---
title: 'Software Engineer at Spyke Games'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-spyke-games-istanbul-yv822hmz7hfv'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-10'
---

# Software Engineer at Spyke Games

- **Company:** Spyke Games
- **Location:** Istanbul, Turkey
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2022-10-21
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/spyke-games/77ea64f9-0d67-4fc5-884b-0d6d5064abaa

## Job description

## About Spyke Games

We are a leading mobile gaming company founded by gaming veterans who have built and scaled massive gaming businesses for the past decade.

We want to build the next generation of mobile game franchises to be played by millions of people around the globe for years. We are bringing together the smartest, the most talented and ‘fun to work with’ group of people united around this single mission. Fostered with team spirit and collaboration, we strive to create a passionate, energetic and eager to learn “geek” culture focused on games.

We are looking for a Software Engineer to join our engineering team in Istanbul. You will design and build the backend services that power our live games — working across distributed systems, high-concurrency APIs, and real-time data pipelines. Gaming experience is not required; what matters is that you have built production systems at scale and you know how to keep them running.

Job Responsibilities

- Design, build, and maintain high-traffic backend game services on AWS using Java and Spring Boot
- Architect and evolve services handling real-time game state, player data, and live operations
- Implement and optimize asynchronous messaging and event-driven systems
- Ensure performance, reliability, and scalability of production systems under high concurrency
- Conduct peer code reviews and contribute to architectural decisions
- Monitor, debug, and resolve live production incidents to maintain system stability
- Collaborate with product managers, game designers, and game developers in an agile environment

Job Requirements

- 3+ years of backend engineering experience
- Deep expertise in Java and Spring Boot
- Proven experience building micro services and distributed systems
- Hands-on experience with Apache Kafka or similar messaging platforms
- Strong knowledge of relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL) and NoSQL solutions
- Experience with AWS
- Familiarity with containerized environments: Docker, Kubernetes
- Solid understanding of concurrency, network protocols, and system performance optimization
- Strong grasp of software architecture, design patterns, and clean code principles
- Comfortable reading and communicating in English in a technical context

## Nice to Have

- Experience with high-traffic, low-latency systems (gaming, fintech, e-commerce, or similar)
- Proficiency in a second backend language (Go, Rust, etc.)
- Familiarity with monitoring and observability tools (Grafana, NewRelic, Datadog)

We respect your privacy and will treat your data confidential as part of the recruitment process. If you’d like more details, please read our Statement of Personal Data Protection Law (KVKK)

## About Spyke Games

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Spyke Games is a mobile gaming company that creates casual puzzle games with a focus on high retention and rapid development cycles.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A; total funding $110M)
- **Headquarters**: Istanbul, Turkey
- **Founded**: 2020
- **Founders**: Rina Onur (CEO), Remi Onur (COO), Barkin Basaran (CPO), Fuat Coşkun (CTO), Mithat Madra (CMO)

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Mobile gaming (casual puzzle games)
- Target customers: B2C (mobile gamers, free-to-play with in-app purchases)
- Mission: “When talented people unite around a single mission and are given the freedom to operate, something magical happens. The end result is the creation of games that will be played for years to come.”

## Products & Services
- **Tile Busters**: A free-to-play puzzle game combining tile matching, sudoku, and mahjong elements (launched 2023).
- **Blitz Busters**: A 3D variation of the tile-matching puzzle game.
- **Royal Riches**: A social casual mobile game.
- **Yarn Loop**: A yarn-puzzle game.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed.
- **Key Metric**: Annual revenue of $5M (latest reported); total funding $110M across three rounds.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Griffin Gaming Partners (led $55M seed round), Moon Active (led $50M Series A), Endeavor Outliers, Endeavor Turkey.
- **Growth Signals**: 1800% annual revenue growth from 2021 to 2023; 89 employees (+14.1% YoY); three times higher 7-day retention than the top 25% of casual games; developed an internal tool that reduced game development cycles from 12 months to 3–4 months.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Speed of iteration**: Proprietary tooling cuts game development time by ~70%, enabling rapid testing and launch.
- **AI-driven personalization**: Uses AI to predict player behavior and dynamically adjust in-game experiences, boosting retention.
- **Ad-light monetization**: Shows fewer ads than competitors; relies more on in-app purchases, leading to higher player satisfaction and retention.
- **Founding team pedigree**: Co-founders previously built Peak Games (acquired by Zynga for $1.8B), bringing deep industry connections and proven execution.

## Strategic Focus
- Building “forever franchises” – games designed to retain players over years.
- Expanding portfolio to 4–5 core titles while maintaining fast development cycles.
- Leveraging AI further to optimize player experience and monetization.
- Strengthening local talent retention in Turkey while attracting global talent.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Emphasizes creativity, innovation, and freedom to operate. Co-founders are hands-on and focused on replicating the successful culture of Peak Games.
- **Work model**: Mix of on-site (Istanbul HQ) and remote roles (e.g., Performance Marketing Specialist, Product Manager, Game Developer) – check specific job postings.
- **Engineering & tech stack**: Unity, C#, Python, Java, Spring Boot, PostgreSQL, Redis, Google Cloud Platform, Firebase, Tableau, Looker, and more. Strong backend and data science teams.
- **Growth trajectory**: Rapidly scaling company with aggressive revenue targets through 2027.
- **Perks**: Not extensively documented, but the company invests in employee development and local talent. Office located in Şişli, Istanbul.
- **Considerations**: Employee rating of 2.9/5 (based on 7 reviews) – work-life balance rated 2.4, culture 2.5; may reflect growing pains of a fast-scaling startup.

## Sources
1. [LinkedIn](https://linkedin.com/company/spyke-games)
2. [CBInsights](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/spyke-games)
3. [Built In](https://builtin.com/company/spyke-games)
4. [Endeavor](https://endeavor.org/stories/behind-the-curtain-why-we-selected-turkish-startup-spyke-games/)
5. [Lever Jobs](https://jobs.lever.co/spyke-games)

## Other roles at Spyke Games

- [3D Marketing Artist](https://feeny.ai/job/3d-marketing-artist-spyke-games-istanbul-dnh1sgyjyynx) — Istanbul, Turkey
- [Product Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/product-manager-spyke-games-istanbul-zbsphawerh75) — Istanbul, Turkey
- [QA Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/qa-specialist-spyke-games-istanbul-ppr0v3g9jhnk) — Istanbul, Turkey
- [Level Designer](https://feeny.ai/job/level-designer-spyke-games-istanbul-yswrrxkhfj3x) — Istanbul, Turkey
- [Game Developer](https://feeny.ai/job/game-developer-spyke-games-istanbul-8haztkrbswe6) — Istanbul, Turkey
- [Data Scientist](https://feeny.ai/job/data-scientist-spyke-games-istanbul-e3b5a47q2gat) — Istanbul, Turkey
- [Performance Marketing Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/performance-marketing-specialist-spyke-games-istanbul-hmxtpb5zagw5) — Istanbul, Turkey
- [2D Animator](https://feeny.ai/job/2d-animator-spyke-games-istanbul-z5tb9p2zhgms) — Istanbul, Turkey
- [Senior Game Developer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-game-developer-spyke-games-istanbul-xepeqmq1fgk5) — Istanbul, Turkey
- [Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-trace3-colorado-springs-dcdm25jsktt8) — Colorado Springs, CO