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As part of the fair, a technology and game festival was held between 9-12 September 2021. The finalists of the Next Game Startup Entrepreneurship Contest were also announced at the festival. In the competition, in which 72 teams and 122 people participated, the first team was Playumm, the second team was The Pack Studios, and the third team was Secred Games. Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç Soyer attended the award ceremony and congratulated the finalists.
Intel ESL Game Festival, which enables young entrepreneurs who want to take part in the game industry to establish successful game startups and aims to lead them to open up to the world by professionalizing them, was organized under the roof of Izmir International Fair. Various events were held as part of the festival, including console tournaments, Cave Game Jam and Digi Gaming Seminars. Also at the fair, the finalists of the Next Game Startup Entrepreneurship Contest were announced. Within the scope of the competition, a total of 60 thousand Turkish Liras was awarded to the winners by the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality; Marketing and operation support worth 150 thousand Turkish Liras was provided by Digi Game. All competitors who meet the AWS (Amazon Web Services) conditions will be given AWS Activate credits up to $25,000.
Izmir will be the capital of the game industry
Meeting with young players at Digi Gaming Seminars, Yemeksepeti Esports Marketing Specialist Aren Ünal said, “It is exciting for me to be in İzmir. The event is a lesson for both players and participants. Another pleasing side is that İzmir is a pioneer in both the esports and gaming sectors. I think that İzmir will become a capital city in the gaming sector. We still have a lot to learn on this side. The industry has grown in five years. Because five years ago, there was no field where we talked a lot about esports. At the point we have reached now, big brands are trying to read the masses correctly and act correctly. So they are very aware of the community here. Because for big brands, these are the areas where they can both develop them and appeal to the masses. Esports will develop a lot, especially in Turkey. We are trying to do our best here. It is very important for us to motivate and integrate young people who are interested in the sector in a way that will benefit Turkey. The presence of Turkey’s leading teams with their fans in such events will pave the way for our young friends. It was a good awareness,” he said.
“I am very happy to host İzmir”
Serdar Baran Ateş, who is the marketing manager of the STEAM game platform, stated that he has started to offer marketing support to small and large game developers in STEAM since 2014.
Ateş said, “I used to sell other people’s games. In 2017, I started to increase my experience by selling my own game for the first time. Since then, I have helped more than 100 games both in publishing, marketing and many other stages. I supported many Turkish game companies. There are companies that I continue to support at the moment,” he said. Baran Ateş said, “I am very happy that İzmir hosts such an organization. There are many game developer talents here. Everyone is waiting for this kind of event. They are waiting for opportunities where they can meet each other, express themselves, and carry their games from local to global. It was very nice for me to participate in such an organization,” he said.
“We will have consultancy service in Kuleizmir”
Serdar Baran Ateş said, “We will have consultancy service in Kule İzmir. We want to support everyone who makes computer games in Turkey in every field and take these games to a global level. We don’t want them to get lost in STEAM. We want to support all Turkish game companies or the talents who do this as a team but cannot be incorporated,” he concluded by saying.
Game companies at Izmir International Fair
Funmoth Games co-founder and CEO Doğukan Yelseli and other co-founder and COO Tolga Öztürk expressed their views on the ‘ESL Gaming Fest’, which was held for the first time this year at the 90th Izmir International Fair.
Doğukan Yelseli said, “My advice to younger youth is to make a breakthrough in this direction and not be afraid. I was 21 when I first started the company. Some things are learned by living. There is something called the entrepreneurial feeling. Today, we still manage the company with that startup spirit. Today, my advice is that we won’t know until we try. They should definitely try.”
“İzmir is trying to be the gaming capital of Turkey”
Yelseli stated that İzmir is trying to become the game capital of Turkey and said, “Just like the San Francisco of the USA, İzmir is trying to do this in the country. Seriously, very successful studios emerged in Izmir. For years, before Istanbul and Ankara, Izmir was already carrying out this event. If it continues like this, I think that there will be a serious influx here and even a studio in Istanbul will be moved here,” he said.
“The fair is really enjoyable”
Funmoth Games CEO Yelseli said, “The fair is really enjoyable. It felt like medicine, especially during this period. The teams here have made a serious attempt and are very successful. It is a very lucky event for them,” he concluded.
“Young people here are open”
Funmoth Games COO Tolga Öztürk said, “Young people here have a very bright future. These kinds of events really help them. We came today just for this event and fair. It’s very enjoyable. Employment here will increase as companies continue to support events here. This will also contribute to the economy regionally. The game industry is also an area where the most money and investments are made. I find this mission of İzmir very valuable.”
“It is very important to support such events”
İsmet Gökşen, who works as a manager at Ludus venture studio, said, “The environment here is really nice. People are happy to see this place. Supporting such events is invaluable. Turkey is a country with a young population and we, as Ludus, believe in this: The more we support this young audience, the more success stories will emerge.
Culture park and fair
Burak Yilmaz, investment director of Weplay Ventures; He stated that İzmir is a city he loves very much and that Kültürpark and the fair are one of the most beautiful parts of İzmir.
Yılmaz said, “It is a very promising event to hold this event about the game in such a place in İzmir. We caught a very nice wind. For about 3-4 years, very good investments have been coming and startups have been established. The gaming world is perhaps one of the industries in which we are most successful. It is very valuable for all of us to manage this correctly and move it forward. The support provided here is very important. Therefore, it is very important to create such an environment with the support of İZFAŞ.”
Game entrepreneurs are counting the days for the opening of Kuleizmir
Turkey’s largest esports game festival, which ranks 16th in the game industry with a global size of 170 billion dollars, will be held in Fuarizmir on 24-25-26 September 2021. The opening of towerizmir, which will offer the opportunity of professionalization to young entrepreneurs who want to take part in the game industry, will be held on Friday, September 24 as part of the festival.
