The Top 30 Nordic Game Makers of 2026

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• The Battle of Polytopia

It’s been 10 years since The Battle of Polytopia first released on iOS and it’s since evolved into a cross-platform IP appearing on PC, Nintendo Switch and Android.

The Battle of Polytopia was Midjiwan’s first mobile game - not bad given the strategy title is revered to this day as one of the platform’s best. The title has been the team’s sole focus for the past decade and has surpassed 25m downloads on mobile.

The game has entered the realm of esports with its own World Championship, offering the chance for over 10,000 players to compete for a share of the $10,000 prize pool, with live finals expected in Stockholm this October.

Outside of making games, Midjiwan is also known for forming Game Town, a co-working space in Stockholm where over 20 companies now operate - including the developers behind Sulfur, Grand Mountain Adventure 2 and Gamble With Your Friends.

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• Toca Boca World

Toca Boca is a name that’s been around for 15 years now, but has firmly established itself as a top kids game developer around the world.

Owned by Spin Master and situated in Stockholm, Sweden, the company was the fifth top grossing publisher in the Nordics for 2025, above the likes of Rovio, Snowprint and Tactile Games. Even more impressive is that globally, Toca Boca ranks as the number one publisher of children’s games by revenue.

Its business is led by Toca Boca World, a platform that lets players play, create and tell their own stories. According to AppMagic estimates, it generated around $133 million from the App Store and Google Play last year. The Toca Boca platform attracts close to 60 million players worldwide - numbers that any publisher on this list would dream of.

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• Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus

Snowprint Studios is comprised of games industry veterans from across the Nordic mobile sector, building on experience from King, Rovio and beyond.

Since founding in 2015, the developer has specialised in bringing strategy games to mobile with the likes of Legend of Solgard, Rivengard and Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus. While Legend of Solgard performed admirably, Tacticus has proven to be Snowprint’s breakout hit. According to AppMagic estimates, the title has grossed $172 million since it was launched in 2022. The title picked up Mobile Game of the Year at the Pocket Gamer Awards 2022.

After Tacticus’ launch, the studio went on to be acquired by Modern Times Group in 2023 and continues to focus on midcore games that bring together "the old and the new".

Today, the studio employs people from all around the world and has offices internationally - based in Stockholm, Sweden and Berlin, Germany.

ASSOCIATED COMPANIES

Modern Times Group

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• What The Clash?
• What The Car?
• What The Golf?

“We make comedy games.” If we had a cent for every studio on this list that is making humour a key element of their games, we still wouldn’t have much as this is only a top 30. But the Nordic region certainly has a penchant for the quirky and peculiar with their games.

Triband is behind hit and critically acclaimed games like What The Golf?, What The Car? and What The Clash?. The latter is a party game that has won awards such as Apple Arcade Game of the Year in the 2025 App Store Awards and Best Mobile Game at the BIG Festival Awards.

Some of Triband’s games are available across platforms, but it’s really become a top game maker on Apple’s subscription service, with each title a standout addition to the platform.

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• Angry Birds 2
• Angry Birds Dream Blast
• Angry Birds Friends
• Sonic Rumble

Hatched in Finland, Angry Birds is one of the world’s most recognised mobile franchises that is still doing the business in 2026 - 17 years after the original’s debut.

The IP is the brainchild of Finnish developer Rovio, which also has global offices in Stockholm, Copenhagen, Montreal, and Toronto. The most successful right now in Rovio’s portfolio is Angry Birds 2, which has grossed over $900 million to date, according to AppMagic estimates.

In August 2023, Rovio was acquired by Sega for approximately $776 million. So far, the deal hasn’t quite gone to plan as Rovio’s mobile portfolio has flagged in recent years.

But the studio has weathered tough times before. It has new Angry Birds games in the works, including Rush and Match World. There’s also the small matter of The Angry Birds Movie 3 landing in cinemas by the end of the year.

