IO Interactive Türkiye

What did it do?

In March 2023 IO Interactive opened its fourth studio, after Copenhagen, Malmö and Barcelona, in Istanbul's Maslak business district. The studio was to work on Project 007, Project Fantasy and Hitman, and was planned as the company's hub for the Middle East and Asia. The company had said it aimed to build a 150-strong team in Turkey.

Why did it shut down?

On 7 July 2026 IO Interactive announced that the external funding partnership for Project Fantasy had ended and that it had taken back all rights to the project. According to the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet, the partnership had been with Microsoft's Xbox division. The company said it would continue developing the project with its own resources and therefore needed to find a new balance for its long-term future. The Istanbul studio was the first casualty of that rebalancing, and many employees lost their jobs. The cost of sustaining big-budget games without outside funding left no time for a newly opened studio to mature.

The story

In March 2023 IO Interactive arrived with exciting news for Turkey's games industry. The Danish studio behind the Hitman series was opening its fourth studio, after Copenhagen, Malmö and Barcelona, in Istanbul's Maslak district. According to the press release reported by the Turkish gaming site Oyungezer, IOI Istanbul would be the company's hub for the Middle East and Asia and take on important roles on Project 007, Project Fantasy and Hitman. The company aimed to build a 150-strong team in Turkey; at the time it had close to 300 employees across its three locations.

The studio was led by senior producer Sam Doğantimur. IO Interactive CEO Hakan B. Abrak said he believed the Turkish office would take the company forward in both AAA and mobile. With this move, Istanbul seemed to have taken an important step towards becoming a centre for big-budget console and PC game development.

Three years later the picture was reversed. On 7 July 2026 IO Interactive announced that the external funding partnership it had set up for its role-playing game Project Fantasy had ended. According to Cumhuriyet, the backing had come from Microsoft's Xbox division, and the company decided to take back all rights to the game and carry on independently. Sustaining big-budget projects with its own resources, however, meant the company had to rebalance its costs.

In a statement on X, the company said the Istanbul studio was being closed as part of this rebalancing. According to the Turkish tech site LOG, the decision meant many employees losing their jobs. IO Interactive said it would try to support the staff who had lost their jobs.

IOI Istanbul's short life shows how the squeeze in the global games industry has reached Turkey. As major publishers withdraw their backing, newly opened satellite studios are the first thing a parent company cuts. The dream of building AAA development capability in Turkey has, for now, been put on hold.

Lessons for founders

• A growth plan that depends on external funding for a single project is the first thing to be cut when that funding is withdrawn.
• A newly opened office is the easiest unit for a parent company to sacrifice in a crisis; it needs to prove its worth quickly.
• When hiring at AAA scale, tell your team plainly how many years of funding are guaranteed.

Sources

1. IO Interactive is closing the Istanbul studio it opened in 2023 (LOG, 2026-07-07)
2. IO Interactive announces it has closed its Istanbul studio (Cumhuriyet, 2026-07-07)
3. IO Interactive Opens Its Istanbul Studio! (Oyungezer, 2023-03-15)

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