Finnish games industry's revenue and profit declines in 2024 despite Supercell boon

• Operating results in the Finnish games industry were down by roughly 50% in 2024 compared to 2023.
• 120 Finnish games have been published since 2023, with 77% of mature companies favouring mobile last year versus just 20% of early-stage startups.

Finland's games industry saw profit and revenue decline in 2024, according to a new report from trade association Neogames.

The Game Industry of Finland 2024 report showed the country’s estimated operating results totalled approximately €800 million ($931.5m) in 2023 and shrank to €400m ($465.8m) in 2024.

Total turnover declined from €3 billion ($3.5bn) in 2022 to €2.85bn ($3.3bn) in 2024. 

Neogames put the declines down to a multitude of factors, including inflation, a post-Covid slowdown for the games industry, the absence of significant one-time deals such as Scopely's purchase of Stumble Guys, and the closure of Seriously.

It should be noted the latter examples took place in 2022. The country's recent results will also largely be impacted by Supercell, which saw a record year in 2024 thanks to the growth of Brawl Stars, picking up €2.8bn ($3bn) in revenue on a non-GAAP basis (€1.94bn ($2bn) with deferrals). The company has also been on a hiring spree in recent years as it aims to grow its live teams.

The makeup of Finland's games industry is said to have changed. While four studios were still generating a turnover of more than €100m, the number generating revenue above €1m annually had declined since 2023 from 45 to 37.

Turnover remained higher than 2020 figures, when the industry generated €2.4bn ($2.8bn).

Employment and opportunities

Despite layoffs, talent shortages and difficulties training junior talent, the industry continued to hire in 2024, with the average studio employing a total of 20 people. The report claimed that Finnish studios employed 4,300 staff in 2024, up from 4,100 in 2022.

There has been a marked increase in international talent based outside of Finland. In 2024, 500 staff were said to be based abroad, compared to 400 in 2022 and 250 in 2020.

The country’s non-Finnish games industry workforce has been growing more rapidly, up from 30% in 2022 to 35% in 2025. Stricter immigration rules might impact this going forward, with an amendment to the Aliens Act giving international talent just three to six months to find new employment if they lose the job they came to Finland for.

Meanwhile, last year, 24% of games industry staff were found to be female, compared to 22% back in 2022.

Overall, there were 270 active studios last year, 40 more than in 2022.

Platform prominence

120 Finnish games have been published since 2023, primarily on mobile and PC. Cross-platform games are becoming more prominent, and over 70% of the games released in 2024 were available on PC. Developing browser-based games has also become more popular, with 14% of interviewed studios working on such projects.

While 77% of mature companies favoured mobile over PC, just 20% of early-stage startups favoured mobile last year.

The report highlighted the "upheaval" of mobile ad markets, the expense of user acquisition and the barrier to entry for smaller studios. Access to funding became more challenging and some studios are expected to close within the next two years if they can’t become profitable.

However, the report claimed studios were generally optimistic about 2026.

"Challenging times are also an opportunity for innovative studios," the report stated.

"As traditional game markets become mature and oversaturated, Finnish game developer studios hope that new alternative distribution channels (e.g. mobile and web) enabled by in-game stores and cross-platform game engine support will bring much-awaited new market opportunities and help bypass many of the restrictions set by dominant industry platforms."

The full report includes a historical look at Finland’s games industry dating back to the 1970s.

PocketGamer.biz will be releasing its own report into Finland's games industry over the next couple of weeks ahead of the return of Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki on October 7th to 8th.