MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Finland is renowned for its domination of the mobile sector, with giants Rovio and Supercell both hailing from the country.
This has potentially been driven by the region’s long history with mobile – handset maker Nokia contributed a quarter of the entire country’s economic growth from 1998 to 2007, according to the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
According to market tracker Neogames, 83 per cent of Finnish studios operating in 2014 were working on an iOS title, with 71 per cent aiming for release on Android.
Comparatively, 45 per cent were working on a PC title, with 12 per cent preferring Xbox and 13 per cent targeting PlayStation.
Titles on non-mobile platforms from Finnish creators have seen success, too. Colossal Order’s PC exclusive title Cities: Skylines sold over one million copies worldwide in just over a month after its release.
Additionally, established Finnish studio Remedy’s upcoming Xbox One release Quantum Break was revealed alongside Microsoft’s console, following the global success of the firm’s Alan Wake and Max Payne franchises.
An estimated 260 development studios were still actively working in Finland by the end of 2014.
The development scene is driven by start-ups; 69 per cent of all Finnish studios are estimated to be less than five years old. These start-ups have been propelled by bountiful funding; Finnish games industry investment totalled $28 million (18.7m) last year.
Research outlet Newzoo states that the Finnish games industry saw revenues of an estimated $205.8 million (137.1m) last year, with Neogames predicting that the entire sector will exceed a value of €1 (0.67bn) by 2016.
Population: 5,477,359
Capital City: Helsinki
Currency: Euro
GDP (Per Capita): $50,450
KEY RETAILERS
Konsolinet, GameStop, Discshop, CDON, Anttila, Expert, Gigantti, Puolenkuun Pelit
TOP DISTRIBUTORS
Koch Media, Nordic Game Supply, Amo Oy, 3H, ALSO, PAN-Visions
TOP DEVELOPERS
Housemarque, Rovio, Remedy, Supercell, Kukouri Mobile, Colossal Order, Bugbear, Frozenbyte, RedLynx
PUBLISHERS IN THE REGION
Ubisoft/RedLynx, Valve, Rovio, Supercell, Sony, Microsoft, EA, Warner Bros
