The State of the Finnish Game Industry - From Mobile Winter to New Spring

THE PAST TWO YEARS, 2023 and 2024, have been a mixed bag from the Finnish Game Industry's point of view. On one hand, the global downturn in the game industry has also hit Finland. Some small and mid-sized studios have been forced to cut their workforce, and some studios have even been closed. The old mobile scale-up model is no longer functional for most of the companies due to a decline in investments and changes in Apple and Google policies (e.g., IDFA). The PC gaming market, particularly the major marketplace Steam, is increasingly crowded, and competition for players is fierce.
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On the other hand, some big and well-funded studios with long-running games and known IPs have been able to grow, and the availability of skilled employees in the domestic market has been better than in previous years. In addition, companies with a proven track record in subcontracting have mostly been on the winning side when larger companies have decreased their employment risks by turning to subcontracting. These are all characteristics of a mature market.

New Studios Emerge Despite the Challenges
Controversially, hard times have led to an increase in the number of new game developer studios. At the end of 2022, there were 232 active studios, but the number increased to 270 studios by the end of 2024. This is partly a consequence of layoffs: for game industry professionals who have been dismissed by their former employer, setting up a studio of their own is a viable option. The relatively large number of new companies is a positive indicator of the vitality of the Finnish Game Industry ecosystem. As seen before, second-round studios founded by individuals with previous experience in the game industry have a higher likelihood of long-term success compared to those established by first-time founders who lack prior experience in game development. This topic is covered more in detail in the section Game Developer Studios on the Map.

Investment Decline and Turnover Contraction
Compared to the previous period (2021–2022), there was a decline in investments in 2023–2024. During 2021–2022, Finnish studios received over €300 million in disclosed investments, including Metacore’s €150 million credit line from Supercell. In contrast, the total disclosed investments in 2023–2024 amounted to approximately €128 million. This reflects a broader global decrease in investments during the same period. Several factors have contributed to this decline, including the post-pandemic economic slowdown, inflation, rising interest rates, geopolitical tensions, and market saturation—particularly in the mobile game sector.

Due to all the factors mentioned above, the turnover of the Finnish Game Industry decreased in 2024 compared to 2022. In 2022, the turnover was well over €3 Billion, but "only" €2.85 Billion in 2024. However, calculating the actual yearly industry turnover has become increasingly challenging since, following acquisitions, some large companies have transitioned from fiscal reporting based on a calendar year to an uneven fiscal year that starts in April and ends at the end of March. This is elaborated further in the section Financial Outlook.

‍Employment Growth and Evolving Production Strategies
By the end of 2024, the Finnish Game Industry employed 4,300 people, representing an increase of 200 compared to the end of 2022. Of these, 3,800 worked in Finnish studios in Finland and 500 in Finnish-owned studios abroad. Despite the layoffs, the Finnish Game Industry as a whole was able to grow its workforce, mainly due to significant headcount growth in some big studios. This topic is explored in greater depth in the section titled Developers & Diversity.

Games and Platforms Between 2023 and 2024, Finnish game studios published 120 commercial games, which is almost on par with the number of games published in the previous two-year period. The games-as-a-service model has been dominant for several years, with studios focusing more on developing and improving their existing games rather than launching new ones. Some statistics indicate that 61% of global revenue comes from games older than five years. Notably, only around 10 games out of 120 published in 2023-2024 were mobile games. This represents a dramatic shift compared to the mid-2010s when the majority of games published were for mobile devices. However, an even more noteworthy observation is that the popularity of other platforms, mainly online, has increased quite significantly. More about this in the section titled Platforms.  

The most remarkable Finnish game titles in 2023-2024 were Alan Wake II, critically acclaimed Bafta and Game Award winner by Remedy, Squad Busters by Supercell, Cities Skylines II by Colossal Order, and Pax Dei by Mainframe Industries. Additionally, some Indie games, such as Road to Vostok and Finnish Cottage Simulator, gained attention in domestic media.