New $5 Million Investment Fuels Peak Games' Growth in Emerging Markets

Thanks to a $5 million investment from Earlybird Venture Capital, Peak Games is on point to emerge as one of the leading social media companies in emerging markets. Aimed at fostering continued growth in some of the fastest-growing markets in the world – including Turkey and MENA (Middle East North Africa) – Peak Games will use the funds to expand, to release new products, and to bring their games to various mobile platforms. “Part of Peak Games' success has been driven by how the company reaches underserved markets with localized and culturally-specific games that employ strong engagement and monetization strategies,” the company wrote in a press release. “We've driven phenomenal growth due to our understanding of what players want, reflecting the culture and tastes that make high growth regions like Turkey and MENA unique,” said Sidar Sahin, founder and CEO of Peak Games. “With social media use exploding in markets such as Turkey, Brazil and the wider MENA region, we believe that the next big Facebook games will come from an emerging market. Thanks to this investment from Earlybird, Peak is well positioned to lead this second wave of social gaming growth.” Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities, is doubly impressed with the firm. “Peak Games demonstrates that the social gaming market is truly a global one,” he said. “Companies like Zynga and Nexon dominate in their markets because they fundamentally understand their customers and know how to create culturally-relevant content. I think Peak Games has done the same thing for Turkey and MENA and arguably already owns those markets.” Peak Games launched in October 2010. Since that time, the company has quickly established itself as the leading social gaming company in Turkey and MENA, “catapulting to the position of 10th largest social gaming company globally by number of daily active users (DAU) (source: AppData),” the company press release said. “Much of this rapid rise is due to Peak's focus on games based on traditional Turkish and Arabic card and board games, as well as localized content showing a strong understanding of its audience,” the company adds. Peak Games currently reaches five time zones, four continents, and five languages. More than two million people use Peak Games everyday, and more than 10 million gamers take advantage of the site every month. Okey and Okey Plus are among the most popular games. The company's full slate of titles includes Poker Star, Komşu Şehir, Komşu Kabile, İkon Kız (FabGirl), Bizim Dünya, Komşu Çiftlik and Petiler. Since December 2011, Peak Games' sales have grown by 3,216%. Peak Games says that in addition to developing its own IP, the company has partnered with several leading Western social game developers, including The Broth (which created Barn Buddy) and MagnetJoy (which created Pet Party). Both developers will create and publish localized versions of their titles for Peak Games. Jason Whitmire, a partner at Earlybird Venture Capital, is very satisfied with the company's results. “The success Peak Games has had to date proves that the next big game genres on Facebook will offer culturally-relevant content and deliver a fully localized experience," he said. "We believe that this investment will support the company as it taps the rapidly-growing social gaming potential in emerging markets." Adds Pachter, “Zynga and Facebook helped one another to penetrate the existing market, and Peak appears positioned to help Facebook penetrate new markets.”