ASSOCIATED COMPANIES

Sega

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• Blue Prince
• Esoteric Ebb
• Cassette Beasts

Raw Fury is one of Sweden’s most well-known and prolific publishers. In 2026 alone it has already published titles like Christoffer Bodegård’s Esoteric Ebb, DoubleMoose Games’s Last Man Sitting, Gameclaw Studio’s Regions of Ruin: Runegate and Gambir Studio’s KuloNiku: Bowl Up. Two of those studios have ties to Sweden.

One game you might have heard of in particular is Dogubomb’s puzzle adventure game Blue Prince, published by Raw Fury in 2025. The game has earned critical acclaim and has accolades including Best Indie Game at the Golden Joystick Awards, the Golden Cube Award at the 17th Unity Awards, among a string of other wins and nominations.

The Nordics isn’t just a region of talented developers, it’s also a hub that helps enable studios around the world to find success, thanks to publishers like Raw Fury.

ASSOCIATED COMPANIES

Altor Equity Partners

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• Alan Wake 2
• Control
• Control Resonant

Remedy Entertainment stands as one the Nordic region’s most creative studios, built on the legacy and success of the Max Payne franchise, a title that helped to build the studio's reputation for storytelling and unique gameplay. Something which the studio has continued to expand on through titles such as Quantum Break, Control and Alan Wake.

Control has grown into a major franchise success, surpassing six million in global sales, boosted by new interest following the announcement of its sequel, Control: Resonant. However, Remedy’s biggest commercial milestone goes to Alan Wake 2, which became its fastest-selling title, surpassing two million units by early 2025.

Not every project has matched Remedy’s ambitions. FBC: Firebreak, a co-op shooter struggled commercially and saw active development end. Despite this, Remedy continues to stand out for combining strong narratives with distinctive gameplay design.

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• Satisfactory
• Fellowship
• As We Descend
• Goat Simulator 3

Following a spin-off from Embracer Group, Coffee Stain Group is now an independent public company with subsidiaries including development arm Coffee Stain Studios and publishing branch Coffee Stain Publishing.

Starting with development, in 2024 the team fully released the highlight successful first-person open-world factory building game Satisfactory (get it?) after years in Early Access. As of January 2024, Satisfactory was said to have sold more than 5.5 million copies, and has since launched on consoles, too. And before we forget - Coffee Stain North, based in Stockholm, released a new entry in its hit franchise: Goat Simulator 3.

Over at Coffee Stain Publishing, the team has worked on games such as Fellowship by Chief Rebel - also a Swedish studio, and As We Descend from Box Dragon - another Sweden developer. The company has become a key player in the country’s ecosystem, producing successful games to boot.

ASSOCIATED COMPANIES

Coffee Stain Studios

Coffee Stain Publishing

Coffee Stain North

Chief Rebel

Box Dragon

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• Cities: Skylines II
• Cities: Skylines

Without the famous simulation game SimCity, it always felt like there was room in the market for a new city builder to dominate. Colossal Order stepped in with Cities in Motion, before rolling out the Cities: Skylines series, becoming the true spiritual successor to the classic Maxis franchise.

The studio’s latest game, Cities: Skylines II, launched in 2023 and marked Colossal Order’s first full game release since 2015’s original Cities: Skylines. Players can build a whole metropolis from the ground up, turning fields into factories and flats and establishing an economy.

As of 2022, the original Cities: Skylines had sold more than 12 million copies across platforms, while by February 2024, the sequel had sold one million. Meanwhile, the series has nurtured a bustling modding community and has sold plenty of DLC, forming a key part of their longevity.

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• RV There Yet?

One of a number of Swedish entries you’ll find on this list, Nuggets Entertainment is the developer behind RV There Yet?

As with some other top Swedish developers in the Top 30 Nordic Game Makers, RV There Yet? is a co-op adventure title, this time about simply driving your recreational vehicle home. Sounds simple, right? Not quite. You have to take an alternate route and work together and master the physics-based winch to make your way up slopes and across canyons.

Released in October 2025, the title quickly became a top 100 seller on Steam for 2025, as well as in the top 100 most played games. In just a week, the game had sold 1.3 million copies on PC. The community manager commented on the success in a video, stating: "The game has blown up way bigger than anything we expected.”

It’s another string in the bow for Sweden.

