Finland Games Industry Report

FINLAND
GAMES INDUSTRY
REGION
REPORT
Facts, figures, and analysis of a
European games industry
talent powerhouse

Finland has long been a force to be reckoned
with in the games industry. Despite being a relatively small country, it has
historically boasted a great deal of talent when it
comes to games, all the way from the
demoscene years that gave us the likes of
Remedy Entertainment and Housemarque. More recently, Finland has been a pioneer in
the mobile games space, housing hit makers in
the form of development giants such as Rovio
and Supercell. The country’s exports of Angry
Birds and Clash of Clans spearheaded the early
days of Europe’s mobile revolution, becoming
two top performers in the premium and free-to-
play eras of the platform. As a testament to Finland’s position in the
mobile market, those franchises still persist
today, spanning sequels, spinoffs and even
transmedia forays, with a third Angry Birds
Movie flying in and a Netflix deal for Clash. In 2025, the Finnish games industry is
weathering many of the same headwinds that
the rest of the world is facing. Global uncertainty
and unpredictable economic tides – combined
with a post-pandemic industry lull and mobile
specific-challenges like privacy changes and
high UA costs – are making life difficult, but
those in the space remain confident about the
state of the market.
270 STUDIOS ALIVE & KICKING
As we’ll see later in the report, the Finnish
industry had its highest ever number of active
studios (270) in 2024 and second highest ever
turnover at $2.85bn. “[The sector is] alive and kicking,” enthuses
KooPee Hiltunen, the director of Finnish trade
body Neogames. “Despite some difficulties in the
previous couple of years, the Finnish game
industry is still strong. Big companies are doing just fine, and the indie scene is more active than
it has been in years. Companies are looking for
new opportunities and platforms, and regulatory
initiatives like DMA will hopefully offer some
possibilities for growth in the future years.” Rovio’s chief sustainability officer Heini Kaihu
adds: “[It’s] resilient. Despite facing the same
headwinds that have been witnessed across the
global games industry over the past couple of
years, Finland’s game industry remains
fundamentally strong and resilient. The
established players – companies like us,
Supercell, and Remedy – continue to perform
well and maintain their global presence.
STATE OF PLAY
INTRODUCTION
2
“The Finnish game
industry is still strong –
big companies are doing
just fine, and the indie
scene is more active than
it has been in years”
KooPee Hiltunen
D I R EC TO R / NEOGAMES
// OCTOBER 2025
REGION REPORT FINLAND

“The indie scene is more vibrant than it’s
been in years, with smaller studios exploring
innovative concepts and new platforms. There’s
a palpable sense of companies actively seeking
fresh opportunities, whether through emerging
technologies, new distribution channels, or
untapped markets.” Of particular note within the Finnish mobile
games sector in recent years is how studios
have adapted with the ever-growing, ever-
evolving importance of live ops. It’s the bread
and butter of a successful mobile games
business, with Supercell ramping up its live
teams over the past couple of years – a change
to its famous culture of ‘small cells’ – as it seeks
to keep up with rivals and the content churn. “Companies like Supercell and Metacore have
managed to iterate on their live operations,
shipping player experiences that have led to
recent peaks in some of their games,” Antti
Kananen, head of games at Games and Leaves,
explains. “Still, even these companies have
struggled to launch new games at the scale they
once did.” Kaihu adds: “Over the past few years, Finnish
companies have increasingly mastered live
operations, which has helped us continue
growing very successful mobile franchises that
were launched years ago.” Kananen believes that there is ample
opportunity within the Finnish games industry,
but in order to make the most of this potential,
companies need to be unafraid to communicate. “Even if large-scale new game launches have
slowed, there’s an opportunity to leverage this knowledge through the means the industry has
raised its profile in the past: networking,” he
explains. “As long as we keep sharing and caring
about things together, we’re hopefully able to
learn from each other on how we can do better.” And while the waves of layoffs and company
closures we have seen in recent memory are
painful, they may also hold the seeds for the
sector’s f uture. “The wave of closures and bankruptcies, while
painful, also seeds the ecosystem with
experienced talent starting new ventures,”
Kananen continues. “This creates a fertile
ground for fresh ideas, and experimentation. Given the energy of this experimentation is used
in combination with our creative power, in
alignment with the commercial efforts some
companies have managed to demonstrate, there
is an opportunity to build better companies. This
requires, however, really great execution, and
looking most probably into spearheading some
level of paradigm shifts.”
A TOP TALENT FACTORY
Education in Finland is also robust enough to
ensure a promising future for the games
industry. This, combined with the fact that the
country is seen as a desirable place for foreign
labour to come to, ensures that there is no
shortage of workers for its games industry. “The talent pipeline is strong,” Kaihu explains.
“Finnish universities are producing world-class
game developers and engineers, and we’re
seeing international talent choosing Finland not
just for career opportunities, but for the quality
of life – clean environment, excellent work-life
balance, strong social systems, and a culture
that values innovation and long-term thinking
over quick wins.” There aren’t many new challenges to the
Finnish industry; more of the same problems
that the country has faced for some time. Many
of these are not unique to Finland, either. “We’re still a small country, and as big
companies continue to grow, they’re looking for
more specialist workforce than we have
domestically and than our schools can produce.
The industry continues to need specialist talent
from outside Finland,” Rovio’s Kaihu explains.
3
“Over the past few years,
Finnish companies have
increasingly mastered
live operations, which
has helped us continue
growing very successful
mobile franchises that
were launched years ago”
Heini Kaihu
CHIEF SUSTAINABILITY
OFFICER / ROVI O
// OCTOBER 2025
REGION REPORT FINLAND

