Inside Turkey’s $Billion Gaming Boom | Görkem Türk, Laton Ventures (TRVC 36)

Görkem is unequivocal about this: Turkey has the biggest mobile gaming ecosystem in the world. In this episode of TRVC, I sit down with Görkem Türk, Founding Partner of Laton Ventures, to explore how Turkey built its extraordinary gaming ecosystem — and why global investors are paying attention. More than just paying attention: this year so far 75% of all VC investments in gaming companies happened in the Turkish ecosystem.Görkem had a front-row seat to the rise of Turkish gaming during his years at Google, where he worked closely with many of the founders who would go on to build some of Turkey’s most successful gaming companies. That experience eventually led him to launch Laton Ventures, a gaming-focused VC fund that has backed companies including Grand Games and Rotate Lab.We talk about why Turkey has become so strong in mobile gaming, the concentration of global gaming VC investment in the country, and how successes such as Peak, Dream Games and Grand Games have created a growing pool of talent, capital and know-how.Görkem also explains Laton’s unusually hands-on investment model. Rather than simply providing capital, the Laton team can work alongside portfolio companies on user acquisition, marketing, data analysis and growth — operating in some ways more like a gaming company than a traditional VC fund.We also discuss Rotatelab, a gaming company based in Gaziantep with a fully remote team spread across 15 cities in Anatolia; why Turkish gaming could have a broader spillover effect on Turkey’s technology ecosystem; what separates enduring gaming companies from “one-hit” successes; and why Görkem expects Turkish gaming companies increasingly to become acquirers themselves.Finally, Görkem shares his advice for aspiring gaming founders: focus relentlessly on product and marketing, and choose partners who can genuinely help make both better.Chapters00:00 Introduction00:58 From P&G and Google to Turkish gaming04:00 Why Görkem founded Laton Ventures09:29 Why build a global gaming fund from Turkey?11:35 Grand Games, Rotate Lab and the investment strategy17:35 Why global gaming investment is flowing to Turkey21:54 Can gaming transform Turkey’s broader tech ecosystem?26:02 Inside Laton’s hands-on VC model29:13 Rotate Lab: From Gaziantep to a global gaming hit32:01 What separates enduring gaming companies from one-hit wonders35:12 Exits, M&A and the future of Turkish gaming39:19 Görkem’s advice to gaming founders40:53 How big is Turkey’s gaming ecosystem?43:39 Books, podcasts and Görkem’s closing thoughts