Industry Leaders. Real Insights.

Cüneyt Devrim, PhD
Executive Board Member, GIST

Jason Della Rocca
Venture Partner, Griffin Gaming Partners
Founder, Execution Labs

Barbaros Günay
Cloud Solution Architect Manager, Microsoft

John Goodale
Contract VP, Nura Studios Inc.

Can Gürsu
Country Manager, Tencent Türkiye

Figen Çağlayan
Sales Director, Huawei Cloud Türkiye

Daniel Torbjörnsson
Head of Skills and Growth, Swedish Games Industry – Dataspelsbranschen

Jenny Brusk, PhD
Project Manager, Sweden Game Arena
Founder, DONNA

Tobias Sjögren
Head of Business Development, Alinea Analytics

Moderator: Dilara Keçeci
Founding Partner & CEO, Lorien Accelerator

Taedoo Um
CEO, Soulgames

Osman Erkol
CEO, 23 Studios

Pietro Faccio
Commercial Director, Universally Speaking

Burak Günsev
Chief Ego Operator, UGC90

Aylin Şahin, PhD
Managing Partner, Igniters Law Tech

Akın Semih Şahan
Co-Founder & CEO, Fuse Games

Efe Kethüda
CEO, Mediazone Games & WePlay Ventures

Keith Kawamura
CEO & Co-Founder, Shoreline Games

Atakan Cankorur
Co-Founder & CEO, Arvis Games

Volkan Biçer
Founding Partner, Ludus Ventures

Görkem Türk
Founder, Laton Ventures

Moderatör: Dilara Keçeci
Founding Partner & CEO, Lorien Accelerator

Fasih Sayın, PhD
Creative Director, Elyzio - Pera Coda
Faculty Member, Okan University Department of Game Design

Ertuğrul Süngü
Asst. Professor, Bahçeşehir University Digital Game Design Department

Dilara Keçeci
Founding Partner & CEO, Lorien Accelerator

Sinan Akkol
Co-Founder, GameDev.ist

Yusuf Toptan
Co-Founder & CEO, Nokta Games

Alper Kılıçalp
Co Founder, Compact Core Games

Moderatör: Mahmut Karslıoğlu
Digital Director, WIRED Türkiye

Özgür Karayalçın
VP, TOGED

Moderator: Cüneyt Devrim, PhD
Executive Board Members, GIST

Reigstration through: https://luma.com/lh8qsegd

Speaker: Caner Yeşil
Managing Attorney, Igniters Tech Law

A practical legal guide for gaming founders and investors, covering the essentials from company formation and governance to investment rounds and exits. This hands-on workshop with Caner Yeşil, Managing Attorney at Igniters Tech Law, will help participants navigate key legal considerations at every stage of building and financing a gaming business.

Asher McClennahan
Head of Games, Kickstarter

Registration through: https://luma.com/ves3lpq0

Speaker: Bora Özkut
Solution Architect, BytePlus

​Powered by BytePlus and hosted by Lorien Accelerator at Gaming Istanbul, join Bora Özkut, Solution Architect at BytePlus, for an interactive session exploring how generative AI can support game studios across creative production and content creation.

​Through live demonstrations of Seedance 2.5, Seedream 5.0 Pro, and SeedAudio 1.0, the masterclass will showcase practical gaming applications across AI-generated video, images, and audio—from character and visual development to promotional content and other creative assets.

​The session offers a practical look at how the BytePlus Seed family can help gaming teams bring ideas to life, accelerate creative workflows, and explore new possibilities with GenAI.

​What We’ll Explore

• ​AI-generated video with Seedance 2.5

• ​Image and visual creation with Seedream 5.0 Pro

• ​Audio generation with SeedAudio 1.0

• ​Practical applications for game production and marketing

• ​New creative workflows enabled by generative AI

​Who Should Attend

​Game studio founders, senior fund managers, creative leads, artists, designers, producers, marketers, and other team members interested in applying generative AI to game development and content creation.

​Capacity is limited, and all registrations are subject to approval.

