had developed

Figure 3
Screenshot from Piri the Explorer Ship (1997). (Courtesy of SEBIT.) Pr

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570  CETIN TUKER, ERDAL YILMAZ, AND KURSAT CAGILTAY

games used ties forged in their high school years to create team spirit. Although no specific gaming company
arose and game sales recovered only material expenses, the developers insisted on developing these games in
dark basement rooms in the face of adverse conditions, motivated only by their desire to produce local games
for Turkish people.

The 2000s: Level 3, Professional

An important event in 2000 for the Turkish game industry was the return of Mevlüt Dinç after twenty years.
Dinç, having produced many titles in the UK, decided to continue with local Turkish talent. One year after
he started his business in Turkey, Dinç Interactive (later Sobee Studios), released the first Turkish game for
the international market, which was completely written by Turkish university students. Dual Blades (2002),
a clever mix of fighting games featuring Turkish heroes, was developed for the Game Boy Advance and pub-
lished by Metro 3D in the United States and Japan. The next release was Football Manager (2003), a real-time,
competitive multiplayer management simulation. The next Sobee game was Semih Saygıner ile Magic Bilardo
(Magic Billiards with Semih Saygıner, 2004), an online competitive 3-D billiards game developed with the help
and endorsement of billiards world champion Semih Saygıner.
After this game, Sobee started working on Turkey’s first MMORPG, İstanbul Kıyamet Vakti (IKV, Istanbul
Apocalypse Time), which was released in 2006. This game became very popular, with more than 700,000 reg-
istered players. Sobee released four more noteworthy games in the 2000s: a third-person action game, Kabus
22 (Nightmare 22), which was developed with Son Işık Game Studios and published in 2006 in several European
countries; Citroën C4 Robot (2008), a high-quality racing game also developed with Son Işık Game Studios; I Can
Football (2009), the world’s first eleven-by-eleven online soccer game; and SuperCan (2011), which introduced
Turkey’s first child hero. Within a short time, the game, featuring Marvel superheroes, reached almost two
million players. A second version of this game was published in 2012.
Sobee was joined by other professional game houses in Turkey in 2005. Yoğurt Technologies, Cinemedia,
and 3TE Games published their first game, Pusu: Uyanış (The Ambush: Awakening), in May 2005 (see fig. 4). The
game was a 3-D third-person shooter/action-adventure game in which a Turkish army officer fights criminals
who have kidnapped his scientist father. This game was not a straightforward shoot-’em-up game; the story-
line and character backgrounds were well developed, and actions and events were interrelated. Both the pro-
tagonist and antagonist had supporting characters that were present during gameplay and cut-scenes with
their own subplots. The game was voiced by famous actors and actresses in a professional recording studio.
The Ambush was a success for the Turkish game market, and 10,000 boxed copies were sold.
The studios 3TE and Yoğurt completed another project in 2006, a 3-D third-person action-adventure game
for the new product (YAMI) of a famous biscuit brand, using an updated version of The Ambush’s game engine.
This game, YAMI: Mechanical Invasion, was based on the TV commercial for the product, which was completed
almost eight months before the game was released. The animator and character modeler of The Ambush, who
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Figure 4
Screenshots from Pusu: Uyanış (The Ambush: Awakening, 2005): a scene in the garage from around the middle of the game
(top, left); the house of Fatih, the game’s main character (top, right). Below them are screenshots from the Istiklal Street
scene in the game YAMİ: Mechanical Invasion (2006) (bottom, left) and on top of a historic tram on Istiklal Street in the YAMİ
television commercial created before the game (bottom, right). One of the authors, Cetin Tuker, worked on both of these
projects. (Courtesy of 3TE Games.)

