LogInAzerbaijan is actively building a digitally skilled workforce with more than 500 professionals involved in this industry. However, there’s still room to boost rural talent access and close the skills gap to unlock its full potential.
Current Outlook on Talent Development
The Digital Economy Development Strategy 2025 outlines 51 initiatives emphasizing human capital development, innovation promotion, and digitalization of business processes, aiming to create conditions for sustainable digital ecosystem growth. IGDA Azerbaijan also focuses on workforce strengthening not only in Baku, but also in other thriving regions.
Ilgar Alirzayev | Chair of the IGDA Azerbaijan Chapter, Co-founder and COO of Gamepons:
Since the launch of our chapter in August 2023, we have focused on three core pillars:
- -Community-building through events such as workshops, seminars, and meetups;
- -Education via gamedev courses;
- -Talent development and acceleration through incubation programs and game jams, organized in partnership with Gamepons, with a strong focus on regional outreach.
We’ve placed special emphasis on supporting emerging talent in regions like Ganja and Nakhchivan, while also strengthening the existing gamedev community in Baku and Absheron.
In May 2025, IDDA, in partnership with Xsolla and StarNest, officially launched the Xsolla Incubation Program. The program supported 10 selected Azerbaijani game studios, offering mentorship from over 40 international experts, structured training in global business models, and strategic guidance in marketing, publishing, and investor pitching.
At the end of the Xsolla/IDDA Incubation Program, the winners were revealed: Cool Bears Game Studio claimed first place with a prize of 100,000 AZN, Exterra secured second place, earning 75,000 AZN, and Dynamic Box took third place, receiving 50,000 AZN.
It is another initiative that plans to train 90 young Azerbaijani developers, providing comprehensive education in game development, industry-standard practices, and mentorship from global experts.
Nikita Yudin, Project Manager at Innovation Ecosystem Department at IDDA Azerbaijan:
IDDA and Xsolla have partnered to help grow the gaming industry in Azerbaijan. One of our first initiatives is launching an academy together. We are currently enrolling 90 people from Azerbaijan as a pilot group and offering them a free one-year training program. They will be able to learn from the global brand Xsolla and gain the experience and knowledge needed to run game studios. By the end of the training, participants will receive an international certification. The second group will include 150 people, which means that more and more individuals will get an opportunity to study at this academy.
IDDA and Gamepons pre-incubation program
In early 2025, IDDA partnered with Gamepons to launch a 3-month pre-incubation program supporting promising Azerbaijani game development teams. Participants received access to 24 training sessions and 10 international masterclasses. The top team was awarded AZN 10,000 (USD 5,882). Gamepons is an active member of the Game Incubators Special Interest Group (SIG) under the IGDA.
Facing Talent Challenges
Gamedev education is just starting to grow in the country. Although younger generations in Azerbaijan are increasingly showing interest in games, there’s still a significant talent gap. One of the main reasons is Azerbaijan's economic structure: the oil industry remains a dominant strategic direction, attracting a lot of workforce in the country.
Some public universities have introduced game-related programs, and private coding schools offer relevant courses. Our experts highlight the importance of the MAGnUS program, which is an interdisciplinary Master’s degree initiative focusing on mobile applications and game development. However, the country lacks a specialized game development faculty. Existing academic programs tend to focus more broadly on related fields like computer science, software engineering, or digital media rather than specialized game development degrees.
Vusal Karimli | Co-founder and CEO of Gamepons:
A career in gamedev isn’t popular among people in Azerbaijan. There are no guarantees that you’ll be employed, or that the studio you’re working for will still be around in the next few years. Overall, game development education is an emerging field. There is no dedicated school that specializes exclusively in game development. Two universities offer a degree in game development, and there are a few private schools that provide courses in related fields. Most of the talent in game development is self-taught.
The overall education quality still has room for improvement, and the number of specializations remains limited, so gaming studios often have to cultivate niche talent internally.