“As mentioned earlier, Finland remains an
attractive hub for the gaming industry,
boasting a safe and family-friendly
environment; however, we must work actively
to maintain this position. It’s not something
we can take for granted.” There are challenges beyond the market’s
financial performance, Kananen argues.
“Such as people having a difficult time securing
jobs due to dynamics unfolding both locally and
globally. On that front, the industry has also
been hurt by government-level changes.”
ALIENS VS GOVERNMENT
Earlier this year, the Finnish government
amended its Aliens Act. This gave foreign
workers limited time to find work if their
contracts were terminated: between three and
six months, depending on their circumstances.
Despite a backlash to the legislation, it came into
effect on June 11th. Neogames and many
companies in the games industry have opposed
the changes largely due to the sector’s
dependence on foreign labour. It’s a blow to a
sector that has already seen government
support wane, faces competition from other
rising games hubs, and that’s already facing
wider industry-specific challenges. “Relocating to Finland can be perceived as
being less attractive than it was in the past,
which is not ideal for the industry in terms of
work-based immigration,” Kananen explains. “For the games industry, this is especially
challenging: a significant portion of the
workforce in Finland’s game studios consists of foreign talent. Several companies, as well as
Neogames have voiced serious concerns that
these restrictions could undermine innovation
and competitiveness.” Kaihu adds: “Rovio, the entire Finnish game
industry, alongside many other industries,
naturally strongly opposed the whole idea, and
we still do. The good news is that almost all
games industry employees fall into the six-
month category due to their specialist status,
but this sends a very wrong signal overall. Even
though the talent needed in our industry is very
much welcomed and needed, the policy creates
unnecessary uncertainty for the international
professionals we’re trying to attract.” From Neogames’ perspective, it is still early
days and the industry is yet to see what the full
impact of this amended legislation is. Regardless, the fight isn’t over.
“Neogames continues the discussion
with authorities, like Migri [the Finnish
Immigration Service], about the
practicalities,” Hiltunen explains. “It’s worth noting that one can find similar
legislation in all EU countries, with different
implementations. In Finland, we are on par
with the protection periods in other EU
countries. Of course, Finland is not as big as
some other EU countries and finding a new job
is harder since the company base is also smaller.
That’s why we are still advocating for longer
protection periods.”
INVESTMENT EVOLUTION
In recent years, there has been a decline in
investment in the Finnish games industry.
Neogames’ Hiltunen admits that 2023 was
“difficult globally” with the amount of funding
coming into the country dipping, though says
that 2024 was slightly better. “The sentiment in the industry seems to be
that getting investment is harder than before.
The old mobile ‘scale-up with money’ model
isn’t functional anymore, due to the high UA
price,” he says. “Investors are looking for a new
approach to the game business, but how to find
a winning bet? For investors, technology,
especially AI-based, seems to be one. In Finland,
we are pretty good at all kinds of R&D, so I hope
we can turn this situation to our favour.” Rovio’s Kaihu echoes this thinking, offering:
“The sentiment in the industry seems to be that
securing investment is harder than before.
4
Finnish games industry persistence – and its
robust position within the mobile market –
is exemplified in franchises such as Rovio’s
Angry Birds, which continues to fly forth
// OCTOBER 2025
REGION REPORT FINLAND

