Mobidictum Conference 2026: How Foreign Game Studios Can Tap Into Türkiye’s Incentive Ecosystem

Introduction

For foreign studios weighing their next move, Türkiye game incentives have become one of the strongest reasons to look at Istanbul — and Mobidictum Conference 2026 is where many first hear about them. The event opens its doors on 7-8 October at the Istanbul Lütfi Kırdar Convention Center. Over 2,500 professionals from more than 65 countries will spend two days connecting founders, publishers, and investors from the gaming and app world. With sponsors such as Google Cloud, Xsolla, Yandex Games, and Crackle, and investors including Laton Ventures, Makers Fund, and The Raine Group in attendance, the event keeps growing as the anchor of the region’s gaming ecosystem.

Most foreign studios coming to the event already know Türkiye as a strong gaming market and talent pool. Less widely understood — and often missed entirely — is a different reality: Türkiye offers one of the world’s most generous state incentive ecosystems for companies that export games and software. Structured correctly, a studio based in Türkiye can bring its tax burden on foreign game and software revenue down to zero, reclaim more than half of its user acquisition budget from the state, and access hundreds of millions of lira in annual support during its branding phase.

This article is written for the foreign game and IT companies attending Mobidictum Conference 2026, or considering Türkiye as a base. We set out concretely which supports a company established in Türkiye can access, the current legislation these rest on, and how the process works. We also cover how attending the event itself can become a support item.

Abbreviations

• UA: User Acquisition
• HİB: Services Exporters’ Association (Hizmet İhracatçıları Birliği)
• DYS: Support Management System (Destek Yönetim Sistemi)
• A.Ş.: Joint Stock Company (Anonim Şirket)
• Ltd. Şti.: Limited Liability Company (Limited Şirket)

Why Mobidictum 2026 Matters

Mobidictum Conference has grown since 2020 into the region’s largest gaming industry event. The 2026 edition runs at a wider scale than previous years, with a dedicated PC gaming floor for the first time and an expanded indie area. Three stages, investor and publisher matchup sessions, founder mixers, and curated networking events fill the two days.

The attendee profile spans the entire gaming and app ecosystem: studio founders and senior executives, developers, publishers, Web3 entrepreneurs, investors, and service providers. A significant share of attendees comes from abroad, which makes the event not just a local meetup but an international business development platform.

For a foreign studio, Mobidictum means more than new publisher and investor connections. Those two days in Istanbul are also an opportunity to get to know Türkiye’s gaming ecosystem up close and weigh the operational advantages the country offers. The most concrete of those advantages is state incentives.

Why Türkiye? Türkiye Game Incentives for a Foreign Studio

Türkiye’s rise in the gaming sector is no accident. Geographically, the country sits at the intersection of European, Middle Eastern, and Asian markets, giving studios targeting different regions a natural hub. A young, technically skilled workforce operates at a markedly lower cost than in Western Europe or North America.

But the factor that truly sets Türkiye apart for foreign studios is the financial support architecture the state provides for game and software exports. This architecture targets precisely the most expensive line items in a company’s international growth — user acquisition, platform commissions, cloud infrastructure, marketing personnel, and branding. For a well-structured company, these supports meaningfully reduce the cost and risk of scaling internationally.

What Does a Foreign Company Established in Türkiye Access?

Türkiye’s service export incentives were restructured by Presidential Decree No. 10962 of 27 February 2026, effective from 1 January 2026. The decree consolidated the supports aimed at game and software companies under a single framework and simplified the processes. The main support items a game or software company resident in Türkiye can access are as follows.

Zero corporate tax. In-app purchases, subscriptions, and software services sold to users abroad are treated as software and license exports. The corporate tax exemption on this income was raised to 100%; provided the full earnings are repatriated to Türkiye, the effective tax rate falls to zero. For most game and subscription-app studios, this income — the single largest line on the income statement — is now tax-exempt.

User acquisition and marketing support. 50% of international marketing, advertising, and user acquisition spend is covered by the state, rising to 70% in target countries designated by the Ministry. The support runs to an annual ceiling of 50 million TL per company, up to 15 million TL per product, and can be spread across as many as 10 products. For publishers with many titles in their portfolio, this flexible structure allows the budget to be distributed across the whole catalogue.

Platform commission support. Commissions paid to App Store, Google Play, and similar platforms are covered at 50%, with an annual total ceiling of 20 million TL. For studios running live-service titles with high transaction volumes, this is a line that flows straight to the margin.

Cloud hosting support. Cloud infrastructure spend on AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and similar providers is supported at 50%, up to 5 million TL per year. This item became a standalone support unit with the 2026 framework, and it matters especially for live-service games and global subscription apps.

Marketing personnel support. Salary costs of personnel employed in business development, sales, and marketing are supported — up to 90,000 TL per month for domestic personnel and up to 250,000 TL per month for personnel at overseas units, for as many as 10 people.

E-TURQUALITY branding program. For companies that reach a certain level of maturity, the branding program opens the door to support of up to 500 million TL per brand per year. This program is the top support tier, designed for studios building brands at international scale.

One of the most important aspects of this framework for foreign companies is that the company-age requirement in the previous system was removed. A newly incorporated Turkish company can apply for Takeoff Program supports from its very first day.

Attending Mobidictum Is Also a Support Item

Once a foreign company is established in Türkiye, it can also treat its participation in events like Mobidictum as eligible for support. Mobidictum Conference is listed on the Ministry of Trade’s Supported Domestic Events List (EK-16). The 2026 edition appears on that list under the IT sector, formally recorded with its 7-8 October 2026 dates.

