Iranian developers gamify a 1,000 year-old poem

The story of how Amir-Esmaeil Bozorgzadeh first met Hossein Jalali, his partner at their new startup, GameGuise, is “a MAKE Business Hub love tale,” he says.

Bozorgzadeh, who working at MAKE while running Conovi, a “digital doorway to Farsi-speaking consumers and businesses,” overheard Jalali speaking Farsi “with an American accent,” and they began discussing game creation in the Middle East. Bozorgzadeh began consulting with Jalali on a few projects, until, months later, as both were brainstorming game concepts, they hit upon an idea close to their hearts: a social game based on the Shahnameh, a 1,000 year-old epic Persian poem.

Immediately, they realized how unique the game could be for players like themselves, who grew up outside the country. “Iran has been in a cocoon for so long, for most of our adult lives,” Bozorgzadeh explains. “In recent times, there hasn’t been enough effort to promulgate this content outside Iran.”

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Iranian developers gamify a 1,000 year-old poem