Building a successful game studio takes more than making great games. That's why we're bringing together people who have built, published, funded, and helped grow some of the world's leading gaming businesses. We're excited to introduce the first group of speakers joining Firstpoint Boost: Central Asia! • Mike Fischer — General Partner, Firstpoint VC • Jen MacLean — Co-founder & CEO, Dragon Snacks Games • Luke Dicken — Former Head of AI, Take-Two Interactive • Horace X. — Former VP, Strategic Investment, Smilegate • Bill Wang — Co-founder & CEO, Skystone Games • Mariusz Gąsiewski — CEE Gaming & Apps Lead, Google • Gus Curley — Principal, Lvp • Jeff Orkin, Ph.D. — Founder, Bitpart.AI From publishing and investment to AI, game development, and global growth, our speakers will share their experience directly with the next generation of game founders across Central Asia. And there's more to come. We'll be introducing the rest of our speakers soon! 📅 November 2–6 | Online, English Apply here: firstpoint.vc/boost WeFund Ventures, Astana Hub, IT PARK Uzbekistan, Yoshlar Ventures, Sherdor Games, Uzbekistan Creative Association, Creata Games, IT Park Ventures. #FirstpointVC #FirstpointBoost #CentralAsia #GamingIndustry #GameDevelopment #GameStartups #GamePublishing #GamingInvestment #StartupAcceleration #GameFounders

3 days left to apply for Firstpoint Boost – Central Asia!⏳ We're bringing together game studios from across Central Asia with experienced founders, publishers, investors, and operators from the global gaming industry. From publishing and marketing to AI, growth, and global markets, Boost is designed to help studios build stronger foundations and take their next steps. 🎮 Open to Mobile, PC & Console studios 📅 November 2–6, 2026 💻 Online | English ✨ Completely free to participate Applications close on October 23. Don't miss your chance to be part of the first Firstpoint Boost cohort! Apply now → firstpoint.vc/boost #FirstpointBoost #Gaming #GameDevelopment #CentralAsia

Great games can be built anywhere. Access to the global gaming industry should be just as widespread. 🚀 Applications are now open for Firstpoint Boost: Central Asia! We're launching a one-week global access program designed to connect ambitious game studios across Central Asia with the experience, networks, and opportunities they need to grow internationally. Taking place November 2–6, 2026, the online program brings together experienced global operators, publishers, investors, and industry experts. Throughout the week, participating studios will gain access to industry sessions, hands-on mentorship, one-on-one studio reviews, and Firstpoint's global community, along with 40+ partner perks. And the opportunity goes beyond the online program. Top-performing studios may have the opportunity to be considered for a fully funded U.S. industry program, featuring executive-level meetings, studio visits, industry roundtables, professional networking, and access to a major U.S. games industry event. We're excited to bring Boost to Central Asia together with our ecosystem partners: WeFund Ventures, Astana Hub, IT PARK Uzbekistan, Yoshlar Ventures, Sherdor Games, Uzbekistan Creative Association, Creata Games and IT Park Ventures. 🗓️ Applications: October 13–23, 2026 💻 Program: November 2–6, 2026 | Online | In English Building a game studio in Central Asia? We'd love to hear from you. 🔗 Apply here: firstpoint.vc/boost#apply #FirstpointVC #FirstpointBoost #BoostCentralAsia #GamingIndustry #GameDevelopment #GameStudios #CentralAsia

Last week, our Burak and Emre were in Astana for AI & Digital Bridge 2026, spending time with founders, investors, and the people building the region’s technology ecosystem. 🇰🇿 We also joined the LP & GP Summit 2026, where investors and fund managers explored the region’s venture ecosystem and its connections to international capital. Kazakhstan’s Grand Games offers one example of the gaming potential here. The team started with add-ons for PC games and went on to create Grand Mobile, which has surpassed 70 million downloads. Central Asia is one of our four focus regions, and stories like this are part of the reason. Being here helps us get to know the teams, understand what they need, and build relationships early. Thank you to Astana Hub, Alem Capital Management, and everyone we met. See you again soon, Astana. #FirstpointVC #AIDigitalBridge2026 #Astana #Kazakhstan #CentralAsia #VentureCapital #StartupEcosystem #LPGPSummit2026