Investors are looking for new approaches to the
game business; perhaps this could come from
more technical innovations, which would make
the Finnish market quite interesting given our
strong tech foundation.” However, Kananen says that while funding
has certainly dipped, it would be incorrect to
think it is entirely the fault of investors. “It’s also because Finland has not had many
fundable companies recently, owing to certain
global dynamics that have raised the bar
significantly,” he explains. “Simply put, it’s hard to
fund companies that don’t operate with the right
balance of creativity and commercial excellence.
It will be interesting to see if these new ventures
manage to combine these elements at the
required level to bring the industry back into a
growth loop on the startup front.”
FUTURE GROWTH
Despite investment woes and local legislation,
there’s optimism within the Finnish games
industry. And the sector has some lofty goals. “[By 2030] our goal is to be an autonomous,
sustainable industry with a strong community
and strong regional cluster organisations,”
Hiltunen says. “Our share of global game
industry turnover was around 1.8% in 2023, and
we are looking to increase or at least maintain
that share, which would mean at least doubling
the industry turnover by 2030. It is an ambitious
goal, but we have all the means to reach it.
Structurally, we have never been as strong as we
are at the moment.” Rovio’s Kaihu also cites the aim of doubling industry turnover by 2030, adding: “Established
companies like us and others need to keep
growing our business with existing and new
games, and most likely, we also need new
companies with global hits. I believe this is
doable, but it requires that we build this
ambition level into everything we do – talent
development, game concepts and production,
and also how the games industry is viewed from
government and funding perspectives. “We need to protect the industry from overly strict regulation based on misunderstanding
digital and gaming business fundamentals, while
ensuring it’s recognised as a valuable export
sector. This means building forward-thinking,
innovative programs to boost growth rather
than hinder it.” Kananen isn’t concerned about the future of
the Finnish industry, but everyone needs to pull
their weight to maintain the sector’s status. “If our ‘giants’ can double down on what they
already do exceptionally well and start shipping
commercially viable games more consistently,
we can sustain the current trend of showcasing
the global excellence Finland is known for,” he
says. “Beyond that, I genuinely hope, on PC and
console front, Housemarque earns its ‘proper’
triple-A crown by successfully delivering high-
quality games one after another, building on the
success formula they seem to have found. “While it might be hard to imagine today, I
remain optimistic that some of the new
companies will be able to build scalable
businesses rather than repeating the mistakes
others have already made. In my view, this will
require certain paradigm-level shifts, which I
hope they are actively exploring – shifts that
could lead to building something both tangible
and successful.” He concludes: “As long as we build with ‘sisu’
[Finnish term, loosely translates to English as
tenacity of purpose or resilience], keep learning,
iterate on those learnings, and share knowledge
with one another, I believe the market could
turn a page – especially in light of the broader
macro-level changes currently in motion.”
5
“[By 2030] our goal is to
be an autonomous,
sustainable industry with
a strong community and
strong regional cluster
organisations … we have
all the means to reach it
– structurally, we have
never been as strong as
we are at the moment.”
KooPee Hiltunen
D I R EC TO R / NEOGAMES
// OCTOBER 2025
REGION REPORT FINLAND