Pr

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572  CETIN TUKER, ERDAL YILMAZ, AND KURSAT CAGILTAY

is also one of the authors of this chapter, Cetin Tuker, left the game development team after completing ani-
mation for The Ambush and started working for a studio specializing in TV commercials. When the advertise-
ment agency came up with the idea of producing an animated film with video game aesthetics, he suggested
the idea of creating a complementary video game. The agency agreed and decided to work with the producers
of The Ambush. The game’s interface, world architecture, and overall look were very similar to the commercial
and can be considered its successor.
During the intermediate stage period, some developers found a chance to publish games in the interna-
tional market. In the early years of this period, Turkish design studios gained experience developing games
for the Turkish market; later they used their experience to develop games that met international standards
and satisfied international publishers’ needs. Five titles were released by international publishers during this
period: Dual Blades (2002), Kabus 22 (2006), Darkness Within: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder (2007), Culpa Innata (2007),
and the most successful title of all, Mount & Blade (2008). Darkness Within: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder, a point-and-
click Lovecraftian horror-thriller-adventure game, was developed by Zoetrope Interactive and published by
Lighthouse Interactive in 2007. The protagonist is Howard E. Loreid, a British cop looking for Loath Nolder, a
private investigator and the main suspect in the murder of Clark Field, an amateur archeologist who has just
escaped from a mental hospital. The storyline is constructed around Loreid tracking down Nolder while try-
ing to determine if he is the killer.
Culpa Innata, an adventure game inspired by Alev Alatlı’s novel Schrödinger’s Cat (1999), was developed by
Momentum DTM and published by Strategy First in 2007. The events take place in 2047 in an Orwellian society
in the city of Adrianopolis, part of the idealized government World Union. The protagonist is World Union
Peace Officer Phoenix Wallis, who is investigating the murder of a friend in a neighboring “Rogue State” in
Odessa, Russia. Culpa Innata’s game space is a fully 3-D, real-time rendered environment with a diurnal cycle
that is dynamically related to the appearances of characters and events. The main technological advance in
this game is its nonlinear narrative; the player’s actions affect how the game will end. The same player can
experience a different storyline and various endings in repeated plays based on decisions made during game-
play. Changes in players’ actions result in dynamic changes in the sequence of locations visited. The logic
engine of the game can allow 10,000 different outcomes, offering unique games for nearly every player.
With sales of more than 1 million units, the Mount & Blade series is probably the most popular Turkish game
in the international market. It is a medieval, nonlinear action RPG with sandbox-style play from the Turkish
company TaleWorlds Entertainment. The most outstanding feature of the game is its artificial intelligence
algorithm, which creates outstanding combat scenes. The first Mount & Blade game was released in the fourth
quarter of 2008 in the United States and Europe; a sequel, Mount & Blade: Warband, was released in 2010, and an
expansion pack, Mount & Blade: With Fire and Sword, was released in 2011 (see fig. 5).
Turkish game development efforts in the 2000s were not limited to studios. Some young game designers
had enough courage to start projects on their own. One reason for this phenomenon is the considerable cir-
culation of monthly game magazines. Critics’ articles about how games were developed sparked their enthu-
Pr siasm. Another reason for independent development was the affordability of the hardware. Finally, with the

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Figure 5
Screenshot from Mount & Blade: Warband (2010). (Courtesy of Taleworlds.)

help of the Internet, programming tutorials and tools also became more accessible. Although many of these
projects ended in failure, three of them were completed successfully: a first-person shooter, Koridor (Cor-
ridor, 2004) by Hakan Nehir; İstila (Invasion, 2008), a turn-based strategy game by Ozan Gümüş; and a horror-
adventure game, Lanetin Hikayesi (The Story of the Curse, 2003), by İdris Çelik. The first two of these games were
distributed as freeware by several game magazines, and it is still possible to download them for free. Accord-
ing to the developers, around 75,000 to 100,000 copies of these games have been distributed by magazines or
downloaded from the Internet.
Another important advancement in the 2000s was the increasing popularity of mobile gaming. This new
platform has attracted the attention of several Turkish game developers. In the early 2000s, Turkish mobile
games such as Asmalı Konak (The Mansion with Vines, 2003), based on the story of a famous TV serial, and Kötü
Kedi Şerafettin (Şerafettin the Bad Cat, 2004), based on the story of a famous cartoon cat, by Başarı Mobile and
Pixofun companies respectively, have achieved success in the local market. Shortly after the first release
of the iPhone in 2007, Turkish developers began to follow smartphone trends. One of the first outstanding
examples, with its 3-D graphics and creative game controls, is Mission Deep Sea (2009), published by Reo-Tek.
The multitouch screens of mobile devices provided game designers with new potential for interfaces. Design-
ers who successfully use these controls produce games that can only be played on mobile devices. In Mission
Deep Sea, the player controls a sea turtle that dives into the deep sea. The head and arms of the turtle are
visible in the lower part of the screen, as it carries a small camera. To control the diving speed and direction
of the turtle, the player swipes his fingers on the mobile device’s screen, activating the front arms of the
turtle. The game’s objective is to find and remove objects that are harmful to natural sea life, such as barrels
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The Turkish Game Industry as of 2013: Facts and Advancements

