Turkey’s gaming exports were worth more than $1bn in 2018, Anadolu Agency reported the brand and marketing communication manager of the Gaming Istanbul 2019 (GIST 2019) expo as saying on February 5.

Meric Eryurek also said that some 600 enterprises work on game development in the country, while it was notable that more than half of Turkey’s population of 81mn are under the age of 25 and generally know the gaming sector very well, the news service reported.

Four hundred truckloads of coal equal a truckload of iPhones, but a truckload of a software brand, such as Instagram, can equal 400 trucks of iPhone, Eryurek was cited as saying, adding: “The [global] gaming industry has taken over the book and music sectors, Hollywood and Netflix in terms of income.”

Among the big five
GIST markets itself as among the five biggest gaming events in Europe and, given that Istanbul is at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, as the biggest gaming expo in the Middle East.

Gaming and technology companies such as Tencent, Ubisoft, Fortnite, Dell, HP, Microsoft, and Sony were due to exhibit at GIST.

The global gaming industry’s size was around $140bn in 2018, according to the Global Games Market Report, issued by the gaming analysis company Newzoo.

“Only the series sector is a rival for the gaming sector but it won’t last long… Projects which started with a 10-person staff are worth billions of dollars,” Eryurek reportedly added.

Anadolu also quoted Eryurek as saying that Turkey could be a bridge for the gaming sectors of Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. “Middle Eastern and European game firms are looking for a door to each other’s markets,” he said, adding that Asian companies wanted to find ways to reach the Middle Eastern and European markets.