From Türkiye to Central Asia, and now to the Caucasus, the conversations shaping the next generation of gaming ecosystems keep expanding. 🎮 On October 10, Mike Fischer and Burak Yılmaz will be in Baku as speakers at GAMESUMMIT Business Conference. At Firstpoint VC, we spend a lot of time thinking about where strong founder ambition, emerging talent pools, and market timing begin to overlap. Azerbaijan is one of the places where that conversation is becoming more interesting. Looking forward to joining founders, investors, and ecosystem builders in Baku, and to contributing to the dialogue around what comes next for gaming and entertainment across the region. If you’ll be at GameSummit, we’d be glad to connect. 🇦🇿 #FirstpointVC #GameSummit #Gaming #GameIndustry #VentureCapital #Azerbaijan #Baku #EmergingMarkets #Entertainment

🇺🇿 A studio’s story starts long before its first investment. So can an investor’s role. Our Emre Kesti joined the “High Risk, High Potential” panel at Game Cap during ICT Week Uzbekistan, alongside Akmal Salikhov, JP Isham, Hicham Nouhou, Vlademir Varenik and Tim C. For Firstpoint, the theme raises a question beyond which studios to back: how early can we become part of their journey? Central Asia is one of our investment regions. Getting to know founders, connecting them with experienced operators and helping them build their businesses can start well before a funding conversation. The cheque matters. So does the work before it. #FirstpointVC #GameCap #ICTWeek #Gaming #CentralAsia

🇰🇿 From Tashkent to Astana. After a week in Uzbekistan, Firstpoint’s Central Asia journey continues in Kazakhstan. Burak Yilmaz and Emre Kesti will be attending AI & Digital Bridge 2026 on October 1–3. For us, spending time in these markets is an important part of building Firstpoint. Meeting founders, hearing their plans and getting to know local investors and partners helps us understand each ecosystem beyond the numbers. In Astana, we’re looking forward to continuing those conversations, discovering new teams across gaming, entertainment and AI, and exploring opportunities to work together. Attending Digital Bridge? Get in touch with Burak or Emre. We’d love to meet. 📍 EXPO IEC, Astana, Kazakhstan 📅 October 1–3, 2026 #FirstpointVC #DigitalBridge2026 #CentralAsia #Kazakhstan #Gaming #VentureCapital

Meeting the people building Uzbekistan’s gaming ecosystem. 🇺🇿 During ICT Week Uzbekistan, we spent time at Sherdor Games, meeting the studios under its umbrella, getting to know their founders and learning more about their work. At Yoshlar Ventures, we explored how we could work together to develop Uzbekistan’s gaming ecosystem and where Firstpoint’s experience could contribute. 🌍 Central Asia is one of our investment regions. These visits help us better understand the local gaming community and build relationships with the people we hope to work alongside. Thank you to Aygul Minbaeva and Firdavs Mamadkhonov at Sherdor Games, and Abdulaziz Yakubov, Yahyobek Yusufjonov and Bekzod Sobirov at Yoshlar Ventures, for the warm hospitality and thoughtful conversations. #FirstpointVC #Uzbekistan #Gaming #CentralAsia

The map of gaming has changed before. Each shift changed who could compete. We see the next opportunity in how much a focused team can prove before it needs the resources of a much larger studio. For us, that makes the earliest stages more interesting. Across Emerging Europe and Emerging Asia, we look for founders whose ambition extends beyond their home market, and whose execution gives us a reason to believe in it. Building with less is only part of the story. What matters is how quickly a team learns, what it does with that learning, and how far it can take the business. #FirstpointVC #Gaming #VentureCapital #EmergingMarkets