Commercial Advancements

Although game development in Turkey has increased substantially since the 1980s, Turkey still has a fairly
small industry compared to the size of its economy and population. Currently, the Turkish game industry
comprises small-scale 3-D action game development studios, mobile/social/casual game studios, and game
localization companies, all on small, medium, and large scales. A few companies work on world-class 3-D
games such as Taleworlds, Sobee Studios, Ceidot, and MadByte. None of these companies employs more than
fifty workers. TaleWorlds Entertainment, creator of the Mount & Blade series, and Sobee Studios are the larg-
est. In 2009, Turk Telekom, a leading technology company in Turkey, acquired Sobee Studios. This merger can
be seen as the first economic success in the Turkish game industry. Currently, there are nearly fifty mobile,
casual, and social game studios. Among them, Peak Games offers several casual/card games that reach mil-
lions of players. The success of Peak Games has attracted investments from various global venture capitals.
Peak Games is the biggest social gaming company in Turkey and MENA (Middle East and North Africa), and it
operates several offices around the world as well. It is the largest game company in Turkey, with more than
200 employees. Several mobile and casual game companies have also attracted attention, such as Picnic Hippo
(known for Bucketz [2012]), Duello Games (known for iSlash [2010] and Bellyfish [2013]), Zibumi (Wedding Snake
[2012]), Pixofun (FootboCity [2012]), and NoWhere Studios (Monochroma [2013]).
Game development is not the only way to make money in the Turkish game market. Joy Game, a pioneer
in localization and publishing in Turkey that is expanding into other countries, has gained the attention of
South Korean gaming company CJ Games, which now owns 50% of the company. Several other companies
focus on localization and publishing, and Peak Games is also investing in this field. With Riot Games and
Crytek opening offices in Turkey, 2013 was quite an interesting year for the Turkish game market. Such news
bolsters its existing potential and promising future. Such advancements also help to accelerate the growth of
the Turkish digital game development market. Currently, nearly 1,000 professionals work in this industry in
Turkey. Although there are more in Western cities, this growth is hopeful, given the fact that there were only
ten professionals twenty years ago and around 100 professionals just ten years ago.

Academic Activities Involving Computer Games

During the last few years, digital game development has garnered attention from academia and government-
supported technology development centers. The following section summarizes related advancements.

METUTECH-ATOM

The METUTECH Animation Technologies and Game Development Center (METUTECH-ATOM), the first and
Pr only sector-specific preincubation center in Turkey, was established in 2008 as part of Middle East Technical

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University-Technopolis (METUTECH, http://www.metutech-atom.com/). The main goal of METUTECH-ATOM

is to prevent the loss of creative ideas regarding digital games and animation, converting these ideas into
marketable values. It is aimed at providing entrepreneurial and financial support, leading to commercial
value. The goals of METUTECH-ATOM are to

•  create a highly professional cluster of digital game and animation sectors

•  create a platform for academics, firms, and students to work together
•  create a knowledge pool for and awareness of digital arts
•  make university-industry cooperation more active and sustainable
•  strengthen activities of the sector and increase the reputation of ATOM and its groups on both the national
and international level
•  develop sector-specific international cooperation

Beneficiaries are selected through two processes. In the first step, projects are evaluated according to their
content and framework. Next, project plans are assessed. At ATOM, groups are supported for one year. After
that, the new firms are brought to an incubation center, where they are supported for two or three more
years; successful companies then become METUTECH firms.
Since 2008, eight digital game enterprises have been established out of twelve projects through ATOM ser-
vices. Currently, twelve groups are working at METUTECH-ATOM. Turkey has a small number of companies
in the game sector, and as of summer 2013, approximately 20% are ATOM Companies. ATOM also organizes
national and international events to engage the digital sector with the public space, such as the International
Workshop on Mobile Games, Global Game Jam, and university conferences.

METU Game Technologies Program

METU Game Technologies (GATE) is a postgraduate program established in 2009 within the Informatics Insti-
tute at Middle East Technical University, one of the world’s top-ranked universities. The primary aim of the
program is to educate the next generation of game developers and designers. The program has a strong
research component with a prominent interdisciplinary edge reflected not only in the academic backgrounds
of the faculty but also in the diverse backgrounds of enrolled students. Courses include computer science
and engineering, electronic engineering, industrial design, music, and architecture. Students select one of
two tracks: game development or game design. These tracks consist of related courses for either the more or
less technical development aspects of games. The work carried out by the students reflects novel aspects of
cutting-edge research in game technologies. Research infrastructure is at the disposal of GATE students and
staff, including the GameLab, an audio research lab, a motion-capture lab, and a virtual reality research lab.
The program has strong collaboration and research links with other game technology labs and within the
game technology industry in Turkey, other countries in Europe, and overseas countries. The program is also
supported by game companies in METU-Technopolis, such as METUTECH-ATOM. METU-GATE’s strong links Pr

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576  CETIN TUKER, ERDAL YILMAZ, AND KURSAT CAGILTAY

with game technology companies have resulted in the formation of an industry board: a group of experts who
help steer the program by fine-tuning the curriculum with timely knowledge about the actual needs of the
industry.

