Simay Dinç

Founder of Women in Games Türkiye, Social Impact Entrepreneur

MC Host, Speaker

Languages Spoken: English, Turkish

Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Digitalization, Future Trends and Technologies, Entrepreneurship, Games & Gamification, , Success Stories and Inspirations, Sustainability

Simay Dinç was born in Istanbul on 5 December 1986. A graduate of Istanbul University’s Faculty of Business Administration, she decided to explore the world during her first year at university. Driven by her entrepreneurial spirit, she created opportunities to study, undertake internships, travel and conduct research into the gaming industry in more than 40 countries between the ages of 18 and 28.

Dinç is the co-founder of Recontact Digital Arts and the producer of the Recontact Games series, which takes interactive cinema a step further through experimental work. Their first game, Recontact Istanbul, combined video art with gaming dynamics and was named Game of the Year on the Turkish App Store. It was featured in 153 countries and received prestigious international awards, including recognition at the Los Angeles New Media Film Festival and the International Mobile Gaming Awards.

She is a board member of OYUNDER, Türkiye’s first association for game publishers and producers, and the founder of Women in Games Türkiye. Since 2015, she has organised free training programmes, conferences and hackathons for 5,000 women across 40 universities.

In 2018, Dinç was selected by the British Council as one of four women leaders in the field of arts and culture and was invited to participate in a three-year programme. Through this initiative, she had the opportunity to work at Ukie, the Association for UK Interactive Entertainment, in London.

In 2020, she was presented as a global role model by Apple and Google Play as part of International Women’s Day. That same year, she was named a Rising Star at the Mobile Games Awards in London.

In 2021, she received a 21st Century Icon Award at a ceremony held at the House of Lords in the Palace of Westminster, London. The programme brought together 500 finalists from 35 countries.

Since 2013, Dinç has been working continuously to support Ayvalık’s Küçükköy in becoming a village of science and the arts. She is the co-founder of KıraARThane, a creative hub and contemporary art gallery in Küçükköy that provides children and young people with free training in game design and coding in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Invited to the University of Cambridge’s Sustainability Leadership Programme in 2019, Simay Dinç continues to develop projects focused on a sustainable world and the future of the creative industries, including Hacking the Future, Art Hackathon, C.A.T.S. of Small Village and Let’s WoW.

Additional Roles

Board Member, Global Entrepreneurship Network Türkiye — GEN Türkiye
Mentor and Jury Member, Google Game and Application Academy
Mentor, ARTLAB Milano
Mentor, US Consulate TechCamp Programme
Board Member and Head of Projects and Investments, TOBB İGGK
Angel Investor
Limited Partner at Rising Tide 1
Member of the European Business Angel Network — EBAN

Social Entrepreneurship

A Small Village, a Small World: 555 Years Later

Yeniçarohori, now known as Küçükköy, was founded by the Janissaries in 1462. The village was later home to Greek communities and, for the past century, to Bosnians. It consists of approximately 400 stone houses, around 80 per cent of which have been abandoned.

Through this special project, we aim to revitalise Küçükköy through culture, art and technology and transform it into a small world where international artists and creative entrepreneurs from different disciplines can work together.

Our vision is to create a new place where art and innovation provide a shared foundation—an environment nourished by art, where valuable, impactful and distinctive projects can be developed.

We are working to establish a new-generation working environment in which entrepreneurs and artists can collaborate. This model can be described as a new-generation creative cluster.

To date, nearly 200 artists and entrepreneurs who support social innovation have become involved in the project. In addition to 12 art galleries, a cultural centre and a conference hall, work has begun to establish a Creative Technologies Centre in collaboration with Sabancı University, one of Türkiye’s leading universities.

The centre will organise educational programmes involving academics and university students while also offering free STEAM education to children from Küçükköy and neighbouring villages.

Some of the leading places to experience when visiting the village include:

KıraARThane
Artura Gallery
Suna Tüfekçibaşı Studio
Galerida
Özgül Design
Kuca Ceramics Studio
Küçükköy City Museum
Kabbak House
Nedart

Exactly 555 years after its establishment in 1462, our village is being revitalised through science and art.

We welcome all artists and entrepreneurs who wish to inspire new ideas and contribute to this transformation.

Remember:

“This is not merely a small village; this is a small world.”

Digital Transformation

This Is Not a Coffeehouse; It Is KıraARThane

Together with my artist brother, Eray Dinç, we transformed a historic traditional coffeehouse in the village square into KıraARThane by adding “art” to its identity and turning it into a co-working space.

KıraARThane’s first project, Recontact: Istanbul, combined video art with mobile gaming. It was named the Best Mobile Game of 2015 by Apple.

Küçükköy’s first digital product reached 70 million people across 150 countries. We continued our digital harvest with our second game, Eyes of Sky.

Through KıraARThane, we offer a co-creative hub and shared working environment for creative entrepreneurs who want to work in a village setting.

Technology removes the boundaries faced by artists and entrepreneurs. Today, an artist or designer can work from our village, build a presence anywhere in the world and shape their creative production without geographical limitations.

Our long-term goal is to transform KıraARThane into a digital incubation centre.

Türkiye has approximately 30 million gamers, yet the number of young people producing games remains relatively limited. The idea of creating their own games excites the children of the village and attracts significant interest.

As a woman working in the gaming industry, I am delighted to have realised my dream of establishing a place in the village where children and young people can receive training in game design and contribute to the development of Türkiye’s gaming industry.

Young people in major cities may find it easier to access this type of education. Although providing such opportunities in a small town or village may initially appear utopian, dedication, effort and commitment can turn ideas into reality and create a source of social interaction for hundreds of people.

Technology and Art

The Village’s Digital Product: Recontact: Istanbul

Recontact: Istanbul was selected by Apple as Türkiye’s Best Mobile Game in 2015. It reached 60 million people through iOS alone and was also listed among the best games of 2016.

The game ranked first in the innovative and creative categories across 153 countries. It attracted considerable attention from both the Turkish and international media and reached millions of people worldwide.

The Istanbul Chamber of Commerce presented the project as a success story in recognition of its contribution to the international promotion of Istanbul.

On 9 June 2017, Recontact: Istanbul won first place in the Best App category at the Los Angeles New Media Film Festival, whose jury included professionals associated with the Academy Awards, HBO and Marvel.

In November 2017, we released Recontact: Istanbul – Eyes of Sky on iOS and Android. Featuring Ahmet Ümit as script consultant and Fikret Kuşkan in the leading role, it became the world’s first cinematographic mobile game.

Together, our two games have reached 100 million people worldwide.