02.01.2012 | FOCUS

Focus: For the love of gaming

Whatever the platform, whatever the genre, Finnish companies are at the forefront of this huge global business.

The games business is well on its way to becoming one of the backbones of the Finnish economy.

Angry Birds has become one of the biggest mobile gaming phenomena in history. The game rocketed to the top of Apple’s App Store downloads both in the US and in China, where Rovio recently opened an office. Console games such as Max Payne and Alan Wake developed by Remedy have attracted millions of gamers, and newer, smaller Finnish firms such as Grey Area with its Shadow Cities mobile game, are pushing the limits.

“Our success makes it possible for other companies to think: if those guys can do it, so can we!” says Rovio’s chief marketing officer Peter “Mighty Eagle” Vesterbacka.

How did this happen?

Industry experts know there was fertile ground to prosper. Finland is world-famous for its technological know-how, and the rise of Nokia in the 1990s ensured the top spot in mobile technology and software.

As a creative field, gaming requires more than technical competence to flourish. The vast majority of game developers started making their games and demos out of a pure love of gaming, and passion is what drives the industry.

KooPee Hiltunen is director of Neogames, the Finnish National Centre of Game Business Research and Education. Neogames’ mission is to foster an environment in which business can thrive, help companies find the right people and investors the hottest start ups. Progress happens, says Hiltunen, when amateurs have the opportunity to follow their passion and gain recognition in events such as Assembly, an annual computer festival organised in Helsinki. Rovio, too, was born at an Assembly event.

According to both Vesterbacka and Hiltunen, culture has been an important factor. Finnish games are Western enough to have wide appeal, but at the same time, have an intangible Nordic feel that gives them an appealing twist. Finnish culture has also been open to games – games have quickly been accepted as part of popular culture.

Looking for new talents

In Finland, the industry experienced a burst of growth in the early 2000s. An important acknowledgement of this growth in expertise was the relocation of the European Game Developers Federation’s main office to Helsinki. The industry is growing at such a pace that it is struggling to find enough talented professionals to recruit.

Neogames and the Finnish Game Developers’ Association have launched the Gamepro programme which gives programmers and graphic designers an opportunity to gain hands-on experience working for game companies.

Game development is a craft you learn by doing. Experience in developing your own games is invaluable for those who eventually become professional game developers. It’s important for those working in management, as well. Growth starts at the roots.

By Juha Rudanko
Alphabets Antti Kangassalo

The story, of which this is an extract, is published in Focus on the Economy and Technology 2012, produced by Sanoma Custom Publishing.