StartGate hosted the Mağara Jam'23, Breaking Attendance Records

The seventh event of Mağara Jam, one of Turkey's largest game development events, took place at StartGate, Europe and the Middle East's biggest Digital Game and Game Technologies Entrepreneurship Center, from November 16 to 19. The Mağara Jam'23 event, spanning 72 hours, saw participants pushing the boundaries of their creativity by developing hundreds of games with the theme "Mysterious Machine." The game development event, which broke records with unprecedented participation, brought together developers with 150 physical and 5,350 online participants. Ataberk Palacıoğlu, the founder of Turkey's largest game development community, Mağara, stated, "It was an incredibly fun event. There was a warm atmosphere where participants both produced and enjoyed. We received wonderful feedback both in physical and online spaces. We will continue to improve our work at Mağara." StartGate CEO Mustafa Cihat Durmuş mentioned, "It turned out to be a more intensely attended event than we expected. Since StartGate took care of all the needs of the participants, they were able to devote all their motivation and energy to game development, resulting in the creation of hundreds of creative and successful games." Mağara Jam, founded by Ataberk Palacıoğlu, a game developer at StartGate, was organized this year at StartGate Campus, the largest Digital Game and Game Technologies Entrepreneurship Center in Europe and the Middle East. Game developers from different cities in Turkey developed games with the theme "Mysterious Machine" during the Mağara Jam'23 event held from November 16 to 19, lasting for 72 hours. Streams were watched for 6,532 hours Mağara Jam, organized for seven years, set a record for participation this year under the hosting of StartGate. Turkey's largest game development event, Mağara Jam, brought together developers with 150 physical participants and 5,350 online participants. The Mağara Jam website was opened for use after the event and received more than 166,000 total traffic and over 520,000 interactions in the first 48 hours. While the games on the website received over 40,000 downloads in three days, live streams on YouTube were watched by more than 100,000 people, accumulating a total of 1,343,500 views, and the streams were watched for more than 6,532 hours in total. In addition to game developers, investors, influencers, and other stakeholders in the ecosystem also gathered at StartGate Campus during the event. Pointing out that they have been doing this for three years, Mağara Jam Founder Ataberk Palacıoğlu said, "It was an incredibly fun event. There was a warm atmosphere where participants both produced and enjoyed. We received wonderful feedback both in physical and online spaces. We will continue to improve our work at Mağara." StartGate CEO Mustafa Cihat Durmuş mentioned, "It turned out to be a more intensely attended event than we expected. Since StartGate took care of all the needs of the participants, they were able to devote all their motivation and energy to game development, resulting in the creation of hundreds of creative and successful games." 405 games were developed; the best ones will be announced on December 9 at StartGate During the 72-hour Mağara Jam marathon, 405 games were developed. The games will first be subjected to public voting and then to the evaluation of the Mağara Jam preliminary jury. In the final jury voting, the developed games will be evaluated based on criteria such as visual appeal, originality, game design, sound and music, story and concept, and compatibility with the theme. The top 15 winning teams will receive the Mağara Loot Crate. Additionally, the top 3 teams will receive support from StartGate, including mentoring, training, and infrastructure facilities. The winners of the adventure, where the best 15 games will be determined on November 28, will be announced at the "Mağara Jam'23 Final" on December 9 at StartGate.