Legslation
Finland’s Neogames industry body weighs in on controversial new immigration law
The latest proposed reforms continue to draw strong criticism from companies who rely on foreign talent
Legislation
Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen and other game execs decry Finland's "catastrophic" new three-month immigration law
Finnish Game leaders call out new rules that would require unemployed skilled workers to leave the country
Play With Pride
38% of Finnish gaming professionals identify as LGBTQIA+
The country had a higher proportion of LGBTQIA+ workers in the game industry than the worldwide average
Job News
Fingersoft appoints new CFO
Suni is an experienced CFO, but a newcomer to the games industry
Q&a
Fingersoft CEO Jaakko Kylmäoja on the future of their hit Hill Climb Racing
Fingersoft focuses on staff well being as they gear up for future releases
Finnish Games Report
Mobile is still Finland’s most popular platform, but PC is catching up
2021 and 2022 proved to be banner year’s for Finland’s gaming industry
Soft-launch
Bad Piggies 2 comes to selected countries in iOS-exclusive soft launch
Android release to come later
Finnish Game Awards
Finnish giant Metacore's CEO and co-founder Mika Tammenkoski reflects on a difficult year for the industry
However, Tammenkoski remained bullish about the industry’s potential
Investment
Phantom Gamelabs joins Supercell’s family of investees
The studio has received an undisclosed amount from the Finnish gaming giant
Finnish Game Awards
How did mobile do at the Finnish Game Awards?
Mobile saw big success at the Finnish game industry’s biggest night with Pako Highway scooping game of the year
Rovio Analytics
Rovio gives insight into its game analytics approach
The company’s director of analytics discussed the topic in a new blog post
Mena Investment
After securing Scopely for $4.9 billion, what could Saudi games giant Savvy splash its cash on next?
They may have made a sizeable acquisition this week but Savvy Games Group still has money to burn!
Mergers & Acquisitions
Playtika offers $737.5m to acquire Angry Birds developer Rovio
Israeli-based Playtika have sweetened their offer to acquire Rovio, as the latter remains reliant on their flagship franchise
Regulation
What does Finland’s lootbox law actually do?
Loot Boxes may fallen out of vogue as a target of gamer and regulator ire, but their control and restriction is still being debated by regulators
Awards
ADHD awareness game “Full ADHD” wins Reuters Pharma Award
The game, chronicling the life of a character with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, has received multiple awards and benefited from its mobile form
Success In Gaming
Finland’s highest earners are in the gaming industry, with Supercell founder Ilkka Paananen leading the charge
The country is a hub of the global mobile gaming industry
Trade
Finnish/Saudi-Arabian trade deal could kickstart further economic collaboration to come
Although the recently announced Finland and Saudi-Arabia trade deal mainly covers more fundamental aspects such as travel and freight, it marks closer relations that could increase other economic interaction
Developer Insight
Dodreams CEO: “In-play ads offer long-term stability and creative opportunity”
Dodreams CEO Erik Pöntiskoski tells us how his gaming studio has embraced in-play ad formats, and why mobile games are the perfect place for advertisers to connect with their audience
New Studio
Wildlife Studios open new Helsinki studio Stellar Core Games with veterans from Supercell and Rovio
The studio will be led by Touko Tahkokallio and Serdar Soganci
Finland’s Finest
Get the latest facts and figures from Finland and beyond at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
Europe’s biggest B2B games industry conference is your guide to the latest industry trends
Awards And Achievements
Mobile wins big at the Finnish Game Awards 2021
Pako 3, Kitka Games, and HypeHype celebrated for Small Screen Game of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Creative Achievement, respectively
Flight To Five Billion
Rovio surpasses five billion lifetime mobile game downloads
Angry Birds creator continues to soar
Experienced Hires
Social First makes three key hires for dev ops, design, and new technology including blockchain
Marco Sandrini, Aki Raula, and Jari Ravantti join the team
Making Of
Supercell talks breaking the mould of puzzle games with Clash Quest
Supercell's Touko Tahkokallio talks us through the journey of Clash Quest, from prototype to its current stage
Finnish Funding
Return Entertainment raises €5.3 million in funding to create cloud-native games
Funding led by Bitkraft Ventures
Birds Boost
Rovio 2021 revenues increase 5.1% to $326.6 million, boosted by Angry Birds titles
Record high fourth quarter results
Take A Crack
CrazyLabs and Carry1st partner for hypercasual game jam
Open to developers and novices in South Africa and Finland
Racing Rivalry
Supremacy Games to bring real car NFTs to upcoming P2E mobile racing game
Number of car NFTs will equal real world production figure
Social Distance
Kim Soares on the launch of Finnish social gaming studio Social First
PocketGamer.biz speaks with Kim Soares on forming a new social games studio, disruptive trends, and the return to live events
Out Of Hiding
Social First launches with $2.5 million backing to create cross-platform, social games
Founded by industry veterans Kim Soares and Mikko Kähärä
Metaverse Making Together
Yahaha Studios secures $50 million to build "no-code" UGC metaverse
Aimed at users with all levels of skill to create games
Merging Media
Dodreams invests $1.4 million to merge games with online videos
Aiming to create grassroots marketers from its playerbase
Gamer's Guerdon
StageZero raises $1.8 million to reward mobile gamers for training AI
Will include labelling tasks which can help train virtual assistants
What's Next?
Next Games signs $16.5 million co-development agreement for new mobile game
To be paid over the next five years
Icelandic Expansion
Icelandic studio 1939 Games has opened a mobile games unit in Helsinki
Making the mobile version of KARDS
Where's The Hype?
Frogmind rebrands to HypeHype, Supercell invests $15 million
User-generated content platform optimised for touchscreens
Live And Kicking
Why Boom Beach is still booming 8 years on
Supercell game lead Laura Gilliland talks suiting the players' needs
Carry On Clashing
Clash Mini begins soft launch in Canada and Nordics
Supercell reveals more details about upcoming Clash titles
Get Job
Nordic Game Talents aims to help game dev recruitment in Nordic region
Three day event starts 27 October
Cutesy
Rovio and Billebeino launch limited-edition Angry Birds capsule collection
There’s even a dancing plushie
Heading To The Frontlines
Space Ape Games launches Boom Beach: Frontlines in Canada
Will launch gradually worldwide on iOS and Android
Not Dead Yet
6 years on The Walking Dead: No Man's Land does 23 million downloads, $151 million revenue
Will host in-game anniversary events
Going Going Gone
Habbo pixel art NFTs sell out, generating $14 million of trading in 24 hours
Over 2,500 collectors participated in auction
Nextgen
Next Games' second Game Developer Academy kicks off 4 October
Learning with hands-on experience
Top Table
Joakim Achrén appointed Fingersoft's board
Finnish entrepreneur adds status
Looking Good
Sulake launching 12,500 Habbo avatar NFTs
Auction for 10,000 will take place this week
Poc In Mobile
"I’m a double minority - I’m a woman, and I’m black. You definitely see it and feel it."
Supercell's Sheila Ndungu discusses the importance of representation
80% For 90%
Fingersoft offers employees 80% work for 90% pay
Part of a six-month trial to boost work-life balance
Entering New Markets
Playtika snap up Redecor dev Reworks for up to $600 million
Expanding into the growing design category
Supercell Subterfuge
Everdale was initially soft-launched as Valleys & Villages through a fake company
Game has actually been in testing since September 2020