According to the list, the support basis for Mobidictum Conference 2026 is set at 12,000 TL per square metre (excluding VAT) of booth space. The event does not hold prestigious status, so the general domestic event participation ceiling of 600,000 TL per event applies. Under current legislation (Decree No. 10962, related Circular Article 23), the support rate is 50%; the target country bonus does not apply to domestic events.

To benefit from this support, the participant must attend the event with a booth. Membership of the Services Exporters’ Association (HİB) and submission of the application documents to the Association within the required period are also mandatory. Because the list of supported events is updated by the Ministry, participants should verify the current EK-16 list before applying. This item should be viewed as an additional advantage alongside the main service export supports; the real financial impact lies on the export incentive side covered above.

The Roadmap for a Foreign Company

A foreign game or IT company’s access to Türkiye’s incentive ecosystem follows a defined sequence. Done right, the process moves quickly.

The first step is establishing a legal entity in Türkiye. Decree No. 10962 defines the beneficiary as “a company resident in Türkiye, incorporated under Commercial Code No. 6102.” This means opening a branch of your existing foreign company, or setting up a liaison office, is not sufficient; a branch is treated as an extension of the parent entity, and a liaison office cannot conduct commercial activity. What is required is establishing a separate legal entity in Türkiye: a joint stock company (A.Ş.) or a limited liability company (Ltd. Şti.). This Turkish company can be 100% owned by the foreign parent; there is no Turkish ownership requirement for game and IT companies. What matters is that it is a genuine business that conducts its own operations, holds its own contracts, and books its own revenue.

The second step is membership of the Services Exporters’ Association (HİB) and registration with the Support Management System (DYS). Both registrations are mandatory for Takeoff Program supports. The third step is proper documentation of expense items and submission of support applications through the DYS. The process runs as a spend-document-reimburse cycle and requires multi-year monitoring.

Compliance and correct documentation are decisive at every stage. A poorly structured setup can lead to supports being rejected or clawed back. That is why planning the process correctly from the start costs far less than fixing it later.

Common Mistakes

Choosing the wrong legal structure. This is the most critical mistake. Opening a branch of the existing foreign company or setting up a liaison office is not enough for support eligibility; the supports are open only to companies resident in Türkiye and incorporated under the Commercial Code. Sole proprietorships are also outside this scope; a limited or joint stock company must be established. Getting the structure right from the outset is far cheaper than trying to correct it later.

Overlooking the repatriation requirement. One of the core conditions of the zero-tax advantage is that the full foreign earnings are brought back to Türkiye. If this condition is disregarded, the exemption cannot be used.

Delaying HİB membership and DYS registration. Support applications are not processed without these registrations. When registration is attempted only after spending has occurred, past-period expenses can fall outside support.

Missing application deadlines. Both the service export supports and the event participation support are made within specific application windows. Missing the window means losing the entitlement.

Transferring IP on a single product. When a game’s intellectual property is transferred to another legal entity, future support eligibility for that product can be affected. Structuring the portfolio correctly from the start matters.

Frequently Asked Questions

When and where is Mobidictum Conference 2026?
The event takes place on 7-8 October 2026 at the Istanbul Lütfi Kırdar International Convention and Exhibition Center. Over 2,500 attendees from more than 65 countries are expected.

Can a foreign studio benefit from Türkiye’s incentives directly?
No. Decree No. 10962 defines the beneficiary as a company resident in Türkiye and incorporated under the Commercial Code. Opening a branch of the existing foreign company or setting up a liaison office is not enough. What is required is establishing a separate A.Ş. or Ltd. Şti. in Türkiye. That company can be 100% foreign-owned; there is no Turkish partner requirement.

Was the company-age requirement really removed?
Yes. Decree No. 10962 removed the company-age requirement for the Takeoff Program. A newly formed Turkish company can apply from its first day.

Does the zero-tax advantage apply to all income?
The exemption covers software and service export income aimed at customers abroad. Income from domestic users is not within this scope. The earnings must also be repatriated to Türkiye. For certain items such as advertising revenue, a separate assessment based on the geographic source of the income may be required.

How is support obtained for Mobidictum participation?
Mobidictum Conference 2026 is on the Ministry’s EK-16 list. A company resident in Türkiye and a member of HİB can, when attending with a booth, reclaim 50% of its participation costs under the domestic event participation support; the support basis is set at 12,000 TL per square metre of booth space. Application documents must be submitted to HİB within the required period.

How long does the process take?
Company incorporation can be completed within a few weeks. Support applications then proceed as a spend-document-reimburse cycle as expenses are incurred. In a correctly structured setup, initial applications can be made in the period following incorporation.

How Protesvik Helps

At Protesvik, we provide end-to-end access to Türkiye’s incentive ecosystem for foreign game and IT companies. The process begins with determining the legal entity structure that fits the company’s objectives; from incorporation to HİB membership and DYS registration, and from preparing support applications to reimbursement follow-up, we manage every stage under one roof.

Our expertise focuses specifically on service export supports for the game and IT sector. We manage, on the company’s behalf, which expense item corresponds to which support unit, the application deadlines, and the documentation requirements — securing regulatory compliance from start to finish. When working with international companies, we keep the process transparent through bilingual (Turkish/English) reporting.

We will be at Mobidictum Conference 2026, among the sector’s stakeholders. Companies considering establishing in Türkiye, or looking to optimize their existing structure for incentives, can reach us before or during the event.