Good Job Video games, a fast-growing cell recreation firm based mostly in Turkiye, has secured $23 million in a seed funding spherical to construct a legacy leisure firm for gamers of all ages.
That’s some huge cash for a startup, however Good Job Video games was in a position to elevate the massive seed financing as a result of it has a confirmed observe report of in style video games, Zen Match, Surprise Blast and Match Villains.
Menlo Ventures and Tripledot cofounder Akin Babayigit’s new video games fund Arcadia led the spherical. It’s uncommon for a recreation firm to lift its first spherical of funding eight years after it began.
However Good Job Video games, based by business leaders Ilker Ilicali and Nazim Akmandil, hasn’t wanted cash earlier than because it had unbelievable momentum as a developer and writer since its bootstrapped founding.
In its first two years, it turned one of the profitable hypercasual recreation publishers with greater than three billion downloads. The corporate has since offered its recreation Zen Match and not too long ago shifted its focus to innovating the match-3 class and scaled the moment hit Match Villains.
Math Villains is an enormous hit for Good Job Video games.
“We are proud to have grown Good Job Games with no external investment thanks to our passionate and extraordinary team,” stated Ilker Ilicali, founder and CEO, Good Job Video games, in a press release. “Our success has always been powered by our team’s creativity, dedication, and craftsmanship to deliver exceptional games. We now also have great partners in Menlo Ventures and Arcadia supporting our next phase to scale our games and grow our player base. Our goal is to build a legacy entertainment company—one that creates genre-defining games with global appeal.”
Good Job Video games stands out within the cell recreation sector with its dedication to design and high quality, and fosters a tradition that prioritizes teamwork, creativity and development. The workforce now has greater than 100 builders, designers, and artists devoted to sustaining, scaling, and increasing its leisure portfolio.
“At Menlo, we invest in gaming craftsmanship —and after playing over 1,000 levels of MatchVillains, I can confidently say it’s the best match-3 game on the market,” stated Amy Wu, Accomplice at Menlo Ventures (investor in Epic Video games, 1047 Video games, and Tripledot Studios). “When you step into Good Job Games’ office, you instantly feel their relentless obsession with detail and player delight.”
Good Job Video games is the primary funding from Arcadia, the brand new cell video games fund based by Tripledot cofounder Babayigit. Babayigit is often known as a quiet power advising and backing the highest recreation firms born from the strong recreation growth sector in Turkiye.
The library at Good Job Video games’ HQ.
“Good Job Games has stormed the match-3 category with Match Villains, which has incredible long term retention metrics that are rarely seen,” stated Babayigit. “They are the real deal and will prove to have staying power. Beyond this, Ilker and Nazim are truly generational entrepreneurs and incredible human beings, so partnering with them for the future was an absolute no-brainer.”
Based in 2017, Good Job Video games has set new requirements in hypercasual and redefined the tile-match style. The very best video games come from the most effective groups, and GJG brings collectively prime expertise pushed to make an impression. With each recreation, the objective is to depart a long-lasting mark on the leisure business. The corporate has about 120 individuals.
Requested why they didn’t elevate cash earlier, Ilicali stated, “In the early days, we didn’t need outside funding—our initial growth was supported by friends and family, which was enough for what we were building at the time. We started with hypercasual games, where success is more about strong ideas and flawless execution rather than massive resources. If you get those right, these games can grow organically without requiring significant external funding.”
Ilicali added, “Now, we’re aiming to scale in one of mobile gaming’s biggest and most competitive genres. Given its size and structure, gaining market share requires substantial investment. At this stage, bringing in the right partners is the best strategic move for GJG.”
And Ilicali stated, “We also believe in a natural progression for creative industries. If you look at successful filmmakers, many started with short films or lower-budget projects before moving on to large-scale productions. The same principle applies to gaming startups—proving yourself with smaller productions before stepping up to bigger ones. That should be the main focus in the beginning, not fundraising.”
As for the targets, the founders stated, “We want to make sure Match Villains reaches a massive audience. We believe it delivers huge entertainment value, so our primary focus will be on scaling the game and driving its growth.”
Good Job Video games is nice at match-3 video games.
They selected the traders as a result of they noticed themselves as a product-driven firm and consider that the workforce is crucial consider constructing an incredible firm. Each Menlo and Arcadia share this mindset, Ilicali stated.
“They deeply understand the details that make a great game, what it means to run a product-first company, and the true value of a strong team,” Ilicali stated. “We’re not big fans of a purely ‘business is business’ approach. We believe in putting the product and the team first—focusing on the details that drive real growth and long-term success. That alignment made Menlo and Arcadia the perfect partners for us.”
I requested how the corporate got here up with its recreation and the way it grew via the years.
Ilicali stated, “For us, it’s a mix of strategy and passion. We love playing match-3 games—it’s what we’re passionate about, and the power of passion should never be underestimated. From a strategic perspective, match-3 has been consistently growing, and we believe it will continue to do so at a steady pace. It’s already a $10 billion market, and it’s not unrealistic to expect it to become the biggest genre in mobile gaming.”
They usually stated, “We’ve been experimenting in this space for a long time, gaining valuable experience along the way. When you combine our team’s expertise, passion, and ambition, Match Villains was the natural outcome.”
The steps at Good Job Video games.
I requested the corporate if it makes use of AI in making video games. The founders stated, “We’re always exploring new technologies and tools to enhance our game craftsmanship. We have AI experiments in place and use it in parts of our pipeline, but it’s not yet a major part of our production. We keep an open mind—testing, observing, and evaluating. Time will tell how it evolves.”
As for the well being of Turkey’s recreation ecosystem, Ilicali stated, “What makes Turkey unique, in my opinion, is the high percentage of top-tier talent choosing the gaming industry. We have incredible artists, engineers, product managers, and marketers. As a result, teams here are naturally built with high-caliber people who can compete on a global level.”
Ilicali credited the success of Peak Video games, which was acquired by Zynga (now owned by Take-Two Interactive).
“The biggest factor behind this ecosystem is undoubtedly Peak’s early success—it played a pioneering role, much like Intel did for Silicon Valley, proving that a globally competitive gaming company could be built in Turkey,” Ilicali stated. “Culturally, while not every company operates the same way, the most successful ones deeply understand the value of strong teams and high performance.”
Ilicali added, “There’s also a generation in Turkey that grew up immersed in Western entertainment, which has helped develop strong instincts for what works in global markets.”
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