Turkish video game developers eye large Japanese market

ISTANBUL

Visitors walk past various booths during the preview day for the annual Tokyo Game Show at Makuhari Messe in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture on Sept. 26, 2024

Turkish video game companies are looking to enter the Japanese market through collaborations with key players in the Japanese video game sector, including Capcom, Bandai Namco and Deluxe Games Inc., Faruk Inaltekin, general manager of Bilkent Cyberpark has told state-run Anadolu Agency.

The Ankara-based technopark organizes annual international programs for its tech firms, which include around 320 Turkish software and hardware companies, Inaltekin said.

Their international initiatives focus heavily on gaming due to the industry's rapid global growth in recent years, according to Inaltekin.

Bilkent Cyberpark participated in a gaming event in San Francisco, U.S., in March and hosted a booth featuring Turkish game developers at Gamescom in Germany in August, he said.

Last month, the Japan-Türkiye Game Forum events were held in Tokyo and Chiba, bringing together Turkish and Japanese video game companies to explore collaboration opportunities, he noted.

“Turkish video game makers met Japanese firms to form strategic partnerships aimed at increasing the bilateral trade volume between the two countries. We also attended the Tokyo Game Show 2024, one of the largest events in the sector," Inaltekin said.

At the Japan-Türkiye Game Forum, Turkish firms engaged in over 200 meetings with investors and industry leaders, including Sega, to explore cooperation opportunities.

The event provided participating companies with insights into the global gaming industry and marketing strategies, particularly for entering the Japanese market, where gaming culture significantly differs from the West.

Inaltekin added that Bilkent Cyberpark plans to continue organizing such programs to enhance the competitiveness of Turkish video game firms.