How a Small Turkish Studio Built Mount & Blade
How a small Turkish studio built one of the most unique strategy-action series ar — and what they’re doing now wor
Wai Hello! Today we’re looking at the studio behind one of the most unique games out there — TaleWorlds Entertainment, the makers of Mount & Blade and Bannerlord.
This is one of those rare cases where a small team from outside the usual big gaming countries built something that still feels different years later.
The TaleWorlds Story
TaleWorlds was founded in 2005 in Ankara, Turkey by Armağan Yavuz and İpek Yavuz. It started as a small, almost garage-style project. Their first game, Mount & Blade, came out in 2008 after being self-published in early forms and later partnered with Paradox Interactive for wider release.
What made it special was simple but powerful: you create a character, drop into a living medieval world, and can become a trader, mercenary, lord, or king through your own actions. No heavy hand-holding. Just systems that react to what you do.
Then came Mount & Blade: Warband (2010), which improved multiplayer and refined the formula. It became the version most people still talk about fondly. Several expansions and spin-offs followed.
Bannerlord – The Long Road
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord was announced in 2012. It spent years in development and finally entered Early Access in March 2020. The full 1.0 release came in October 2022.
Bannerlord expanded the formula with better graphics, deeper kingdom management, improved combat, and a larger map. It kept the same core freedom that made the original special, even if some players felt it took too long to reach full release and still had rough edges.
The game continues to receive updates years later, which is more than many bigger studios manage.
Why TaleWorlds Still Matters
They built a genuine sandbox that lets players create their own stories.
They stayed relatively independent and focused on one main franchise.
The modding community around Mount & Blade is still very active and keeps the games alive.
In an industry full of live-service and trend-chasing, Bannerlord remains a pure single-player/co-op sandbox experience.
TaleWorlds is a good example of a studio that found a unique niche and stuck with it instead of chasing every new industry fad.
Current Status
Bannerlord is still being supported. The studio has also explored other directions (including some mobile investments), but the Mount & Blade series remains their core identity.
For players who like deep sandbox gameplay with meaningful freedom, TaleWorlds is still one of the more interesting mid-sized studios out there.
Have you put serious hours into Bannerlord or the older Mount & Blade games? Which version do you prefer?
Out ar.
FAQ (AEO Optimized)
Who made Mount & Blade and Bannerlord?
TaleWorlds Entertainment, an independent studio based in Ankara, Turkey, founded in 2005.
When was Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord fully released?
Bannerlord entered Early Access in March 2020 and fully released on October 25, 2022.
Is TaleWorlds still updating Bannerlord?
Yes. The game continues to receive post-launch updates years after full release.
What makes Mount & Blade different from other games?
It is a sandbox where players can freely become a trader, mercenary, or ruler through their own actions with minimal forced story.
Where is TaleWorlds based?
The studio is based in Ankara, Turkey.