Turkish game developing company Alictus has reached more than 40 million users worldwide who have turned out to be fans of the games it releases under the Clown Games brand.
Operating in the techno park of Middle East Technical University (METU), Alictus has carried out numerous research and development (R&D) projects since it was founded in 2013 and has received awards both at home and abroad.
Millions of people have been playing mobile and web versions of 20 games developed by Alictus under Clown Games since September 2016. These games, targeted for an audience in the age group of 13 to 65, have topped the lists of hottest games in their respective categories in the U.S., Japan, South Korea, France, Germany and the U.K.
Alictus founding partner Emre Taş, in a statement to Anadolu Agency (AA), stressed that the company has reached millions of subscribers without any advertising campaigns. The company reaches users by deploying a smart-content strategy based on data analysis, which he described as a significant booster of the company's activities.
As part of this strategy, the company analyses the behaviors of users who prefer Alictus games. The analysis enables engineers to draw on the data to help develop the next game or update existing games.
"We are a data-oriented game company. We prioritize data analysis to make our games successful, a strategy different from conventional game-developing methods. We have developed our own solutions that are useful outcomes for game developing," Taş said. A team of 11 people has turned the small game developing company into a global player, Taş added, drawing attention to prospects for further growth in audience.
Boas.io, which was released last month, managed to be named among the top 25 free applications in the U.S. in addition to ranking first in the European listings, including France, Germany and the U.K.
The average period of time it takes for a company to develop a game is around six to seven months, the founding partner of Alictus said and drew attention to the swiftly changing market dynamics. "When you spend six months to develop a game, consumer behavior might change during that period of time. The ability to develop games more quickly enables us to respond to the changing needs of the market," he said.
Taş also stressed that Alictus' export potential is growing exponentially. Exports in the first three months of this year have surpassed the aggregate exports recorded last year, he noted.
The size of the global video game market, which was valued at around $138 billion in 2018, is expected to reach $180 billion by 2021. Turkey, which is seeking to not just be a consumer but also a producer of video games, is increasing its support for local video game developers. According to the Game Developers Association of Turkey (TOGED), the country's digital game exports reached $1.05 billion last year, compared to only $500 million in 2016.