6
Diving into some figures
detailing Finland’s resilient
games industry sector
The most recent data about the Finnish
games industry comes via trade body
Neogames’ recently released 2024 report.
The country boasts 270 active studios –
approximately 40 more than in 2022. This
marks the highest number of studios in the
sector in its history. Last year, Finnish studios employed 4,300
staff, rising from 4,100 in 2022, despite industry-
wide mass layoffs around the world. Of that
figure, 500 staff members were said to be
based abroad. Almost half of Finnish companies (127) are
based in the capital region, which includes
Helsinki, Espoo, and Vantaa. Despite having just
under half of the country’s games firms, this part
of Finland was behind 97% of industry turnover
in 2024, up from 92% in 2022. Other major
games hubs include Tampere (39), Oulu (22),
and Turku (17). In 2022, 66% of companies were making
games for mobile as the most popular platform
of choice, with 64% working on PC. In 2024, the
two platforms were neck and neck at 61%.
Meanwhile, 38% of studios are building for
console, and 28% for other platforms. Multi-platform game development is said to
be common in Finland, with 58% of those
interviewed for the report stating they were
making games for more than one platform.
THE BIG
NUMBERS
01
PA RT
CONSOLE
MOBILE
PC
16%
49%
35%
PLATFORM DIVIDE
(2024)
THE SPREAD OF GAME STUDIO
LOCATIONS ACROSS FINLAND(2024)
SOURCE: Neogames
NORTH 12%
CENTRAL 23%
EAST 6%
WEST 10%
C A P I TA L 49%
SOURCE: Neogames
12
6
49
23
10
// OCTOBER 2025
REGION REPORT FINLAND

When it comes to who the revenue
generators are, Neogames said four studios
were still generating a turnover of more than
€100m. The number generating revenue above
€1m annually had however declined since 2023
from 45 to 37. According to data firm Newzoo, the Finnish
games market generated $368 million in
consumer spending during 2024. That’s a 1.7%
increase year-on-year, and the first time that the
sector has exceeded 2020’s figures. During 2025,
the firm forecasts that Finland’s games market
will make $382 million. By 2027, Newzoo forecasts that Finnish
consumers will be spending $416 million
annually on games. Neogames reports that in 2024 games
companies in Finland made €2.85bn ($3.3bn), a
decline from €3 billion ($3.5bn) in 2022. The
country’s estimated operating results totalled
approximately €800 million ($931.5m) in 2023
and shrank to €400m ($465.8m) in 2024. Finland’s prowess in the mobile games
space doesn’t appear to be reflected in the
country’s consumer spending;
Newzoo’s data shows that only 35%
of spending was on mobile titles
in 2024, still over double the 16%
spent on PC titles. Console was
the biggest winner, generating
49% of consumer spending
during 2024.
7
“If our ‘giants’ can double
down on what they
already do exceptionally
well […] we can sustain
the current trend of
showcasing the global
excellence Finland is
know n for”
Antti Kananen
HEAD OF GAMES /
GAMES AND LEAVES
2024 270
2020 200
2018 220
2016 250
2014 260
2012 180
2010 70
2008 45
2004 40
2022 230
NUMBER
OF ACTIVE STUDIOS
2004–2024
SOURCE: Neogames
Finland’s games market is
forecast to generate $416m by
2027 but its success extends
far beyond borders, with the
nation’s leading IP increasingly
going cross-media (e.g. Clash of
Clans x Netflix series)
// OCTOBER 2025
REGION REPORT FINLAND

8
TURNOVER OF THE FINNISH GAME INDUSTRY
Four of Finland’s studios continue to generate €100m+ yearly turnovers, with a
reduction in the number of €1m+ studios reflected in the industry’s overall figures
DATA
YEAR TU RNOVE R
€ MILLION
2024 2,850
2022 3,200
2020 2,400
2018 2 ,100
2016 2,500
2014 1,800
2012 320
2010 105
2008 87
2004 40
SOURCE: Neogames
€ MILLION
€3,500
€3,000 €2,500
€2,000 €1,500
€1,000 €500 0
2004 2024 20122020
2008 2016
2014 2022
2010 2018
// OCTOBER 2025
REGION REPORT FINLAND

