Dream Games vs SayGames

Makers Fund Closes $250M Fund IV

Makers Fund, a venture capital firm founded in 2016, has closed its fourth fund at $250 million, bringing its assets under management to $1.5 billion. Fund IV will invest globally across stages in the next generation of games and interactive entertainment, and the firm said it is expanding beyond games into consumer apps, entertainment and creation platforms. Makers has invested in more than 90 portfolio companies and reports that its $180m Fund I has distributed 3.6x the capital invested. The firm said it will use equity, project financing and marketing financing as needed to back founders.

• Makers Fund closed its fourth fund (Fund IV) at $250 million.
• The firm’s total assets under management rose to $1.5 billion.
• Makers has invested in more than 90 portfolio companies since its 2016 founding.

Bold Games CEO Outlines Strategy to Stand Out in Turkish Market

Bold Games, a Turkish mobile games studio founded by former Dream Games, Rollic, and Bigger Games employees, aims to differentiate itself through product innovation in casual puzzle games. CEO Ulaş Mergen emphasizes small teams, rapid prototyping, and a focus on mechanics and level design rather than just art execution. The studio recently secured a $6 million seed investment from Arcadia Gaming Partners, Makers Fund, and e2vc to build its team, not to scale its first title, Market Match. Bold Games plans to keep its team small (12-14 people) and aims to produce multiple casual puzzle titles over the next five years. Mergen also discusses the impact of AI on accelerating game development timelines.

• Bold Games secured a $6 million seed investment led by Arcadia Gaming Partners, Makers Fund, and e2vc.
• The studio was founded in 2025 by Ulaş Mergen, Baris Incesu, Atakan Tuglu, and Candas Demirel.
• Bold Games' first title is Market Match, a combination of Goods Sorting and Match Factory mechanics.

Free Report Released on Türkiye’s Games Industry

PocketGamer / Steel Media published a free downloadable report profiling Türkiye’s games industry, produced in association with video-games commerce company Xsolla. The report compiles data, interviews with industry figures, and studio profiles — including a Top 30 Türkiye Game Makers of 2026 list — and highlights why Türkiye’s games sector has been more resilient to industry headwinds. Physical copies are available at the Steel Media booth at Gamescom (Hall 2.1, stand E033).

• Steel Media published a free-to-download report on Türkiye’s games industry.
• The report was published in association with video-games commerce company Xsolla.
• The report includes data, industry commentary, studio profiles and a 'Top 30 Türkiye Game Makers of 2026' list.

What Makes a Publisher–Studio Partnership Last? Five Years of Building Tower War

New blog post published on October 6, 2026, discussing the five-year partnership between SayGames and Pavetra in building Tower War.

What Makes a Game Ready for an Entertainment IP?

In a guest post for PocketGamer.biz, SayGames COO Denis Vaikhanski discusses when a mobile game is ready for an entertainment IP collaboration, using the Tower War × Terminator 2: Judgment Day event as a case study. The collaboration was integrated into Tower War's existing progression systems rather than as a cosmetic layer, leading to over 2.5 million participating players, a 40% increase in in-app revenue, and up to 45% growth in daily downloads. Vaikhanski emphasizes that IPs should amplify already successful games, and that successful partnerships are built over years, as exemplified by the five-year evolution of Tower War and its developer Pavetra. The article highlights the publisher's role in creating opportunities and the developer's focus on game quality.

• More than 2.5 million players participated in the Tower War × Terminator 2 collaboration event.
• In-app revenue increased by approximately 40% during the collaboration.
• Daily downloads grew by as much as 45%.

SayGames uses analytics to tune hybrid puzzle difficulty

SayGames describes its data-driven approach to balancing level difficulty in hybrid puzzle games so that challenge, retention and monetisation coexist. Producer Pavel Korbut explains the studio’s test-and-learn process: release levels early, track metrics such as fail rate, churn, attempts, booster usage and rewarded ad views, form hypotheses, and run A/B experiments. The company stages new level chains to limited audiences and tests content packs before full rollout. SayGames reports steady in‑app purchase growth (May 2024: $3.53M; May 2025: $6.19M; May 2026: $8.49M per Sensor Tower) and highlights design techniques such as controlled “close win” tension and smoothing or shifting difficulty spikes to improve pacing and LTV.

• SayGames uses player data and continuous A/B testing to tune level difficulty in hybrid puzzle games.
• SayGames’ reported in-app purchase revenue was $3.53M (May 2024), $6.19M (May 2025), and $8.49M (May 2026), according to Sensor Tower.
• The studio tracks metrics including fail rate, churn, number of attempts, booster usage, level duration, and rewarded ad views to evaluate levels.