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• Eve Online
• Eve Vanguard
• Eve Frontier
• Eve Echoes

Fenris Creations (formerly CCP) is Iceland’s most iconic games developer, responsible for space MMO Eve Online. The game has been around for two decades, retaining a fiercely loyal playerbase that have built their own universe full of player-created stories - which sometimes even make mainstream news, such as the freedom players are given.

In 2026, it made the bold decision to rebrand to Fenris Creations after splitting from its South Korean owner Pearl Abyss. A management buyout valued at $120m now sees Fenris Creations governed by its own board of directors.

Fenris ended 2025 with its second-best quarter for revenue ever and a record-breaking single month in November. Thankfully, no layoffs are expected in the shift to independence.

Now flying solo, the studio has signed a research partnership deal with Google’s AI division DeepMind, receiving investment in the process with Google taking a minority stake.

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• Europa Universalis V
• Crusader Kings III
• Stellaris
• Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2
• Age of Wonders 4

Swedish publisher Paradox Interactive is an expert in the strategy genre. It consists of a variety of studios, including Stockholm-based Paradox Development Studio and Finland’s Iceflake Studios, among others across Europe.

Recent games it developed include Paradox Tinto’s Europa Universalis V in 2025 and Triumph Studios’ Age of Wonders 4 in 2023. Less successfully, it also ventured into the action RPG space with The Chinese Room-developed Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, with sales significantly below expectations.

But it still remains successful in the strategy realm. The company’s 2016 launch of Stellaris and 2020 release of Crusader Kings III remain two of the most played games on Steam, still maintaining a spot in the top 100 titles by concurrent users. They were both in the top 100 sellers on the platform last year, showing plenty of longevity.

ASSOCIATED COMPANIES

Paradox Development Studio

Iceflake Studios

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• Valheim

Indie studio Iron Gate Games was founded by industry veterans Richard Svensson and Henrik Törnqvist in 2018. Come 2021, the studio launched Viking adventure game Valheim in early access on PC together with Coffee Stain Publishing.

Players have evidently been resonating with this monster slayer, sent to a world of monsters banished by Odin, traversing vast mountains and taking down enemies on a quest to become worthy of Valhalla.

Valheim drew inspiration from the world around Iron Gate, headquartered in Skövde, Sweden. That’s just a stone’s throw away from real-world Nordic forests and the lakes of Västergötland.

After Valheim set sail for Xbox in 2023, now it’s reaching fresh land with a PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2 release this year. Prior to these next platform expansions, the game has already surpassed 12m sales.

ASSOCIATED COMPANIES

Coffee Stain Publishing

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• Tempest Rising

The real-time strategy genre is a challenging genre to step into. The space is full of companies that have tried, and failed, to relive the glory days of Command & Conquer, StarCraft and Age of Empires, while also pushing the category forward.

Danish studio Slipgate Ironworks, together with 2B Games and publishers 3D Realms and Knights Peak, have leveraged the nostalgia of Command & Conquer to put a modern polish on proceedings with Tempest Rising. The game is set after a nuclear war and features multiplayer and a single-player campaign - complete with classic cinematics and voiced mission briefings like the RTS titles of old.

Tempest Rising is a solid entry into the genre and continues to be supported, including the introduction of a new faction. The RTS genre still has life in it yet.

ASSOCIATED COMPANIES

Saber Interactive

3D Realms

Knights Peak

2B Games

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• Empires and Puzzles
• Puzzle Combat

With over a decade in the mobile games business behind it, Small Giant Games has been riding high on the success of multi-billion-dollar hit Empires and Puzzles since the pre-pandemic days. The flagship match-3 game intersects RPG elements, base building, PvP and fantasy quests - a formula proving to have long-term legs.

Fellow puzzle RPG Puzzle Combat has also made millions of dollars, and multiple new projects are said to be in the works at the studio, too.

Since its founding in 2013, Small Giant Games has expanded beyond Helsinki, Finland into an international team with a workforce more than 90 people strong. Development takes place under a hybrid model, with teams choosing their in-office days and even bringing their pets to work, if they so choose.

Since 2018, Small Giant Games has been working as a subsidiary of Zynga, thanks to a deal worth over $700m.