THE PC AND
CONSOLE MARKET
NUMBERS
As mentioned earlier, console dominated
Finland’s consumer market, making up 49% of
consumer spending 2024, while PC was
behind at just 16%. Steam giant Valve boasts the highest monthly
active users of any publisher in the region for
2025 so far, likely bolstered by Counter-Strike 2’s
popularity. That title was the most popular game
in Finland for the year-to-date. Second place goes to Electronic Arts, with
The Sims 4 boasting the fourth-highest monthly
active user figure for 2025 to date. Meanwhile,
Ubisoft came in third, likely helped by Tom
Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege X, which had the
ninth highest monthly active users for the year
so far.
9
Top 10 PC/console publishers
for 2025 year-to-date by MAU
01 VA LV E
02 ELECTRONIC ARTS
03 UBISOFT
04 ROCKSTAR GAMES
05 EPIC GAMES
06 ACTIVISION
07 SONY INTERACTIVE
ENTERTAINMENT
08 KRAFTON
09 MOJANG
10 2K GAMES
SOURCE: Newzoo
Top 10 PC/console games for
2025 year-to-date by MAU
01
COUNTER-STRIKE 2/COUNTER-
STRIKE GLOBAL OFFENSIVE
VA LV E
02 FORTNITE EPIC GAMES
03 MINECRAFT MICROSOFT
04 THE SIMS 4 EA
05 CALL OF DUTY AC TIVISION
06 ROBLOX ROB LOX
07 GRAND THEFT AUTO V ROCKSTAR
08 PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS
KRAFTON
09 TOM CLANCY’S RAINBOW SIX
SIEGE X UBISOFT
10 OV E R WAT C H BLIZZARD
SOURCE: Newzoo
// OCTOBER 2025
REGION REPORT FINLAND

10
Finland’s leading publishers
ranked by revenue and
downloads during 2024
studio Fingersoft with $16.8 million. While Supercell took number one for
downloads, second place on the install charts
went to Fingersoft, which generated 132.3
million downloads in 2024. It was followed by
Rovio and Hyperkani at 66 installs apiece, and
MotionVolt Games at 11.1 million.
*Note: Finland’s top mobile publishers are based
on AppMagic Publisher HQ location. This may
exclude studios within larger organisations and
publishers with a HQ listed in another country.
Supercell is the undisputed champion of the
Finnish mobile scene; the company made
$1.94 billion in gross revenue during 2024,
according to AppMagic data. That is 4.6 times
the rest of the top 10 combined, such is the
Clash of Clans maker’s clout. The company’s
games were downloaded 243 million times in
2024, too. It should be noted that according to
Supercell’s official financials, the company
generated a record $3 billion in revenue in 2024
as all of its live games saw sales rise year-over-
year for the first time since 2014. Rovio takes second place with $172 million in
gross revenue, though was only the third
highest performer in the download charts with
66 million. Metacore ranks as number three with $158.2
million thanks to Merge Mansion, with revenue
up on the previous year. Another merge game developer, Futureplay,
took $51.4 million, owing to Merge Gardens. The
top five was rounded out by Hill Climb Racing
TOP PUBLISHERS
02
PA RT
According to Supercell’s official financials, it generated a record $3 billion in revenue in
2024 as all of its live games saw sales rise year-over-year for the first time since 2014
// OCTOBER 2025
REGION REPORT FINLAND

11
Top 10 Finnish Mobile Companies
by Revenue
(2024)
01 SUPERCELL $1.94 BILLION
02 ROVIO$172 MILLION
03 M E TAC O R E$158.2 MILLION
04 FUTUREPLAY$51.4 MILLION
05 FINGERSOFT$16.8 MILLION
06 VA L A S M E D I A$5.2 MILLION
07 LIGHTHEART
ENTERTAINMENT $5.2 MILLION
08 P L AYS O M E
$3.5 MILLION
09 CRITICAL FORCE$2.9 MILLION
10 HYPEHYPE$1.3 MILLION
SOURCE: AppMagic
Top 10 Finnish Mobile Companies
by Downloads
(2024)
01 SUPERCELL 243 MILLION
02 FINGERSOFT132.3 MILLION
03 ROVIO66 MILLION
04 HYPERKANI66 MILLION
05 MOTIONVOLT GAMES11.1 MILLION
06 CRITICAL FORCE8.2 MILLION
07 TWO MEN AND A DOG7. 4 M I L L I O N
08 DODREAMS6.5 MILLION
09 HYPEHYPE5.5 MILLION
10 M E TAC O R E5.2 MILLION
SOURCE: AppMagic
// OCTOBER 2025
REGION REPORT FINLAND

