Good Job Games raises $23M to make better match-3 games in Turkiye

Good Job Games, a fast-growing mobile game company based in Turkiye, has secured $23 million in a seed funding round to build a legacy entertainment company for players of all ages.

That’s a lot of money for a startup, but Good Job Games was able to raise the large seed financing because it has a proven track record of popular games, Zen Match, Wonder Blast and Match Villains.

Menlo Ventures and Tripledot cofounder Akin Babayigit’s new games fund Arcadia led the round. It’s unusual for a game company to raise its first round of funding eight years after it started.

But Good Job Games, founded by industry leaders Ilker Ilicali and Nazim Akmandil, hasn’t needed money before as it had incredible momentum as a developer and publisher since its bootstrapped founding.

In its first two years, it became one of the most successful hypercasual game publishers with more than three billion downloads. The company has since sold its game Zen Match and recently shifted its focus to innovating the match-3 category and scaled the instant hit Match Villains.

“We are proud to have grown Good Job Games with no external investment thanks to our passionate and extraordinary team,” said Ilker Ilicali, founder and CEO, Good Job Games, in a statement. “Our success has always been powered by our team’s creativity, dedication, and craftsmanship to deliver exceptional games. We now also have great partners in Menlo Ventures and Arcadia supporting our next phase to scale our games and grow our player base. Our goal is to build a legacy entertainment company—one that creates genre-defining games with global appeal.”

Good Job Games stands out in the mobile game sector with its commitment to design and quality, and fosters a culture that prioritizes teamwork, creativity and growth. The team now has more than 100 developers, designers, and artists dedicated to maintaining, scaling, and expanding its entertainment portfolio. 

“At Menlo, we invest in gaming craftsmanship —and after playing over 1,000 levels of MatchVillains, I can confidently say it’s the best match-3 game on the market,” said Amy Wu, Partner at Menlo Ventures (investor in Epic Games, 1047 Games, and Tripledot Studios). “When you step into Good Job Games’ office, you instantly feel their relentless obsession with detail and player delight.”

Good Job Games is the first investment from Arcadia, the new mobile games fund founded by Tripledot cofounder Babayigit. Babayigit is also known as a quiet force advising and backing the top game companies born from the robust game development sector in Turkiye.

  

“Good Job Games has stormed the match-3 category with Match Villains, which has incredible long term retention metrics that are rarely seen,” said Babayigit. “They are the real deal and will prove to have staying power. Beyond this, Ilker and Nazim are truly generational entrepreneurs and incredible human beings, so partnering with them for the future was an absolute no-brainer.”

Founded in 2017, Good Job Games has set new standards in hypercasual and redefined the tile-match genre. The best games come from the best teams, and GJG brings together top talent driven to make an impact. With every game, the goal is to leave a lasting mark on the entertainment industry. The company has about 120 people.

Asked why they didn’t raise money earlier, Ilicali said, “In the early days, we didn’t need outside funding—our initial growth was supported by friends and family, which was enough for what we were building at the time. We started with hypercasual games, where success is more about strong ideas and flawless execution rather than massive resources. If you get those right, these games can grow organically without requiring significant external funding.”

Ilicali added, “Now, we’re aiming to scale in one of mobile gaming’s biggest and most competitive genres. Given its size and structure, gaining market share requires substantial investment. At this stage, bringing in the right partners is the best strategic move for GJG.”

And Ilicali said, “We also believe in a natural progression for creative industries. If you look at successful filmmakers, many started with short films or lower-budget projects before moving on to large-scale productions. The same principle applies to gaming startups—proving yourself with smaller productions before stepping up to bigger ones. That should be the main focus in the beginning, not fundraising.”

As for the goals, the founders said, “We want to make sure Match Villains reaches a massive audience. We believe it delivers huge entertainment value, so our primary focus will be on scaling the game and driving its growth.”

They chose the investors because they saw themselves as a product-driven company and believe that the team is the most important factor in building a great company. Both Menlo and Arcadia share this mindset, Ilicali said.

“They deeply understand the details that make a great game, what it means to run a product-first company, and the true value of a strong team,” Ilicali said. “We’re not big fans of a purely ‘business is business’ approach. We believe in putting the product and the team first—focusing on the details that drive real growth and long-term success. That alignment made Menlo and Arcadia the perfect partners for us.”

I asked how the company came up with its game and how it grew through the years.

Ilicali said, “For us, it’s a mix of strategy and passion. We love playing match-3 games—it’s what we’re passionate about, and the power of passion should never be underestimated. From a strategic perspective, match-3 has been consistently growing, and we believe it will continue to do so at a steady pace. It’s already a $10 billion market, and it’s not unrealistic to expect it to become the biggest genre in mobile gaming.”

And they said, “We’ve been experimenting in this space for a long time, gaining valuable experience along the way. When you combine our team’s expertise, passion, and ambition, Match Villains was the natural outcome.”

I asked the company if it uses AI in making games. The founders said, “We’re always exploring new technologies and tools to enhance our game craftsmanship. We have AI experiments in place and use it in parts of our pipeline, but it’s not yet a major part of our production. We keep an open mind—testing, observing, and evaluating. Time will tell how it evolves.”

As for the health of Turkey’s game ecosystem, Ilicali said, “What makes Turkey unique, in my opinion, is the high percentage of top-tier talent choosing the gaming industry. We have incredible artists, engineers, product managers, and marketers. As a result, teams here are naturally built with high-caliber people who can compete on a global level.”

Ilicali credited the success of Peak Games, which was acquired by Zynga (now owned by Take-Two Interactive).

“The biggest factor behind this ecosystem is undoubtedly Peak’s early success—it played a pioneering role, much like Intel did for Silicon Valley, proving that a globally competitive gaming company could be built in Turkey,” Ilicali said. “Culturally, while not every company operates the same way, the most successful ones deeply understand the value of strong teams and high performance.”

Ilicali added, “There’s also a generation in Turkey that grew up immersed in Western entertainment, which has helped develop strong instincts for what works in global markets.”