We Organised Delegation to GDC 2024
Ten Turkish game companies attended GDC 2024 under the Games from Turkiye banner for the first time. Organized by TOGED and Bilkent Cyberpark with Ministry of Trade support, the delegation held over 250 meetings at GDC and PocketGamer Connects. Tugbek Olek spoke at Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco.
3 min read
San Francisco in March belongs to GDC, and in 2024, Turkiye finally showed up to it properly.
Ten Turkish game studios landed at GDC 2024 under a single flag: Games from Turkiye. The program was organized by TOGED and Bilkent Cyberpark with support from the Ministry of Trade, and Setimedia handled the on-the-ground organization that made the whole week run. Not just the booth logistics, but the full coordination: the meeting schedules, the side events, the delegation's presence across multiple venues throughout the week.
The numbers tell part of the story. GDC pulls around 30,000 professionals. Within that, the ten studios completed more than 250 targeted meetings with publishers, investors, platform partners, and potential co-development leads. That kind of output doesn't happen by accident. It takes preparation, structure, and someone making sure the right rooms are in the right rooms at the right times.
The agenda stretched beyond the Moscone Center. The delegation was also present at PocketGamer Connects San Francisco, which covered mobile, PC, console, VR, and the expanding AI and web3 conversations happening across the industry. Setimedia Co-Founder Tugbek Olek took the stage there representing both Setimedia and TOGED, speaking on Turkiye's game industry growth, existing government support structures, and what the market actually looks like for foreign investors considering entry. The delegation also attended GenAI for Business San Francisco, staying engaged with the AI side of the industry rather than treating it as background noise.
The Games from Turkiye stands drew consistent foot traffic across the week. For studios making their first appearance at this scale internationally, the reception validated something the organizers had banked on from the start: arriving with a shared identity carries more weight than ten individual booths trying to stand out in a crowd of thousands.
What GDC 2024 established was a foundation. A model for how Turkish studios can enter global conversations, not one at a time, but together.
