LDC Top 50 2024
Fatih Haltas
Founder
Matchingham Games
Computer scientist Fatih Haltas started making games in 2013. “Your product can go global overnight,” he explains. “This is an industry that makes unicorns.” He launched Matchingham Games four years ago, focusing on puzzle and quiz games to keep players’ minds active, and has achieved 700m downloads – which is unheard of for a small, privately-owned studio.
Hits include Braindom, Flashback, Food Match 3D and Triple Match City. “Before I die, I intend to reach every smartphone user in the world” he says. “We will hit £50m in turnover this year, and I won’t stop until we are number one in the industry.”
Before I die, I intend to reach every smartphone user in the world.”
Q&A
How will you grow this business?
We create and test up to 20 new ideas a month and between 5% and 10% of those games get made and become hits. We are now running A/B tests to help us improve our existing games and I believe that will help us reach even more users. Now that we are profitable, we can keep taking bigger risks. We’re focusing on new, innovative games that won’t just attract gamers, but anyone with a smartphone.
Where does your ambition come from?
You only live one life, and I believe in taking risks. Since childhood, I’ve had a passion for experiencing new things and that’s ultimately why I wanted to work in the creative and entertainment industry. I didn’t want to follow a standard path in life.
What’s unique about your team?
We have 28 people in the UK and 96 in Turkey. No one in the company has to visit the office. Some people in the same team have never met, but they know each other’s Slack ID and that’s what matters. They are smart, creative and efficient. They focus on creating innovative and fun things, and we don’t impose old fashioned corporate policies like dress codes and set working hours.
We also believe machines and software should manage routine tasks, so our people can take the lead on creativity. That’s why we use a lot of automation. We make the games we want to play and it’s paying off – last year, our games were the 18th most downloaded in the USA and 21st most downloaded worldwide.
