Abstract
In this chapter, the creation of a value chain during the process of digital games development in Turkey is discussed using a critical political economy approach. This study claims to be the first of its kind that intends to examine the topography of the digital game industry in Turkey and gives a brief history and describes the present status of digital games production in Turkey. All the components of a value chain, namely, the industrial structure and development process, publishing and licensing, distribution and marketing structure, labor force, legal regulations, and governmental policies will be considered in that order to map out the present topography of the industry. The final part of the study will deal with possible solutions for further development in the industry. At this point, the study stresses the fact that all components of the value chain must be performed uninterrupted if the actors in Turkey’s digital game industry desire to position themselves as “producers” in global or local markets.
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Notes
- 1.
Since the late 2000s, Korean online game companies and their local commercial partners (i.e., Game Sultan, Gameturk, Game Master, Üyelik-Al, GamesArena, and Gamersfirst) have invested in the expansion of online games (i.e., Knight Online, Silkroad Online, Metin2) via Internet cafés. For example, some 2.5 million Turkish users are actively playing Knight Online, and around 1.2 million playing Silkroad Online through game servers. (This information is based on an interview with Murat Yavuz Kaplan, the Game Master of Mynet, on April 04, 2008.)
- 2.
This chapter is based on the findings of the research project “Digital Game Culture and the Internet Cafe Usage Patterns of Young People in Turkey” and was supported financially by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey; it lasted 16 months, from June 2007 until October 2008.
- 3.
By the definition given by Nicholas Garnham, creative industry is made up of the music industry, dance, the visual arts, design, fashion, software, and the digital games sectors (cited by Hesmondhalgh 2008, 559). Yet, none of them has become a substantial area of production in Turkey. The share of R&D expenditures in GDP, which was 0.67% as of 2002, is quite low compared to the advanced countries in the field of science and technology. Even though public resources allocated to science and technology have been significantly increased since 2005, the share of R&D expenditures in GDP is still lower than 1% (NDP 2006, 39). Food, textile, chemistry, and mining are the major areas of production in the country. While the share of the manufacturing industry in GDP in Turkey was 19.2% in 2000, it went up to 20.8% in 2005 (NDP 2006, 42). However, in recent years, we see that some investments have already begun in areas defined under creative industry, and the importance of these sectors in the development of informational capitalism (Castells 2007, 487) has been acknowledged. In the Ninth Development Plan, innovativeness is one of the most important factors of the competitive economic structure, and a major part of the innovations results from R&D activities that produce knowledge and technology (NDP 2006, 39). Thus, Turkey will be positioned as a regional player in the field of software and services in the information technologies sector. In the context of techno parks, a structure for specialization of software activities to support regional and prioritized industries will be established (ibid., 96).
- 4.
These independent game studios are Yoğurt Technologies, Son Işık Game Studio, Sobee, Ceidot-Ceiron Game Studio, Zoetrope Interactive, Momentum DMT, Eurosoft, Tale Worlds/İki Soft, 7 Kare, Overdose Caffeine, Savaşım, and Emibel. For the games developed by these studios and the short history of game development in Turkey, see Table 24.1.
- 5.
Anadol is a famous brand name of automobile, developed in Turkey during the late 1960s and which was churned out. The car was produced up to 1984 and had some deficits compared with the high-quality cars produced in Europe and the USA at that time. Anadol in that sense is the symbol of weak national industrial production.
- 6.
Similar critical discourses are present in other countries (see, e.g., Kutner and Olson 2008; Meister et al., Chap. 19; Kringiel, Chap. 40). Apart from being significant for the industry, they also raise a number of educational questions. Fromme (Chap. 41), for instance, explains why public skepticism and legal regulations may also restrict modern approaches of activity-oriented media education.
- 7.
In Turkey, Internet cafés are regulated as a content provider by Law No. 5651 entitled Regulation of Publications on the Internet and Suppression of Crimes Committed by means of such publications, enacted by the Turkish government on May 04, 2007 and published on May 23, 2007 in the Official Turkish Gazette (Binark et al. 2009).
- 8.
See http://www.birgun.net/procs_index.php?news_code=1232018118&year=2009&month=01&day=15 (Accessed 15 Jan 2009).
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List of Interviewees
Armağan Yavuz, TaleWorlds/İki Soft
Başar Muluk, Yoğurt Technologies
Burak Barmanbek, Momentum DMT
Cem Uzunlar, Nette Hayat, currently Infosfer
Cemil Türün, Yoğurt Technologies.
Galip Kartoğlu, Zoetrope Interactive.
Hakan Nehir, Ceidot-Ceiron Game Studios.
Mevlüt Dinç, Sobee.
Murat Yavuz Kaplan, Mynet Internet Service Provider.
Yasin Demirden, Son Işık Game Studios.
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Binark, M., Bayraktutan, G. (2012). A Critical Interpretation of a New “Creative Industry” in Turkey: Game Studios and the Production of a Value Chain. In: Fromme, J., Unger, A. (eds) Computer Games and New Media Cultures. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2777-9_24
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