ASSOCIATED COMPANIES

Zynga

Take-Two

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• Subway Surfers
• Subway Surfers City

Founded in Copenhagen in 2010 and acquired by Miniclip in June 2022. SYBO has become a mobile success story thanks to the runaway success of endless runaway Subway Surfers, developed with Kiloo.

Since its 2012 launch, the title has surpassed 4.5 billion lifetime downloads, making it the most downloaded endless runner in mobile history. Not just racking up endless downloads and proving a lucrative hit, the IP is one of the platform’s most recognisable franchises. No small feat in a sea of mobile games.

Subway Surfers remains the studio’s core pillar, with the developer recently expanding the series with 2026’s Subway Surfers City. Within just 10 days, the title scooped up five million downloads, showing the franchise still has legs in it yet.

ASSOCIATED COMPANIES

Miniclip

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• Deep Rock Galactic Survivor
• Wild Indigo Ranch
• Northgard Battlegrounds

Established in 2011, Funday Games operates out of Aarhus, Denmark with a team of more than 50 people. Its best-known title is actually a more recent release, Deep Rock Galactic Survivor, which launched in 2024 and has since surpassed two million players. The auto-shooter brings in bullet hell and roguelike elements, with gear to upgrade and riches to mine.

Over the years, Funday Games has continually focused on making fun experiences - as its name suggests - whether that means developing and publishing original IPs or working on spinoffs from other indies. Funday’s works can be seen across platforms including mobile, PC and Xbox.

Its next game, Northgard Battlegrounds, is an auto-battler and city builder set in a Viking world, expected to launch sometime in 2026. It can be wishlisted now on Steam.

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• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Wolfenstein: Youngblood
• Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

Wolfenstein: The New Order, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle are just a few of Machine Games’ many, many premium games.

The developer prides itself on making the games it would like to play, with a focus on deep storytelling and experiences driven by their narratives.

From its origins in Uppsala, Sweden, this studio has grown into the primary developer for the Wolfenstein IP and celebrated 15 years since founding last October. Over those years, Machine Games has collaborated with sister studios under Bethesda and contributed to games like Skyrim, Doom Eternal and Quake.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle marks its latest launch. The title premiered on PC and Xbox in late 2024 and since then has won a string of awards, earning high praise from many critics as Machine Games continues to show top form with every release.

ASSOCIATED COMPANIES

ZeniMax Media

Microsoft

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• Helldivers 2

Arrowhead first gained recognition with Magicka, an action-adventure title, which helped establish the studio’s identity around cooperative gameplay.

It expanded on that to great success with twin-stick shooter Helldivers in 2015. But the company broke out to global recognition with the launch of Helldivers 2 in 2024 - taking the action to a third-person view and doubling down on its Starship Troopers-inspired universe.

The title became PlayStation’s fastest-selling game ever, selling 12 million copies across PlayStation 5 and PC within just its first 12 weeks.

By early 2026, Helldivers 2 surpassed 20 million units sold and generated more than $700 million in global revenue. The game has also maintained strong engagement, with over 83,000 concurrent players on Steam in April 2026.

The game’s success has earned it an expansion beyond games, with a film adaptation confirmed in collaboration between Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions. For Democracy!

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• Dune: Awakening
• Aloft
• Conan Exiles
• Metal: Hellslinger
• Secret World Legends

Funcom has been in the business for over 30 years - plenty of time to build a bustling portfolio of games. From the SEGA Genesis to modern PCs, platforms for those games have been about as vast as can be. As for genre, Funcom is best known for its MMORPGs.

The studio developed and published games independently until 2020, when it was acquired by Tencent. In 2021, Funcom itself acquired Cabinet Group, landing the rights to the Conan and Mutant IPs. Conan Exiles has achieved success in the survival crafting scene with expansions like Age of War and Age of Heroes keeping things fresh over the years.

More recently, Funcom has published co-op sandbox game Aloft and survival game Dune: Awakening. The latter has been available on PC since 2025 and has surpassed one million sales. It’s currently making its way into the wishlists of PS5 and Xbox players.

