I wrote for Naavik about the wave of major funding rounds for Turkish mobile gaming startups. Read the full article here.

Why I wrote about this

Turkey has quietly become one of the most important hubs in mobile free-to-play. When two Istanbul-based studios announced massive rounds just days apart, it felt worth unpacking what they signal about the ecosystem Peak helped build.

This piece also provides continuation for the article I wrote about Dream’s previous raise.

The gist of it

Spyke Games announced a $55 million seed round led by Griffin Gaming Partners. This is one of the largest seed rounds in gaming history. While the team’s Peak Games pedigree makes investor enthusiasm understandable, the size of the round is striking, especially in a market where even prominent seed rounds have traditionally been in the single-digit millions. Spyke’s debut title, Royal Riches, is a casual slots game reminiscent of Coin Master. The company has not scaled up marketing for Royal Riches yet, suggesting that the raise will serve as a war chest for future user acquisition, either for this title or for something else.

Just a day later, Dream Games revealed a $255 million Series C round, valuing the company at $2.75 billion. Since its previous raise, Dream has scaled Royal Match to a $475 million forward-looking annual run rate. Notably, valuation growth (+175%) has outpaced revenue growth (+64%). Investors likely have confidence not just in the current hit, but in Dream’s ability to build more. At a 5.8x forward gross bookings multiple, the round reflects expectations that Dream can successfully expand beyond a single blockbuster.

The back-to-back announcements reinforce Istanbul’s status as a global powerhouse in casual mobile gaming. Peak Games’ legacy continues to echo through the ecosystem, with founders and early employees seeding new ventures. Turkey is no longer an emerging scene. It’s producing some of the industry’s most formidable players.

Key takeaways

  • A $55M seed round for Spyke Games underscores how strongly investors believe in Peak alumni—and in Turkey as a gaming hub.
  • Dream Games’ $2.75B valuation reflects confidence in future titles, not just the continued growth of Royal Match.
  • Scaling a single mega-hit is hard; building the next one while supporting the first is even harder.
  • Istanbul has cemented itself as one of the most influential centers of mobile free-to-play talent globally.