# Céidot Oyun Stüdyoları (2004 – 2014)

- URL: https://girisimcikafasi.com/en/startup-graveyard/ceidot/
- Sector: Gaming
- Country: Turkey
- Total funding: unknown
- Cause of closure: Ran out of cash

## What did it do?

Céidot was a game studio founded in 2004 at the Bilkent University technology park in Ankara, Turkey, by a team who dreamed of making their own 3D game. It pitched its ambitious project, Hükümran Senfoni, to publishers at international events such as GDC, then released the browser game Hükümran Senfoni Online, the Facebook game Umaykut and the strategy game Céiron Wars. In its final years the studio was based at ODTÜ Teknokent, the technology park of Middle East Technical University.

## Why did it shut down?

According to an interview Webrazzi, the Turkish tech news site, conducted with founder Erkan Bayol, the studio's first big project failed to win backing because international publishers doubted whether skilled talent could be found in Turkey. The browser version, Hükümran Senfoni Online, was launched without a revenue model and triggered the first financial crisis. Umaykut was a success, but the switch to Facebook Credits cut its revenue sharply; the game was sold to Peak Games and later shut down. Céiron Wars, on which great hopes rested, was judged too complex for a browser game and never reached the audience it needed. In the second half of 2013 the team began to break up because of financial difficulties, and a server attack in February 2014 accelerated the loss of players. In Webrazzi's assessment, the lack of a solid business plan was decisive at every stage.

## The story

Céidot's story began in 2004 at the Bilkent University technology park, with a handful of young people who dreamed of making their own 3D game. The team aimed high: they would produce their own trailers and even write their own game engine. When they went to the Game Developers Conference in San Jose in 2006, they met around 25 publishers, including Microsoft and Sony. According to founder Erkan Bayol, speaking to Webrazzi, the publishers liked Hükümran Senfoni's story and visuals but asked whether, if the game took off, enough skilled people could be found in Turkey to keep the work going.

When the big project failed to find a publisher, the team turned to a browser game, Hükümran Senfoni Online. Backed by the Turkish portal Mynet, it became popular, but it had a significant flaw: there was no revenue model. That led to the studio's first financial crisis. Next came Umaykut, developed for Facebook, which according to Webrazzi reached around 3.5 million players in three years. But Facebook's move of its payment system to Credits meant, by Bayol's reckoning, a 50 per cent loss of revenue. Umaykut was eventually sold to Peak Games and shut down some time later.

The team poured all its energy into Céiron Wars. It was a carefully designed browser game with real-time battles; yet it demanded too much commitment amid the pace of everyday life. Although it launched in early 2013, it never reached the audience it needed. In the second half of that year departures began because of financial difficulties; by December only 5 people remained of a team of around 15.

According to Bayol's farewell letter, published on the Turkish gaming site Oyungezer, the last employees left the studio in December 2013. The same letter says that Céidot remained an active company on paper after that date but had in practice closed; in March 2014 the office at ODTÜ Teknokent was vacated too. A server attack in February 2014 accelerated the loss of players, and Céiron Wars was shut down on 19 March 2014. In Webrazzi's assessment there were different mistakes at every stage, but what was missing throughout was a solid business plan.

Céidot left behind three games and a generation of skilled developers now working at companies in Turkey and abroad.

## Lessons

- Design the revenue model alongside the game; monetisation bolted on afterwards rarely works.
- A single change in platform rules (such as a payment commission) can wipe out half your revenue; diversify your dependencies.
- Alongside passion for the product, the team needs someone who thinks commercially and understands the business dynamics of the industry.

## Sources

- [Céidot has closed, but it will remain a success story!](https://webrazzi.com/2014/05/09/ceidot-kapandi-ama-bir-basari-hikayesi-olarak-kalacak/)
- [Céidot Closes Its Doors](https://oyungezer.com.tr/haber/ceidot-kapilarini-kapatti)
- [Céidot's Farewell Letter](https://oyungezer.com.tr/haber/ceidotun-veda-mektubu)
- [Céidot game studio bids farewell to the industry!](https://webrazzi.com/2014/04/21/ceidot-oyun-studyosu-sektore-veda-etti/)
- [Post-mortem: Céidot game studio has closed](https://dijitaloyun.wordpress.com/2014/04/23/post-mortem-ceidot-oyun-studyosu-kapandi/)