ASSOCIATED COMPANIES

Tencent

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• 007 First Light
• Hitman: World of Assassination

IO Interactive, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, has evolved into a leading independent studio within the Nordic games industry through its legacy games and upcoming releases.

Originally acquired by Eidos Interactive in 2004 and later becoming part of Square Enix in 2009, the studio regained independence in 2017 after a management buyout. Since then, IO Interactive has expanded significantly, growing to more than 500 employees across studios in Malmö, Barcelona, Istanbul and Brighton to support larger-scale growth across its titles.

At the heart of IO Interactive is the Hitman franchise and its famous protagonist Agent 47. Beginning with Hitman: Codename 47 in 2000, the series has released numerous titles, with the latest three games being combined into Hitman: World of Assassination, which has sold 25 million copies as of 2025, with the trilogy surpassing 75 million players.

The trilogy's success has been driven by the game's player freedom, sandbox stealth level design and strong post-launch content. The team has supported the game over the years with a series of updates and new content, including celebrity targets such as Sean Bean, Milla Jovovich and Mads Mikkelsen.

IO Interactive's expertise in stealth-action gameplay and world-building led to securing the James Bond licence. The state is now set for 007 First Light, in the works for years and taking advantage of IO’s Hitman learnings to create what it hopes will be the ultimate spy game. Early signs point toward success. The IP and developer are the perfect match - and they’ve got Lana Del Rey singing the title song to boot, too, giving it a feel just like the movies.

Alongside its work on the new James Bond, IO Interactive is also developing Project Fantasy, an original online fantasy RPG game, showing the studio is also looking to explore new genres and push beyond its usual boundaries.

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• Saros
• Returnal

Housemarque, based in Helsinki, has a rich history as Finland’s oldest active game developer, originally founded in 1995. Now part of PlayStation Studios following its acquisition by Sony Interactive Entertainment in June 2001, the company has evolved over the years, but always maintained its own original identity.

Housemarque built its reputation through arcade-like titles such as Resogun, which became a breakout success on PlayStation 4 and was widely praised for its tight mechanics and addictive gameplay. This was later followed by Nex Machina, a critically acclaimed twin-stick shooter regarded by some as a modern cult classic.

Despite strong reviews, Nex Machina sold fewer than 100,000 copies across PC and PlayStation 4. These low sales led Housemarque to reconsider its direction, choosing to leave traditional arcade games behind and to begin a shift toward larger-scale projects.

That transition resulted in Returnal, Housemarque’s first triple-A title. Released in April 2021, the game sold 560,000 copies by June of the same year and marked a major turning point for the studio. Returnal received widespread critical acclaim for its unique approach to the roguelike genre as well as its visual and audio presentation.

Returnal also became an early showcase of what the PlayStation 5 could achieve, making some of the best use of new features such as the DualSense controller’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. The success of this new IP led the game to win Best Game at the 2022 BAFTA Game Awards.

Its latest release, Saros, continues the studio's journey as a spiritual successor to Returnal, building on similar design concepts. The game has received overall positive reviews being seen in a similar light to Returnal but more accessible.

Over three decades, Housemarque has been on a long journey, adapting its early arcade DNA into modern triple-A development, keeping it relevant in today’s market while retaining its original identity.

ASSOCIATED COMPANIES

Sony Interactive Entertainment

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• Split Fiction
• It Takes Two
• A Way Out

Hazelight Studios has a different origin than most games companies: it was founded by a filmmaker turned video game director, Josef Fares. The Stockholm-based independent studio quickly established an identity built around cooperative gameplay designed for shared play rather than the solo experience.

Fares previously directed the hit narrative puzzle-adventure game Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons at Starbreeze Studios, with the creative team behind that title later forming Hazelight.

The studio’s first release, A Way Out, cemented its direction, setting the scene for the developer to eventually become one of the world’s premier co-op game makers. That title also introduced a friend pass, so only one player needed to purchase the game to play together. In April 2026, Hazelight shared that A Way Out sold over 13 million copies globally.

