Supercell was the first mobile gaming company to successfully apply the micropayment model to a mobile game, skyrocketing Hay Day and Clash of Clans to the top of the most profitable games list, where they stayed for several years.
Supercell’s success further increased international interest in Finnish gaming, and both investments and the industry turnover surged in 2012–2015. In 2015, the Finnish Game Industry reached the milestone of two billion euros in turnover.
Despite the strong focus on mobile games, Finnish companies continued to design games for other platforms, too. Remedy’s success stories Alan Wake, Quantum Break and Control, and Colossal Order’s success story Cities: Skylines are excellent examples of Finnish competence in design for non-mobile platforms.
2017 was a year of stabilisation for the Finnish Game Industry. The listing of four Finnish gaming companies was a key milestone – and a sign of a new level of maturity in the business.
From 2017 to 2019 the industry also went through structural development, and the “prosperous middle class” of gaming studios grew significantly. The number of companies that employ more than 50 people and have a turnover of more than 10 million continued to increase. In 2019 four companies reached the €100 million mark in their turnover.
The number of employees in the industry grew to 3 200 by the end of 2018. In international comparison, Finland was placed within the top three game developer countries in Europe. 2019 can be summarized simply as business as usual. The turnover of the industry remained over the €2 Billion mark, the total turnover being €2,2 Billion for that year.
In early 2020 COVID-19 hit the world. The global pandemic changed many things also in the game industry. Events and gatherings were postponed, cancelled or moved online. Game companies went to remote working mode and many previous practices e.g., recruiting employees abroad, became more difficult. However, the Finnish Game Industry seemed to be ready to change and somewhat resilient against the financial impact of the pandemic. Lockdowns and curfews increased game downloads and gaming in general, and the industry’s turnover increased also in Finland.
At the same time, global regulatory fragmentation and increasing tensions between leading games industry value chain platforms and service providers made markets much more unpredictable.
In the end of 2020, there were 46 established studios across Finland with over €1 million turnover. On the other hand, for some of the start-ups and non-established companies COVID-19 has been a death blow due to the cancellation of events and the difficulties in finding an investor or publisher.