One question we hear from time to time: “Emerging Europe and Emerging Asia is a broad investment region. How do you stay close to all of it?” The answer is not that two people try to be everywhere. It is that their time on the ground is part of a wider network. Our two GPs bring different relationships and perspectives to our work across gaming and entertainment. Their routes take them into different parts of the ecosystem, with deliberate overlap in key markets. Two GPs. Different routes. Burak Yılmaz, Mike Fischer But physical presence is only one layer. Our Venture Partners, local ecosystem relationships and sourcing infrastructure extend that reach beyond either GP’s travel schedule. Together, they help us build a fuller picture of who is building, what is changing locally, and what founders need as their companies grow. For us, staying close means understanding both the markets founders are building in and the wider industry they want to reach. A studio’s next publisher, partner or investor may be far from its home market. That is why local knowledge and international relationships need to work together. The goal is to get to know teams and ecosystems while they are still taking shape, not only once a market has everyone’s attention. #FirstpointVC #Gaming #Entertainment #GamingIndustry #VentureCapital #EmergingEurope #EmergingAsia #GameInvesting

Early-stage companies are rarely obvious. That is exactly why perspective matters. At Firstpoint, we wanted different perspectives around the table. Product and technology. AI and game development. Communities and platforms. Market building, partnerships and investment. Different disciplines, different markets, and different ways of looking at the same opportunity. Our Investment Committee brings those perspectives together as we evaluate the next generation of gaming and entertainment companies emerging from Europe and Asia. Because at the earliest stages, what matters is not only recognizing what a company is today. It is understanding what it could become. Meet Firstpoint’s Investment Committee: Luke Dicken, Jen MacLean, Bora Kocyigit and Yoshio Osaki. We’re fortunate to be building Firstpoint with these perspectives around the table. #FirstpointVC #Gaming #Entertainment #VentureCapital #GameTech #EmergingMarkets

Some of the best gaming companies are not built in the loudest rooms. They are built in places with technical depth, creative focus, and founders who understand global audiences from day one. Taipei has a lot of that. Mike Fischer will be at Taipei Game Developers’ Forum on July 15 and 16, spending time with the founders, developers, and industry leaders building across the region. At Firstpoint VC, we are looking for ambitious teams building the next generation of AI-Driven Gaming & Entertainment companies. If you’ll be at TGDF, come say hi. 📍 Taipei New Horizon, Taipei, Taiwan 📅 July 15 and 16, 2026 🔗 2026.tgdf.tw/en #FirstpointVC #TGDF2026 #TaipeiGameDevelopersForum #Gaming #GameDevelopment #VentureCapital

If you’re paying attention, you already know Southeast Asia is heating up. 🔥 Vietnam is not a side story. It’s one of the main ones. Early ecosystem. Hungry founders. Global upside. We’ve been spending time there for a reason. Mike Fischer will be speaking at Vietnam GameVerse 2026. If you’re building something ambitious, come say hi. #FirstpointVC #VentureCapital #Gaming #Entertainment #AI #Türkiye #VietnamGameVerse #VietnamGameVerse2026 #SoutheastAsia

🚀 Today is the day! 🌖 We are proud to announce the launch of Firstpoint Venture Capital, focused on investing in AI-driven gaming and entertainment startups. Our geographic focus spans emerging markets across Türkiye, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia. We believe the model proven by Türkiye’s gaming ecosystem over the past decade will increasingly reappear across other high-potential markets in Europe and Asia in the years ahead. Together with our world-class Executive Team, Advisory Board, and Venture Partner network, we are excited to back the next generation of founders building across these markets. 🔗 firstpoint.vc/firstpoint-vc-… #FirstpointVC #VentureCapital #Gaming #Entertainment #AI #Startups #Türkiye

Backing great founders is not just about capital. It’s about how you support them after the investment. At Firstpoint Venture Capital, we work closely with the teams we back to help them move faster and scale smarter. 🤝 Mentorship Hands-on guidance from industry leaders with real operating experience in gaming and entertainment. 💰 Capital Strategic early-stage investment with a founder-first approach. 🌐 Network Access to a global ecosystem of investors, publishers, mentors, and operators. Because building a great company is not a solo journey. It takes the right support the right connections, and the right timing. #FirstpointVC #VentureCapital #Startups #Founders #Gaming #Entertainment #AI #EarlyStage #StartupEcosystem #Scaling