The studio’s breakthrough title however, arrived with It Takes Two, which became its biggest success and went on to win Game of the Year at the Game Awards in 2021 alongside numerous other industry awards. By April 2026, the title had surpassed 20 million units sold worldwide and reached more than 60 million players.

The momentum from It Takes Two continued with Hazelight’s next and latest release, Split Fiction, which came out in March 2025. The co-op adventure became Hazelight’s fastest-selling game, with over a million copies sold within 48 hours and surpassing seven million sales by April 2026. Across its games portfolio, Hazelight has consistently showcased the spirit of classic couch co-op style gameplay while modernising it and still making it accessible to online play.

Fares has already teased that the developer’s next game is already in early development. Hazelight Studios' portfolio has collectively sold over 50 million copies and has found a unique position in the industry by specialising in its creative cooperative games that merge narrative storytelling with innovative gameplay design, setting it apart from many in the current market.

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• Clash Royale
• Brawl Stars
• Clash of Clans
• Hay Day
• Merge Mansion

Supercell was once revered in the mobile games industry for its ability to release billion-dollar blockbusters, one after the other. After knocking it out the park with Hay Day and Clash of Clans, the studio followed up with Boom Beach, Clash Royale and Brawl Stars.

But that particular form of magic stopped. Since the launch of Brawl Stars in December 2018, it’s only released Squad Busters - also the first live game it has shut down - and Mo.co, which has yet to take off.

Yet somehow, Supercell had a record €2.78bn in revenue in 2024. And while sales declined in 2025, they only fell by 4% to €2.65bn. So what’s happening?

Supercell has remastered the art of live ops. Brawl Stars had a famous turnaround in 2024. Supercell followed that up with a Clash Royale turnaround in 2025. Ultimately, the renaissance for these titles was short-lived - though Brawl Stars looks to be on the up again in 2026. The Finnish developer has become the comeback king and remains comfortably one of the most successful games companies in the Nordics.

Meanwhile, Supercell has expanded its operations. It fully acquired Space Ape in 2024 to open its more official London HQ. In May 2026, it fully acquired Merge Mansion developer Metacore, bringing its merge hit into its live games portfolio - though at the expense of around 160 jobs.

In its hunt to expand its portfolio, Supercell is also working with UK studio Playabit on Hay Day Match, a revival of the one-cancelled Hay Day Pop.

Supercell is sparing no expense in its efforts to release its next hit. It spent years restructuring the company to rediscover its mojo and adapt to a tougher mobile market. While the developer’s expertise in live ops keeps it one of the world’s most successful mobile studios, the industry is still waiting to see if Supercell can pull off another global blockbuster.

ASSOCIATED COMPANIES

Tencent

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• R.E.P.O.

While the Nordic region is full of talented and highly successful teams, one of the themes of this list is just how successful Swedish game studios have been over the last couple of years. Arguably, 2025 was one of the best years ever for the country’s games hub.

In steps Semiwork. Formed in 2018, the studio is based in Uppsala, Sweden. Its debut game was action roguelite Voidigo. The title has overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam, offering a glimpse into the team’s potential.

Last year, Semiwork followed up the title with online co-op horror game R.E.P.O. The title tasks players with locating valuable items, handling them with care and extracting them - all while trying to keep quiet and evading the horrors that await to stop you in your tracks.

Still in Early Access, at the time of writing, R.E.P.O. ranks 13th for concurrent players on Steam at 83,000 players - peaking at 107k for the day. That puts it above the likes of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, EA Sports FC and Warframe. In 2025, the horror title was one of the top 12-selling games on Steam and also one of the most played. And to top it all off, Semiwork picked up the accolade for Best Early Access Game at the Golden Joystick Awards 2026. Not bad for an indie studio up against live service titans.

Semiwork is another example of one of the key trends that has exemplified Sweden’s games industry over the past few years: the ability for small teams to create sustainable multiplayer hits that have the potential to last for years. The global games industry stands to learn a lot by keeping its eyes on games like R.E.P.O. and how teams like Semiwork execute one of the toughest tasks in gaming: making them fun.

