“Turkic Game Jam” is an international game development hackathon organized by the Turkish Game Developers Association (“TuGDA”) and held simultaneously in several countries of the Turkic world. The event brings together game developers, artists, programmers and designers; participants work in teams to develop original game prototypes within 48 hours within a common theme stemming from Turkish cultural heritage. “TGJ” was first held in 2025 and completed its second edition in 2026. Over the two editions, the hackathon has expanded from five to six countries and has seen a more than 50% increase in the number of registered participants.
“TGJ” is held in a two-stage format. In the local stage, teams of two to four people develop a full game prototype within 48 hours from the official announcement of the theme. A local jury of industry experts evaluates the work and determines the teams that will advance. In the Grand Final, the finalist teams from all participating countries gather in the same host city and present their games to an international jury. The host city rotates annually among participating countries.
The first edition was held in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Hungary on 11-13 April 2025, with over 130 registered participants submitting over 50 games. The local stage in Azerbaijan was organized by Gamepons and IGDA Azerbaijan, with 14 teams and over 60 participants competing on the theme of "Turkish Myths and Stories". The top five teams were PixelNodes, Virtue, Compot Games, No Studio and Trojan Horse Studios; Virtue and Trojan Horse Studios represented Azerbaijan in the Grand Final on 9 December. The 2025 Grand Final was held in Baku, organized by Gamepons and IGDA Azerbaijan, with the support of the Creative Center and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and brought together the finalist teams from all five participating countries.
The second edition was held on 5-7 June 2026, bringing the number of countries to six with Northern Cyprus joining for the first time. Over 200 registered participants from all countries submitted over 80 games. These figures represent an increase of over 50% in registrations and over 60% in submitted games compared to 2025. The local stage in Azerbaijan, organized by Gamepons and IGDA Azerbaijan, with the support of the Creative Center, gathered over 20 teams and over 70 participants. The 2026 Grand Final will be held in Hungary.
“TGJ” themes are drawn from Turkic cultural heritage and are designed as game design briefs in an open format that allows for a variety of genres. In 2025, the single theme, “Turkic Myths and Stories”, invited participants to draw inspiration from the folklore and oral traditions of the Turkic world; This has led to the emergence of narrative, action and interactive works spanning a wide range of genres. Five parallel themes were announced for 2026: “Ceremony”, based on mechanics focused on ritual execution and disruption; “Nomad”, focused on movement-based mechanics; “Knot”, inspired by the tradition of carpet weaving, framed by puzzle and connection structures; “Sky”, referring to “Tengri” and Turkic cosmology; and “Fire”, embracing the hearth as a symbol, covering survival and endurance mechanics.
The Azerbaijani phase of “TGJ 2026” was implemented with the support of institutional and industry partners who contributed to the event in various aspects. The Creative Center acted as the “venue” partner of the local phase, providing the physical space in Baku where participants gathered for the 48-hour hackathon. After the conclusion of the local phase, the winning teams continue to work on their games, and the strongest finalists are selected to represent Azerbaijan in the Grand Final. Xsolla has confirmed its support as a travel partner, covering the travel and logistics costs of the Azerbaijani finalist teams that will travel to the Grand Final. This partnership reflects Xsolla’s broad commitment to the development of the gaming industry infrastructure in emerging markets; it goes beyond platforms and payment services to actively support communities and events that drive ecosystem development at an early stage.
The management of the Azerbaijan leg of TGJ 2026 was carried out through the HackathonHub platform developed by Gamepons. HackathonHub is a management platform that covers the full cycle of hackathon and game jam events from registration to certification. The platform combines registration, team formation, voting, live management and analytics processes within a single system.
Turkic Game Jam is organized by TuGDA; activities in Azerbaijan are carried out by Gamepons and IGDA Azerbaijan. Over the two editions, the event attracted more than 130 participants and 200-has grown from over 50 games to over 80. The 2025 Grand Final was held in Baku with the support of the Creative Center and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The 2026 Grand Final will be held in Budapest; Azerbaijani finalist teams will travel to Hungary with travel and logistics support from Xsolla. For more information, please visit turkicgamejam.com.
