Re-shaped by mobile technologies’ disruption : the videogame industry in Turkey

• Purpose - In this paper, we investigate the business disruption effects of mobile technologies for the videogame industry in Turkey. Previous research shows that before mobile gaming became prevalent globally, Turkish videogame industry was extremely small and lacked any success stories for either console or PC platforms.Design/methodology/approach - To capture the nuances of this disruptive transition, we performed structured interviews with industry experts and analyzed prominent discussion forums. We especially focused on answering the following questions: (1) how prepared were Turkish videogame development companies in handling the mobile disruptive change; (2) what kind of transformations they experienced in their business plans and practices; (3) how the disruption affected the way they viewed their customer base; and (4) what future disruptions they expect in their industry.Findings - Analysis of interview and discussion data revealed some recurring themes that we discussed in detail: (1) ability to handle disruptive change (e.g., technical resources and fast-changing industry trends); (2) business transformations (e.g., agile vs. slow development, marketing-oriented business practices, and market burn-outs); (3) re-definition of the customer base (e.g., generalizations, niche categories, piracy, and clone games); (4) future disruptions (e.g., AR/VR and the maturity of mobile gamers); and (5) other general themes (e.g, stigma about gaming and localization of global titles vs. local production of original IPs).Social/Economic/Sectoral value - In order to create a stronger local industry, state bodies and non-governmental organizations can facilitate positive outcomes from these disruption periods by addressing and creating solutions for the issues revealed in this work. Originality – This paper offers unique insights to understand the videogame industry in Turkey. 

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap -- Kommunikationsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications -- Communication Studies (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap -- Systemvetenskap, informationssystem och informatik med samhällsvetenskaplig inriktning (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications -- Information Systems, Social aspects (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap -- Medievetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications -- Media Studies (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Videogames

Digital Games

Games

Mobile

Disruption

Business administration

Företagsekonomi

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)