The Finnish Game Industry is a success story of more than 3 billion euros and 4,100 employees
Neogames, the hub of the Finnish Game Industry, has released its report outlining the prospects and advancements of the game industry during 2021-2022.
The overall outlook for the Finnish Game Industry is extremely positive when assessed through all measures. In 2021, the sector experienced a surge in turnover, reaching approximately 3.2 billion euros. This represents a growth of over 30 percent compared to the previous year. Furthermore, it appears that the turnover will remain at 3.2 billion euros in 2022. The industry's operating profit in 2021 was 0.9 billion euros. The result for 2022 is not yet known.
These figures position the Finnish Game Industry among the top five largest countries in Europe and solidify its status as the leading producer of mobile games.
“It is worth noting that over the past decade, the Finnish Game Industry has accumulated a turnover of 23 billion euros and contributed over 2.5 billion euros in various taxes to Finland,” commented KooPee Hiltunen, Director of Neogames. “It is fair to say that the game industry has become a significant part of the Finnish national economy.”
The Growing Employer Suffers from a Shortage of Skilled Workforce
In 2022, the Finnish Game Industry employed over 4,000 individuals in Finland and abroad, marking a milestone for the sector. By the end of 2022, the estimated total number of industry employees reached approximately 4,100 individuals. This is an increase of around 500 since the end of 2020.
There has been a resurgence in the number of game studios, and Finnish game developers are bravely establishing new companies. As of the end of 2022, it was estimated that there were 232 active Finnish game studios.
However, the shortage of skilled labor remains one of the industry's biggest challenges. The industry anticipates a need for at least 500 additional employees within the next two years. Finding specialists locally in Finland proves to be challenging, prompting the industry to recruit extensively from the international market and leverage remote work opportunities.
Rejuvenation is the Lifeblood of the Game Industry
The number of newly released Finnish game titles has seen a decline, which should not be perceived negatively. This shift can be attributed to local studios adapting to the global trend of the Game as a Service model, which is gaining popularity. Games now have longer life cycles, with companies focusing on further developing existing titles.
While the Finnish Game Industry has been renowned for its mobile game development, the PC platform is rapidly gaining popularity and is nearly as popular (64%) as mobile devices (66%). Multi-platform game development is prevalent in Finland, with 59% of studios creating games for two or more platforms.
Finnish game developers are actively exploring new opportunities within the gaming market, including artificial intelligence, web3, new platforms, diverse revenue models, and user-generated game content. While game studios are closely monitoring the rapid advancements in creative artificial intelligence, practical applications within game development processes are still in progress. High expectations are placed on artificial intelligence, particularly in terms of managing rising production costs and delivering increasingly personalized game experiences.
Finnish Game Industry Report 2022
Neogames has released the Finnish game industry report in the form of a PDF document, available. The report is a result of interviews conducted with 134 Finnish game studios. The gathered information has been complemented with data from various other sources.
The Finnish Game Awards
The Finnish Game Industry celebrated the traditional Finnish Game Awards gala on May 4th. Total of 11 Finnish games were nominated in several different award categories. The biggest winner of the evening was Tree Men Games with their game PAKO Highway winning both the Game of the Year 2022 and the Mobile Game of the Year 2022 awards. The Big Screen Game of the Year 2022 is Undead Horde 2: Necropolis by 10tons. The Creative Achievement of the Year 2022 is the adventure game Skábma - Snowfall by Red Stage Entertainment. Other award winners at the gala were One Trick Entertainment (Rookie of the Year 2022), Critical Force game studio founder Veli-Pekka Piirainen (Power Player of the Year 2022), Ren Soharab (IGDA Volunteer of the Year 2022) and Olli Juhola (Finnish Game Jam’s Jampion of the Year 2022). The gala celebrations can be viewed at
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