12
Top 10 Mobile Games in Finland
by Downloads
(2024)
01 BLOCK BLAST Hungry Studio783,000
02 B R AW L S TA R S Supercell251,000
03 SQUAD BUSTERS Supercell168,000
04 ROBLOX Roblox
Corporation 162,000
05 LAST WAR: SURVIVAL
First Fun156,000
06 PIZZA READY Supercent136,000
07 OFFLINE GAMES – NO
WIFI GAMES JundoBlu
129,000
08 R OYA L M AT C H Dream Games125,000
09 WORDS OF WONDERS:
CROSSWORD Fugo Games
113,000
10 GEOMETRY DASH LITE RobTop Games112,000
SOURCE: AppMagic
Top 10 Mobile Games in Finland
by Gross Revenue
(2024)
01 CANDY CRUSH
SAGA King
$5.3 million
02 B R AW L S TA R S Supercell$4.4 million
03 LAST WAR:
S U RV I VA L First Fun
$3.3 million
04 POKÉMON GO Niantic$3.2 million
05 R OYA L M AT C H Dream Games$2.8 million
06 ROBLOX Roblox$2.7 million
07 WHITEOUT
S U RV I VA L Century Games
$2.1 million
08 COIN MASTER Moon Active1.9 million
09 H AY DAY Supercell$1.5 million
10 GARDENSCAPES Playrix $1.4 million
SOURCE: AppMagic
// OCTOBER 2025
REGION REPORT FINLAND

13
STUDIO
PROFILES
03
PA RT
SUPERCELL
WWW.SUPERCELL.COM
SOFTG R APHY
• Brawl Stars
• Clash of Clans
• Clash Royale
Founded back in 2010, Supercell has become
one of the defining companies within the
mobile games space.
After an early pivot to mobile-first, the famous
Finnish developer hasn’t looked back thanks to
early blockbuster success with Hay Day and
Clash of Clans. The company has since released
five $1 billion+ hits, adding Boom Beach, Clash
Royale and Brawl Stars to its portfolio, as well as
recent titles Squad Busters and Mo.co.
Back in 2016, Chinese tech and entertainment
giant Tencent acquired a majority stake in
Supercell, owning 81.4 per cent of the Clash of
Clan maker. More recently, Supercell fully
acquired Space Ape Games to establish its
London office.
ROVIO
WWW.ROVIO.COM
SOFTG R APHY
• Angry Birds 2
• Angry Birds Dream Blast
• Angry Birds Bounce
There was a time when Rovio was synonymous
with mobile games. Back in the era of the
smartphone revolution, its Angry Birds
franchise reigned supreme.
Angry Birds emerged out of a tumultuous
period at the company, which was going
bankrupt at the time; within three years it
became the first mobile game to hit one billion
downloads. Since then, Rovio’s titles have been
downloaded five billion times, as of 2022.
Regardless, the company was still the second-
highest-grossing Finnish mobile publisher in
2024, generating $172 million on mobile and
coming second only to Supercell.
In 2023, Rovio was acquired by Japanese games
giant Sega for $776 million.
Taking a closer look at a
selection of Finland’s most
successful game outfits
// OCTOBER 2025
REGION REPORT FINLAND

14
M E TAC O R E
WWW.METACOREGAMES.COM
SOFTG R APHY
• Merge Mansion
Founded as Everywear Games back in 2015, the
company’s initial focus was on titles for Apple
Watch. Half a decade later, in 2020, it rebranded
as Metacore and released new title Merge
Mansion in September of that year. Finnish
mobile giant Supercell was so confident in
Metacore’s hit that it gave the company a $180
million credit line to help scale Merge Mansion.
Within 11 months, the merge title had been
downloaded over 40 million times and has
since gone on to be installed over 55 million
times, as of August 2024. If that wasn’t enough,
the title has generated north of $500 million in
revenue, too.
HOUSEMARQUE
WWW.HOUSEMARQUE.COM
SOFTG R APHY
• SAROS
• Returnal
Housemarque is Finland’s oldest games studio.
Over the years it has long kept the flame
burning for the arcade-style of gaming with the
likes of Super Stardust, Dead Nation and
Resogun. After 2017’s Nex Machina failed to sell
enough, Housemarque said it was moving away
from arcade titles – later also cancelling its
in-development battle royale title Stormdivers
– so it could focus on its first truly triple-A title,
Returnal, which launched for the PlayStation 5
in early 2021.
That same year, Housemarque was acquired by
Japanese platform holder Sony Interactive
Entertainment for an undisclosed sum.
The studio is currently working on an action
game called Saros, set to launch in 2026.
REMEDY
ENTERTAINMENT
WWW.REMEDYGAMES.COM
SOFTG R APHY
• Alan Wake 2
• FBC: Firebreak
• Control
Remedy Entertainment emerged out of the
country’s infamous demoscene subculture in
1995. One year later, the studio burst onto the
scene with the chaotic Death Rally; but it wasn’t
until 2001’s Max Payne that Remedy truly
became a household name. Since then it has
created innovative and undeniably strange
games in Alan Wake and Quantum Break.
More recently, Remedy has opted to chart its
own course; funding its own titles and creating
games on a more reasonable budget. The first
fruit of this labour was 2019’s Control, which
has sold over five million copies to date. The
company also recently released its first
multiplayer game in FBC: Firebreak.
// OCTOBER 2025
REGION REPORT FINLAND