Mia Omarova | Co-founder of Cool Bears:
Talent remains a challenge for us because the industry is still very young. I know that in recent years, some public universities have started offering game development programs. Of course, the quality of education needs to improve to meet the needs of studios, but it’s great that first steps are being taken. There are also private programming courses, but in many cases, the skills taught there fall short of industry standards. That’s why we often have to invest in training ourselves and grow our own talent.
Looking at the gamedev skills, in line with global trends, Azerbaijan has a pool of talent in 3D art, while 2D fields remain less developed. The country lacks technical artists, concept artists, and game designers, as well as DevOps engineers and network programmers, who are in high demand across both gaming and commercial sectors.
Farid Haqverdiyev | Founder of AzDimension and Game Сoordinator at Gamesummit:
What we really lack are specialists needed in both game development and commercial sectors, for example, DevOps engineers, network programmers, and technical artists. We also don’t have people who can deeply modify or rewrite a game engine. That’s a rare skill even globally. We also need more experienced game designers. While we do have game designers, including in our studio, many of them lack practical experience. You can clearly see the difference in design depth when comparing our games to well-polished international titles. So, while we do have talent capable of making games and even some who meet global standards, we’re missing those highly specialized experts that are rare everywhere, and especially scarce in Azerbaijan.
It’s also hard for local studios to keep skilled professionals. Since most Azerbaijani companies can’t offer competitive salaries, many developers choose to work abroad.
Shahin Aliyev | CEO and Game Producer at Dynamic Box Studio:
It’s challenging for us to compete against global entities, and I think that's applicable to some other upcoming countries like ours. When we have very strong talent, it's challenging to keep them, while foreign studios can offer salaries/benefits that are considerably higher than what we can afford.
What's Next for Education?
- Training talents in niche directions
Education in narrow fields is an important direction for game studios’ growth. Specified courses could offer a more flexible and scalable way to grow the workforce in areas like level design, technical art, concept art, DevOps engineering, and network programming. Game development education should be well distributed both in private schools and public universities.
Shahin Aliyev | CEO and Game Producer at Dynamic Box Studio:
I think we need more people trained in very niche areas within the region. It would be great to have training programs specifically focused on these fields, like a three-month course that teaches all the basics of level design.
Moreover, one of the things that we may consider would be an opportunity for these people to become part of other bigger companies for a short period and then come back, so we can get the experience of someone who understands how to properly structure game development processes.
- Funding paid internships
Such internships can combine studio mentorship with public financial support. This would allow young professionals to gain hands-on experience in real game projects and lower the financial barriers that often stop students from starting a career in gamedev.
- Exchange programs for students
Besides, our interviewees offer exchange programs for students so that they can get experience in large companies abroad and apply their knowledge and skills in local studios. At the same time, it can be fruitful to invite international experts and instructors to train students in Azerbaijan, helping raise the overall quality of education and introduce global industry standards.
Over the past few years, the industry has grown from a small group of enthusiasts into a wider community of studios, professionals, educators, and institutions. With the right support in areas like infrastructure, education, funding, and international collaboration, this progress can lead to a strong and competitive gaming industry.
Mia Omarova | Co-founder of Cool Bears:
Of course, building a strong game industry takes time. But I believe that in 10–20 years, a lot of the gaps we have now will be filled. When I talk to other studios, I often remember how things were when we started. Back in 2016–2017, when we went to events and talked about games, government officials didn’t really understand what this industry was about. It wasn’t taken seriously. But now things are different: more young people have joined government organizations, and they actually understand what we’re doing and why it matters. Because of this new generation, we’re finally seeing more interest and support from the state. So, based on how things have shifted already, I feel like we can expect even more progress in the next 10–20 years. And hopefully, the pace will continue to pick up, and everything will get stronger and faster.
If you want to get more insights about the Azerbaijan game industry, download our FREE report Azerbaijan: A New Gaming Market to Invest In.