One of Turkey's leading gaming events, Gaming Istanbul (GIST) 2020, is set to gather tens of thousands of international gamers in Istanbul.

The four-day expo will kick off at the Eurasia Show and Art Center on Jan. 30, hosting gamers and gaming professionals from around the world. The expo will feature esports tournaments, cosplay activities, mobile gaming areas, seminars and workshops. Leading domestic and foreign gaming industry professionals will give lessons on video game development, design and marketing. The event will also host world-renowned video game and technology companies that will exhibit cutting edge technologies and trending games. Last year, around 100,000 people visited the expo.

The digital gaming industry has boosted its exports by more than 100% over the last two years, hitting $1 billion in exports last year, up from $500 million in 2016. Turkey’s Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan recently confirmed the Turkish gaming sector was valued at $750 million. She also said last year that the global gaming sector had reached $138 billion in value, a figure that is expected to hit $180 billion by 2021.

The digital gaming sector also benefits from TURQUALITY, the first and only state-funded branding program in the world – established in 2004 – to ensure that Turkish companies exporting goods around the world gain a competitive advantage by boosting branding potential.