Hacettepe University, Computer Animation and Game Technologies

Hacettepe University’s computer animation and game technologies programs was established in 2011. It is an
interdisciplinary program that gathers disciplines such as computer science, art, physics, biomechanics, and
anatomy with a wide range of output from motion pictures and games to medicine and scientific simulation.
For this reason, computer animation and game technologies uses algorithms based on techniques of scientific
calculation, statistics, signal processing, linear algebra, control theory, geometry, and artificial intelligence.
The nonthesis master’s degree program requires education in computer animation, including the creation of
three-dimensional models lit with realistic illumination, and the training necessary to use tools and technolo-
gies to create computer games. Within this program, students explore basic design concepts, the sensitivity
of human perception, interaction design, the modeling of objects, camera control, and character equipment
for graphic animation, particle systems usage, and surface rendering techniques. Students create characters,
scenery, and 3-D graphics animations, and they program behaviors with artificial intelligence, applying new
skills to the making of short films and computer games. The program is based on technical and aesthetic
principles for students who want a career in computer animation (see http://www.bil-grafik.hacettepe.edu
.tr/animasyonIng.html).

SIMGE Research Group

Middle East Technical University’s Simulations and Games in Education (SIMGE) research group was estab-
lished in 2004 by Professor Kursat Cagiltay. The main aim of this group is to conduct research on the use of
simulations and games in education. In addition to pedagogical and cognitive issues, SIMGE researchers also
focus on the social and technical issues of simulations and games. According to SIMGE, electronic games are
becoming more and more popular in Turkey. As the game industry develops, its effects can clearly be seen.
However, not enough research has been conducted about the potential and problems of this new medium. A
limited number of studies have investigated the effects of gaming on Turkish people; SIMGE aims to close this
gap (see http://simge.metu.edu.tr/).

BUG

Founded by Dr. Güven Çatak (communication design department, Bahçeşehir University), BUG focuses
on video games with playful interaction design. As a game lab, BUG aims to be a communication and edu-
cation platform in the İstanbul region for the young enthusiast who wants to develop games. BUG started
Pr

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out in 2011 with the shooting of the documentary film Game.Doc, which covered the game scene in
Turkey. BUG’s first R&D project was realized in May 2012 by the workshop Playful Interactions in collab-
oration with the MIT Media Lab; this event introduced BUG to the public. A three-week boot camp titled
Game Workshops followed in summer 2012. BUG has produced seven teams that have designed seven games,
and it has become a meeting point for indie game studios and developers. In addition to the game lab activi-
ties, BUG plans to develop academic programs on game design and support game studies (see http://bug
.bahcesehir.edu.tr/).

Conclusion
It is very difficult to find academic resources regarding Turkish game development activities. Excluding a
few research papers (such as Yılmaz and Cagiltay 2005; or Binark and Bayraktutan-Sütcü 2012), popular
resources such as gaming forums or blogs and personal connections were the most useful resources for
this study. Considering these facts, it is possible that some information was missed, especially for the period
before 1995. However, this essay covers all major game development activities in Turkey that are worth
mentioning.
Many of the games listed from the mid-1980s to the present use national figures and local cultural features.
Even games for the international market have contained Turkish heroes. The Dagger features historical figures
from the Ottoman Empire, while Tulip Warriors and the İstanbul Kıyamet Vakti MMOG use many figures from
İstanbul. Authentic Turkish folklore and national history will likely be incorporated by game developers in
the future, too.
Considering the game development activities presented in this chapter, the blossoming Turkish game
industry will have more opportunities to produce titles in the future with growing support from universities
and technology development centers. If the current game houses start to make more money, investments will
also continue to grow, employing a talented population of people who want to be involved in the digital game
development business. The future of the Turkish game development industry seems very bright; current
trends predict important developments in the near future.

References
Binark, M., and G. Bayraktutan-Sütcü. 2012. A critical interpretation of a new “creative industry” in Turkey:
Game studios and the production of value chain. In Computer Games and New Media Cultures: A Handbook of Digital
Games Studies, ed. J. Fromme and A. Unger, 371–391. Heidelberg: Springer.

Durdu, P. O., A. Tüfekçi, and K. Cagiltay. 2005. Üniversite ogrencilerinin bilgisayar oyunu oynama aliskan-
liklari ve oyun tercihleri. Euroasian Journal of Educational Research 19:66–76.
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Wolf—Video Games Around the World

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FOR PROOFREADING, INDEXING, AND PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES ONLY

578  CETIN TUKER, ERDAL YILMAZ, AND KURSAT CAGILTAY

Karakus, T., Y. İnal, and K. Cagiltay. 2008. A descriptive study of Turkish high school students’ game-playing
characteristics and their considerations concerning the effects of games. Computers in Human Behavior 24 (6):
2520–2529.

Newzoo. 2012. Infographic 2012—Turkey. http://www.newzoo.com/infographics/infographic-the-turkish

-games-market/.

Yılmaz, E., and K. Cagiltay. 2005. History of digital games in Turkey. In Proceedings of DiGRA Conference 2005:
Changing Views—Worlds in Play. http://www.digra.org/dl/db/06276.58368.pdf.

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