Total revenue for mobile gaming in Turkiye dipped from $620m in 2021 to $275m in 2022, despite rising mobile adoption.
The dip in revenue reflected a broader trend of lower revenue from games in the country, despite a strong investment culture and relative success of the gaming industry, according to a report from Gaming in Turkiye. Mobile users rose from 87m to 90.7m in the same timespan, and mobile made up over 42m players in 2022.
The dip in revenue can mainly be attributed to the depreciation of the Turkish Lira in comparison to the United States Dollar, which is used for most international trade. While in 2021 the Lira was comparatively strong, at 8.9 lira to $1, however in 2022 this shifted massively due to macroeconomic conditions, to 16.58 lira for every $1.
President of Gaming in Turkiye, Ozan Aydemir, was optimistic about the future due to strong player numbers but didn’t mince words about how it affected revenue “Although we are in a very good position regarding the number of players, the economic conditions force [down] the players’ purchasing power.”
Not so delightful?
The difference in conversation between the Lira and the USD is not necessarily a massive stumbling block for the Turkish gaming industry domestically. However, it may have outside investors, publishers and developers being more cautious due to the lower amount of revenue they might expect because of this discrepancy. This is in spite of the huge amounts of domestic investment taking place within Turkiye itself.
So does this deflate the potential rise of Turkiye as a gaming powerhouse? Maybe, but the rise of players does present an equally massive potential for a huge shift in the other direction. If and when the lira becomes stronger against the dollar, revenue will shift in favour of Turkiye, with that huge player base now generating even higher income for developers and publishers that take the plunge.
Last week, we reported that 81% of adults in Turkiye play mobile games.
