The latest report into the gaming market of Türkiye from GIT(Gaming in Turkiye) reveals key facts about the healthy mobile games industry in the region.
According to the report, a whopping 81% of adults in Turkiye play at least one mobile game. Of all the mobile players in Turkiye, 51% are male and 49% are female, while ages 14 to 29 comprise 37% of players, ages 30 to 49 comprise 44% of players and the lowest stands at players age 50 to 69 with 19%. These are highly active players as well, 72% saying they play mobile games daily, while 22% only play a few times a week.
All of which points to a diverse and highly engaged mobile gaming audience within Turkiye itself. The top three most popular gaming genres were puzzle (including trivia and word) games with a 54% approval rating, card games at 52% and action/adventure games at 46%. The lowest two meanwhile were roleplaying games (13%) and party games (10%).
Turkish players also played for a variety of reasons, top of them being “to enjoy” at 65% whilst “to relax/relieve stress” was the second-most picked at 59%.
A highly representative gaming nation
Although Turkiye may not have the massive mobile game penetration of powerhouses such as China (where does?) it nevertheless boasts a significant portion of the population either frequently playing mobile games (41% playing more than 10 hours a day) or are at the lowest end, at least familiar with them (8% playing 1 to 2 hours a day). It may be that with such a mobile-positive populace, more outside interest should be warranted.
The survey indicates a healthy population of gamers that could, like Brazil, be a great testing ground for companies wanting to showcase their games to a diverse audience. As Tencent did with Honor of Kings when it launched in Brazil.
Türkiye in recent years has also been a fertile ground for venture funds and investment into the mobile gaming industry, something that has seen many of these companies expand beyond their original boundaries and into the wider global market. Whether that could be reciprocated and we see wider interest in the Turkish market would depend on whether developers and publishers feel they can reach and realise the potential of this audience.