Games have engaged people of all geographies, genders, and ages. From the simplest board games to pioneer video games and the latest hits, games have become an unseparated part of the modern world.

Eager to make their own contribution to the industry as well, game developers Soner Aydemir, Eren Şengül, İkbal Namli, Hakan Sağlam, and Serdar Yilmaz created Dream Games. Istanbul-based Dream Games combines creativity and technology to create leading mobile games for every preference and taste. Launched in 2019, Dream Games quickly captured the industry’s attention and drew in 6 million active users a month.

Dream Games is a keep-eye mobile gaming company, promptly expanding worldwide to reach more customers and expand its gaming offer. And here is how this Turkish tech startup became a mobile gaming giant with the help of five incredible developers.

The 5 Motivated Computer Gurus Behind Dream Games

Soner Aydemir grew up in Turkey. He was an ordinary boy fascinated with modern technology and gaming. Soner joined Koc University, where he gained enormous knowledge in the field of computer engineering. Soner graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science degree in computer engineering and even received a merit scholarship for his exceptional performance.

New opportunities soon opened for Soner, and he joined Microsoft Corporation, where he stayed for a short time but gained experience in the tech field. Soner changed a few positions across various companies as a way to boost his competencies in computer engineering and learn the craft of entrepreneurship.

While working in Peak, Soner met the four individuals who would become his co-founders.

Eren Şengül, for example, holds a degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Management from Bilkent University. He started his career in 2013 and joined Peak in 2015.

On the other hand, Ikbal Namli joined Koc University in 2009 and became a software engineer intern in 2011. He stayed with the company for over five years, changing positions. Simultaneously, in 2014, he received a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering.

Serdar Yilmaz and Hakan Sağlam were also born and raised in Turkey. While Serdar is a highly experienced 3D artist, Hakan is an experienced software engineer. Hakan attended Anatolian Teachers' Training High School in 1993 and became a student at Istanbul Technical University four years later. With a Bachelor's Degree in computer science, Hakan became a senior java developer. He kept working and changing his positions and companies and finally became a lead software engineer.

Dream Games’ Detail-Oriented Dynamic Team

As soon as Soner recognized Eren, Ikbal, Hakan, and Serdar's potential, he offered them to launch a new company together. After a long conversation and strategy planning, the five entrepreneurs that never had their own official business founded Dream Games in 2019.

Each Dream Games co-founder fulfills a role in the company. With Soner taking the chief executive officer position. Serdar took the art director position, whereas Ikbal became a director of software engineering. Finally, Hakan became a Chief technology officer, and Eren a product director.

Although the company was young, the dynamic team kept Dream Games lean and efficient, paying special attention to every single detail as well as the resources of the company. All five co-founders agreed to a 20% stake each, significantly contributing to the startup's success.

The Games Everyone Wants to Play

The first year of launching the company, 2019, meant full-steam work for the Dream Games five. Although the initial year was financially challenging, in 2020, Dream Games became a highly entertaining platform attracting more players by the day.

Soner was proud of the development team at the company as they have been working hard to deliver a rich portfolio of game titles for its subscribers. Soon enough, 'My Hospital-Baby Dr. Panda,' 'Hungry Shark,' 'Swing Punk!,' '81 Bubbles Numbers Game,' and 'Shark Revenge: Crazy Attack!' became some of the title options Dream Games had to offer.

The Royal Match game first launched in March 2021. While it was made available for both the App Store and Google Play Store - it was initially intended for selected markets only.

The development team at Dream Games created this puzzle game with great passion, and it turned into a real hit as it works both on iOS and Android. More than 6M active users play Royal Match regularly, and the game generates revenue of $20M per month.

Soner couldn't be more proud of what Dream Games grew into but continued to serve new games for all audiences. Such included Naughty Kevin, Ambulance Doctor Surgery Games, Sweet Baby Panda Daycare Story, Pet Hospital Vet Animal Doctor, and Sweet Animal Wash & Pets Salon.

A Winning Team

Thanks to the highly experienced team behind Dream Games and the strategies they used, the platform became a role model for a successful mobile gaming company. Many companies, including Ace Games, Rollic, and Jib Games, generate high revenues, but they are still far behind what Dream Games has achieved.

Dream Games stands out from the crowd because it isn’t a typical gaming company. It doesn’t only focus on gaming audiences but all those in favor of fun, challenges, and dynamics.

Of course, no game is without a fault. But, when some users reported that certain Dream Games’ titles malfunctioned, crashed, or had other bug issues, the team saw it as a challenge to grow better and stronger and immediately tended to the issue, allowing their users to game seamlessly once more.

Dream Games Funding

Dream Games started with a $7.5M seed investment from Makers Fund. They raised an additional $50M from Balderton Capital, Makers Fund, and Index Ventures in a Series A round in February 2021. The same year, Dream Games raised $155M from the Series B round when investors were Balderton Capital, Kora, Index Ventures, Makers Fund, and Institutional Venture Partners.

Within three months of launching Royal Match, Soner and his team achieved an overall company value of $1 billion. In January 2022, the company raised $255M in a Series C round and doubled its value to $2.75 billion.

Dream Games has never been listed on the world’s stock exchanges, as the company is blooming and growing without needing to change its private status. Although Dream Games might make a fruitful field for investors, the company isn’t open for public trading.

Dream Games, Today

With a headquarter in Istanbul, Dream Games is looking ahead to a bright future. In terms of their upcoming plans, Soner and his team plan to continue developing their mega-hit game Royal Match.

Among other ventures, the team also plans to start working on a new game title later in 2022 to both expand its audience and broaden its catalog of options.

And, aside from their current Istanbul office and employees, Dream Games plans on hiring more professional game developers and engineers and launching a few more offices worldwide. This includes the Asian market, focusing on China, South Korea, and Japan. The Dream Games team of five pushes forward toward new achievements and goals while keeping the audience’s interests in mind.

There is no doubt that the Dream Games team accused a revolution in the mobile gaming industry and earned its recognition. Moreover, they left a remarkable business success trail for other promising gaming startups to follow. Inspirational, versatile, audience-oriented, and exceptionally innovative, Dream Games continues to prove that no dream is big enough if you know how to play the game right!