Game Industry Policy Recommendations for 2019‑2024: Finland

Key insights

5 takeaways · ~2 min read

01
The Finnish game industry is a significant success story, with almost 3,000 employees and a growing number of companies employing over 50 people with turnovers exceeding 10 million euros by 2017.See it on page 7
02
Finland has a high rate of game players, with over half of Finns and nearly a third of the global population actively playing games. The average age of a Finnish player is 38 years old.See it on page 4
03
The shift to digital distribution revolutionized the game industry, allowing developers to retain 70% of profits, a significant increase from the previous 15-25%. Rovio's Angry Birds was an early beneficiary of this change.See it on page 7
04
Key policy recommendations include allocating 100 million euros to address the talent shortage, making Finland an attractive place for digital development, and advocating for Europe to drive global regulation of digital markets.See it on page 2
05
Finnish game development has a long history, starting with Chesmac in 1979, and saw its first boom with the advent of WAP in 1999, despite WAP not meeting expectations. Notable successes include Housemarque’s Supreme Snowboarding, Remedy’s Max Payne, and Sulake’s Habbo Hotel.See it on page 6

Summary

Three ways to bring Finland to the forefront of the digital shift............. 3 More than half of Finns and nearly a third of the global population 4 play games actively............................................................................... The Finnish game industry 5 is the success story of the 21st century.....