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• Minecraft
• Minecraft Dungeons 2
• Minecraft Legends

Mojang Studios needs little introduction. The Stockholm-based studio was founded nearly 16 years ago in 2009 and has largely been focused on its literal blockbuster IP: Minecraft.

The pixellated sandbox game flying the flag for the user-generated content trend was a runaway success even in its earlier years and to this day it maintains its position as one of the world’s most played - and most watched - games. In fact, it’s said to be the best-selling video game of all time with more than 350 million units sold across platforms.

Over the years, while the mothership game continues to be the most successful, there have been a number of spin-offs. These include episodic point-and-click game Minecraft: Story Mode, dungeon crawler Minecraft Dungeons and real-time action-strategy title Minecraft Legends. Minecraft Dungeons 2, co-developed with UK studio Double Eleven, is currently slated to launch later this year.

If all that wasn’t enough, the franchise also jumped on the transmedia train last year with the release of A Minecraft Movie starring Jack Black and Jason Momoa. The film grossed more than $960 million at the box office, showing just how popular the IP remains.

There’s even work underway with Merlin Entertainments to open a £50 million Minecraft World theme park at the UK’s Chessington World of Adventures in Greater London. The land is expected to feature a range of attractions inspired by the game’s iconic biomes, mobs and items, alongside themed retail and dining experiences.

Microsoft acquired Mojang and Minecraft back in 2014 for some $2.5 billion. Today, it looks like one of the tech giant’s most astute acquisitions ever in the games space. The game has been a hit for years, attracts players of all ages and has proven its ability to extend across various entertainment mediums, and it shows no sign of fading away anytime soon.

ASSOCIATED COMPANIES

Microsoft

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• Candy Crush Saga
• Candy Crush Solitaire
• Candy Crush Soda Saga

King is one of the most influential mobile games companies in the world, best known for its Candy Crush Saga franchise and dominance in the match-three puzzle genre. Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, King has offices around the world, including what it considers its co-HQ in London, UK.

It would be fair to say that Candy Crush Saga helped define the early free-to-play mobile gaming era post-App Store. The franchise may just be the most recognisable IP on the planet - at least in Western countries. It even once spawned its own TV show.

King became part of Activision Blizzard in 2016 in a mega $5.9 billion deal. Years later, that acquisition was blown out of the water when Microsoft picked up Activision Blizzard for some $69bn, taking on King’s mobile operations as a result.

The Candy Crush portfolio remains the core of King’s business, thanks to an exceptional live ops strategy that has kept players returning and engaged. Candy Crush Saga continues to generate well over $1 billion annually as of 2026, backed by its long-term live ops and constant stream of new updates. Other titles within the brand, such as Soda Saga and Jelly Saga, alongside the wider portfolio, such as Farm Heroes Saga and Pet Rescue Saga, have also helped the company build one of the most enduring portfolios in the mobile market.

Farm Heroes Saga is a steady performer - as of early 2026, the title officially surpassed $2 billion in total lifetime revenue. Pet Rescue Saga has also surpassed $1 billion in lifetime revenue, showing staying power over its more than 13-year lifespan. But nothing quite sells like Candy Crush.

Beyond the games themselves, King continues to invest heavily in community and live engagement, including the Candy Crush All Stars tournament, which features a $1 million prize pool and a live final held in London.

ASSOCIATED COMPANIES

Microsoft

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• Battlefield 6

DICE Studios ranks among the Nordic Region's most well-known developers. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, the company has operated under EA since the publisher completed a full acquisition back in 2006.

The studio is best known for the Battlefield franchise, which has been a prominent player in multiplayer shooters since its debut in 2002. Now spanning multiple entries, the series has established a reputation for large maps, vehicular warfare and destructible environments.

But prior to its latest release, Battlefield 6, DICE faced a key challenge: how does it revive the fortunes of a flagging franchise and take the fight to chief rival Call of Duty? In 2021, EA put Respawn Entertainment founder Vince Zampella in charge of the franchise. Famously, his credits included Call of Duty, Medal of Honor and Titanfall - some of the greatest shooter franchises ever made.

Battlefield Studios was also created, combining the resources of DICE, Criterion Games, Motive Studio and Ripple Effect Studios.