N. Özge Akçizmeci
General Manager and MENA Region Leader, YouGov Türkiye
Entrepreneur

Canan ÜNLÜ ŞAHİN
Head of Clustering Department T.C. Ministry of Industry and Technology

Mustafa Cihat Durmuş
Chairman of the Board, StartGate
Executive Committee Member, Türkiye Oyun Kümelenmesi

Ahmet Nova YILMAZ
Director of International Affairs, Misa Games

Moderator: Sezgin ERZAN
General Manager, Biruni Teknopark
Executive Committee Member, Türkiye Oyun Kümelenmesi

Alper Mat
Co-Founder, OAT

Safa Sofuoğlu
Co-Founder, OAT

Oğuz Silahtar
Chief AI Officer, Transform Gaming

Moderator: Can Deniz Tokman
Venture Capitalist, 212 VC

Registration through: https://luma.com/nbffg8j6

Join our workshop, Funding Fundamentals: Models, Traction & Deal Math by Jason Della Rocca (Venture Partner at Griffin Gaming Partners), for a practical workshop designed for game studios navigating the funding landscape

​Powered by Lorien Accelerator, the session will cover different funding models, explore how investors evaluate traction, and break down the essential deal math founders should understand when raising capital.

​This workshop is open to game studios at different stages, from early concepts to launched titles. Space is limited, and all registrations are subject to approval to keep the session focused and valuable for participants.

Stephan Reichart
Project Lead, Gamescom Dev

Arvind Neelakantan
Solution Architect, Epic Games

Barkın Belen
CTO, Clerion

Cem Uçar
Co-Founder, Funexagon

Doğu Taşkıran
CEO, Stambol

Moderatör: Baturhan Gürbüz
Business Development Director, Lorien Accelerator & GIST

Christian Fonnesbech
Founder & Head of IP, Leverage

Speaker: Doğu Taşkıran
CEO, Stambol

Registration: https://luma.com/tcp1sqxl

AI is already making game production faster, cheaper and more abundant. But the bigger question is not simply how we make games with AI — it is how the game company itself changes when production is no longer the main constraint.

In this interactive leadership session, we will explore what it means to become truly AI-native: how teams and roles evolve, how humans and AI agents work together, where value shifts as execution becomes cheaper, and what this means for studios, publishers and investors. The central question is simple: If making the game gets cheaper, what becomes more valuable?

Kristian Roberts
CEO & Managing Partner, Nordicity

İbrahim Altunkes
Founder, DezzTech

Moderatör: Hande Özer Gürbüz
Founding Partner, Grantsary

Öznur Enli
Founder, Upside App Studio

Moderator: Barış Erdem
Game Marketer

Atakan Cankorur
Co-Founder, Arvis Games

İbrahim Halil Çiftçi
Co-Founder, Houf Games

Deha Çaman
Co-Founder & CTO, Lucid 11 Interactive

Registration: https://luma.com/s7guh5ye

Speaker: Christian Fonnesbech - Founder & Head of IP, Leverage

A practical, interactive masterclass on building stronger IP foundations around your game.

​The session will begin with common IP mistakes game companies make, then turn the discussion toward participants’ own projects. Together, we will explore how IP strategy connects to ownership, contracts and the rights chain, as well as the long-term potential of a game’s brand, world, and characters.

​Participants will leave with a clearer sense of the questions they should be asking—and the areas investors and partners may examine as a project grows.

​Key Discussion Themes

​Common IP mistakes and how to recognize them early
​Ownership, contracts, and the rights chain
​Building value around a game’s brand, world, and characters
​Connecting IP strategy with growth and investor readiness
​Applying these considerations to participants’ own games

​Who Should Attend

​Game founders, studio leaders, creative directors, producers, and teams developing original games or expanding existing IP.

​Capacity is limited, and all registrations are subject to approval.

Sunday, September 20 (Grand Final): Our 20 finalists who successfully passed the preliminary round will showcase their skills on stage. Please remember, stage performances will take place only on Sunday, September 20!