15
NEXT GAMES
WWW.NEXTGAMES.COM
SOFTG R APHY
• The Walking Dead: No Man’s Land
Next Games was established in 2013 with the
ambition to adapt major entertainment IPs to
the mobile space.
That led to projects such as The Walking Dead:
No Man’s Land, now operated by Deca Games,
which has picked up over $150 million over the
years, according to AppMagic estimates. The
developer also leveraged The Walking Dead IP
for location-based AR game Our World, and has
previously tapped licences such as Blade
Runner and Stranger Things.
In 2022, Netflix – which counts Stranger Things
as one of its biggest success stories – acquired
Next Games for a total value of approximately
€65 million.
NITRO GAMES
WWW.NITROGAMES.COM
SOFTG R APHY
• Warframe
• Autogun Heroes
There was a period a decade ago where a spate
of games companies were launching IPOs – and
one of those was Nitro Games, which went
public on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market.
The company is headquartered in Kotka, while
also housing a second office in Helsinki. The
developer has worked on original IP, including
its own 3D shooter platformer Autogun Heroes,
and with big licences.
The latter includes its work on Digital Extremes’
bringing shooter Warframe to mobile.
Meanwhile, it has worked with another major
brand for NERF: Superblast Online, too.
More recently, Nitro has signed development
partnerships with Payday outfit Starbreeze and
Ready or Not studio VOID Interactive.
FINGERSOFT
WWW.FINGERSOFT.COM
SOFTG R APHY
• Hill Climb Racing 2
• LEGO Hill Climb Adventures
Headquartered in Oulu, Fingersoft has one of
Finland’s most viral exports in the shape of the
Hill Climb Racing IP. Last year the developer said
the series had surpassed 2.5 billion downloads
and was attracting more than 50 million players
each month.
The developer was ranked 49th in PocketGamer.
biz Top 50 Game Makers 2024 list. The studio
has continued to leverage the success of its
most treasured IP, while expanding it through a
collaboration with the world’s favourite Danish
toy maker for LEGO Hill Climb Adventures.
With a newly appointed CEO, one of Finland’s
most successful exports is looking to drive
renewed success this year and beyond.
// OCTOBER 2025
REGION REPORT FINLAND

16
FUTUREPLAY
WWW.FUTUREPLAYGAMES.COM
SOFTG R APHY
• Merge Gardens
The talented team at Futureplay has reimagined
itself a couple of times. The company’s ambition
was to build ‘view-to-play’ games focused on ad
monetisation, releasing clickers like Idle
Farming Empire.
The studio later pivoted to merge game Merge
Gardens in 2020, before being acquired by
Plarium in 2021 for an undisclosed fee. As
Futureplay says itself, while Merge Gardens
found initial success, player engagement and
growth began to decline. But the studio didn’t
simply shut the title down and work on
something new – it stuck with it through a
rebrand, firing up revenue.
According to AppMagic estimates, the title has
generated $148.7 million to date.
SMALL GIANT GAMES
WWW.SMALLGIANTGAMES.COM
SOFTG R APHY
• Empires & Puzzles
Small Giant Games started out life in 2014
working on its debut game Oddwings Escape.
The title was a failure. Following its 2015
release, the studio had limited time on its hands:
four months to prove its next game was worth
continuing with, in fact.
That title turned out to be match-3 RPG Empires
& Puzzles, which transformed Small Giant’s
fortunes. The transformation was such, in fact,
that it turned into one of the Finland’s games
industry’s most successful ever games. It has
generated billions of dollars and led to Zynga
acquiring the company in a deal that valued it at
over $700 million.
HYPEHYPE
WWW.HYPEHYPE.COM
SOFTG R APHY
• HypeHype
HypeHype was first founded in 2012 as
Frogmind. The studio became an indie darling
with its hit game Badland, later followed up with
a sequel. The developer has experimented with
different kinds of projects over the years,
including Badland Brawl and Rumble Stars.
The team’s talent was enough to attract the
overtures of Supercell, which acquired 51% of
the studio in 2016. Subsequently, the company
rebranded to HypeHype, receiving a $15 million
investment from the Clash of Clans maker.
The developer is working on the much
anticipated innovative UGC platform of the
same name, where it aims to build the next big
mobile hit to come out of Finland.
// OCTOBER 2025
REGION REPORT FINLAND