The result of this shakeup, and significant investment, was Battlefield 6. The launch marked a major turning point for the franchise and has been heralded as a return to form. The game achieved the biggest launch in Battlefield history, selling more than seven million copies within three days and becoming the best-selling video game of 2025 in the US. Battlefield is back with a bang as a premier triple-A IP.

DICE isn’t just a premier developer of games. It also built the Frostbite engine, which has evolved into the primary engine for some of EA’s flagship titles, supporting games across the EA Sports and Need for Speed series.

This combination of technical innovation and the ability to support a long-running franchise in a highly competitive genre sees EA DICE continue to play an important role not just in shaping Nordic development but also the wider industry.

ASSOCIATED COMPANIES

EA

SOFTOGRAPHY

• Peak
• Content Warning
• Totally Accurate Battle Simulator

In a crowded field, Landfall Games has become one of the jewels in the crown of Sweden’s games hub. It has succeeded in not only releasing a hit game - but it’s achieved this repeatedly.

Founded in 2015, the studio built titles like Cluster Truck and Stick Fight: The Game. The developer honed its unique flare and style for physics-based battle royale Totally Accurate Battlegrounds and a year later, strategy game Totally Accurate Battle Simulator. According to Sensor Tower data, the latter title has sold more than 4.5 million units.

Landfall wasn’t done there, it has since followed up with horror co-op horror game Content Warning, another big success. Then in 2025, the studio launched what might just be its biggest game yet: co-op climbing title Peak.

Developed together with Aggro Crab, the title, which was the result of a game jam, once again hones the company’s unique style and humour with more multiplayer action to become a surefire hit. It ranked as one of the top 50 new releases on Steam in 2025 and an overall top 50 seller. Officially, the game has sold more than 10 million copies as of August 2025.

Not only that, Peak was a top 12 most played game on Steam last year. That’s no small feat on the world’s most popular PC gaming platform, where it faces competition from the likes of Counter-Strike 2, Grand Theft Auto V, DOTA 2, PUBG: Battlegrounds and R.E.P.O. - another title made in Sweden.

Landfall, which operates with “both small development cycles and team size”, as per its website, is a key example of the creative talent that abounds in Sweden and the wider Nordic region. The developer, paired with Aggro Crab, also shows a sustainable path for development as industry debates swirl around the high costs of making games. Landfall has the recipe for repeat success at ever-bigger scales.

ASSOCIATED COMPANIES

Aggro Crab

SOFTOGRAPHY

• Arc Raiders
• The Finals

In the number one spot in the Nordic Top 30 Game Makers is Embark Studios. A Stockholm-based developer founded by former EA and DICE veterans with experience across franchises such as Battlefield and Mirror's Edge.

Nexon first acquired a majority stake in 2018, then completed a full acquisition in 2021. Embark has made a name for itself with its detailed game design and focus on experimentation, making it one of the region's most ambitious studios.

Its first title, The Finals, launched on December 7, 2023. The free-to-play shooter had a very successful initial launch and while its numbers have declined, it still maintains a 24-hour peak of around 15,000 concurrent players on Steam.

A core aspect of its appeal is an evolution of the destructible environments from Battlefield that allow areas to transform dramatically during matches, creating unpredictable moments.

The studio’s second major release, and what’s really put it at the top of this list, is the breakaway success of Arc Raiders, launched on October 30th, 2024. The extraction shooter genre has been bubbling under for years, tipped to become the next big shooter genre, but never quite making it. With sharp shooting and gameplay mechanics, a crushing atmosphere of dread and player interactions where you never know quite if you’re facing friend or foe, Arc Raiders has finally nailed a genre that held so much promise.

Players agree, too. The title has surpassed more than 14 million sales and reached close to one million concurrent players in early 2026. It’s still one of the most played games on Steam, having been a top 12 seller on the platform in 2025.

Embark sums up the Nordic games industry, and in particular the bustling Sweden hub. It’s a new, talented team that has come together and built a brand new IP in a fresh genre to global success. Nexon, which acquired the studio in 2019, must feel it has a bargain by now.

ASSOCIATED COMPANIES

Nexon