'Turkey can be bridge for gaming sector'

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey can be a bridge for the gaming sector in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, said the brand and marketing communication manager of Gaming Istanbul (GIST) expo.

"Middle Eastern and European game firms are looking for a door to each others' markets," Meric Eryurek told Anadolu Agency.

Asian companies also want to reach the Middle East and European markets. Turkey is the best country due to its stable economy and legal system, he added.

"The GIST expo is among five biggest gaming events in Europe. It is also the biggest gaming expo in the Middle East," Eryurek underlined.

He said renowned gaming and technology companies, such as Tencent, Ubisoft, Fortnite, Dell, HP, Microsoft, and Sony, will join the GIST.

More than half of Turkey's population is under the age of 25 and they know the gaming sector very well, he said.

Some 600 firms work on game developing in the country, he recalled.

He added Turkey's gaming exports were over $1 billion in 2018.

"The gaming industry took over book and music sectors, Hollywood and Netflix in terms of incomes," he noted.

The global gaming industry's size was around $140 billion in 2018, according to the Global Games Market Report, issued by the game analyze company Newzoo.

"Only the series sector is rival for the gaming sector but it won't last long," Eryurek added.

With respect to investments, the gaming sector also passed automotive and medical sectors in the global arena, he highlighted.

He said: "Projects which started as 10-person staff are worth billions of dollar. The gaming sector is the real smokeless industry."

Four hundred truckloads of coal equal a truckload of iPhone, but a software -- such as Instagram -- can equal 400 trucks of iPhone, he asserted.