Every studio has a beginning. Ours started with a simple question: why are we spending our best years building someone else's vision?
Magepunk Games was founded in Istanbul by a small group of people who had spent years working in 3D production, game development, and creative industries — but always inside someone else's studio, someone else's deadline, someone else's game. We were good at what we did. But we wanted more than that.
The concept was straightforward: build a lean, creative-first game studio that could move fast, make bold decisions, and create experiences that actually mean something to players. Not licensed spinoffs. Not mobile clickers. Real games, with real craft behind them.
Istanbul turned out to be the perfect place for this. The city has an incredible energy — chaotic, layered, full of contradictions. It bleeds into everything we make. The atmosphere of DAOM, set in a dimly lit jazz bar where nothing is quite what it seems, couldn't have been born anywhere else.
Tuncay Aydın brings years of international 3D experience — from VR/XR projects in the UK to high-fidelity game art across Unreal Engine and Unity. Mert Kaflı spent half a decade across post-production and game studios, building the kind of technical range that lets him move between modeling, animation, and rendering without missing a beat. Together, they form the creative core of the studio.
Keeping everything together is Aisha Talapova, our General Manager. Fluent in Russian, English, Turkish, Kazakh and Korean, she bridges communication across cultures and makes sure the studio operates at full speed — no matter how chaotic the development gets. Without her, none of this would run.
Around them, a small but dedicated team handles HR, operations, and everything else that keeps a studio alive. We're small by design. Every person here matters.
Our first two projects — DAOM and Penguin Heist — couldn't be more different on the surface. One is a darkly atmospheric multiplayer bluffing game for PC. The other is a cheerful top-down stealth game for mobile. But they share the same DNA: sharp mechanics, distinctive style, and the kind of personality that makes you remember a game long after you've put it down.
We're just getting started. Follow along at magepunkgames.com — or better yet, sign up to be the first to know when something launches.