17
Titles, talent, time – key
elements are in place for a
Finnish games sector flourish
Finland has built a reputation as the star of
the mobile games market worldwide with
domestic darlings like Rovio and Supercell,
while also establishing its PC and console
credentials with longstanding studios such as
Housemarque and Remedy Entertainment. The country hasn’t been immune to industry
hurdles of the last few years, however, while
debates have raged on the state of Finland’s
games market and how it can spark a return to
former glories. But through all the challenges,
this Nordic hub is still home to a plethora of
experienced and talented developers – with
robust talent pipelines in place – working on
some of the world’s biggest games and
franchises having successfully evolved to meet
the particular demands of live op games. Certainly, there is confidence amongst
established industry players that the market has
the ability, structure, and ambition it needs to
significantly further bolster its global status. If you want to learn more about Finland’s
games sector and the wider Nordic industry,
come join us at Pocket Gamer Connects
Helsinki on October 7th and 8th, 2025.
• Finland’s games industry generated
€2.85 billion ($3.3bn) in 2024,
Neogames reports
• The country’s games market
accumulated $368 million in
consumer spending during 2024,
according to Newzoo
• Finland is now home to a record 270
active studios, up from 230 in 2022
• The Finnish industry has faced
challenges over the last few years as
competition with other games hubs
heats up, but it is building up for
growth in the years ahead
KEY
TA K E AWAY S
04
PA RT
Finnish capital Helsinki’s continued
evolution (brand new Jatkasaari district
shown) should further cement its status as
the country’s premier games industry hub
// OCTOBER 2025
REGION REPORT FINLAND

REGISTERNOW!
18
Want the most effective way to
connect and do business with the
key players of the Finnish games
industry? Grab a ticket to PGC
Helsinki 2025.
Set to be the biggest edition yet,
proudly serving as the core of
Finnish Games Week, it’s a must-
attend event for professionals
from every corner of the sector
to converge on one of Europe’s
leading games hubs and learn,
collaborate, and grow together.
// OCTOBER 2025
UPCOMING EVENT FOR HELSINKI

OUR 4-IN-1 CONFERENCE DELIVERS:
• One ticket, four events (PG Connects + Big Screen Gaming Summit +
AI Gamechangers Summit + Beyond Games: Transmedia Summit)
• Over 1,500 global games industry delegates
• Multitrack conference programme on multiple stages
• More than 150 expert speakers sharing their insight – in talks, panels,
roundtables
• Mobile, PC, Console, AI, HTML5, XR, cross-media and more
• A comprehensive expo area with booths and meeting spaces
• Indie dev bonanza through showcase tables, pitching competition,
audience choice award
• Integrated meeting system for business
matchmaking (MeetToMatch)
• Specialised fringe events connecting investors and
publishers with developers
• Dedicated Careers Zone
• Post-conference networking reception and buzzing
industry party
REGISTER NOW!
19
PG CONNECTS HELSINKI:
SUPPORTING THE
FINNISH GAMES SECTOR SINCE 2014
// OCTOBER 2025

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©2025 Steel Media Ltd This publication and its
contents are the copyright of
Steel Media Ltd and may not
be distributed, copied, or
reproduced without
permission.
Publication date:
SEPTEMBER, 2025
• Craig ChappleHEAD OF CONTENT
• Alex CalvinCONTRIBUTING EDITOR
• Jez BridgemanCREATIVE DIRECTOR
• João Diniz Sanches
PRODUCTION EDITOR
• Paul EdwardsSENIOR DESIGNER
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