Turkish game market expands to $1.2B

ISTANBUL

The size of Turkiye's gaming sector grew to $1.2 billion in 2021, according to the founder of Gaming in Turkey, an Istanbul-based gaming and esports agency.

"There are over 165 professional esports teams and 8,126 licensed esports players in Turkiye," Ozan Aydemir told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.

The number of players in Turkiye jumped from 30 million in 2018 to 42 million in 2021, nearly half of them – 47% – women, Aydemir stressed.

The gaming sector had a market share of $853 million in 2018, $830 million in 2019, and $880 million in 2020, he said.

In 2021, Turkish game companies also attracted investments of $266 million.

Shifting to a bigger picture, Aydemir said the size of the global gaming market reached $176 billion in 2021, down $1 billion due to the coronavirus pandemic.