According to the Finnish Game Industry report, the country made a profit of over €500 million in the last year despite the state of the world’s economy. There are over 40 confirmed active gaming development studios situated in Finland, that have turned over revenue of over €1 million in one year.
The popular “Fortnite”, the battle royale game, is one of the many dominant names in the space of the gaming industry and has a number of other just as popular competitive games, and with the rise of more studios growing every year and both PC and mobile being the biggest contributors to the platforms in many countries, it is no wonder everyone wants to create a version of their own. Both Apple iOS and Android have on average increased their game development by over 60%.
Games such as Clash of Clans, Angry Birds, and others have become some of the more popular games played by gamers and enthusiasts.
A Holistic View of The Finnish Gaming Industry
With popular names such as “Remedy” and “Housemarque Oy-Stardust version” turning 25 this year, it has marked the starting point of the gaming industry in the country and during those years, the sectors have made some significant changes to their games, sparking unique creativity within all platforms. Two things that have kept the industry going for this long have been creativity and passion.
Over 100 new games have been published in 2020 alone, on both mobile and PC as their primary platforms. The director of one of the well-known game companies Gabriele Aimone, of Helsinki Games Capital, states regarding the secret behind a flourishing industry, is in “gamification”.
Gamification
The addition of game mechanics or rules and rewards, into nongame environments such as an online community, website, or learning management systems with the aim of increasing participation, is what gamification is all about. Everywhere you go, you will see either a mobile game or PC game advertisement or website.
Industries have understood the power of games as a vehicle of motivation, teaching, and education audiences, as well as advertising. Psychology, too, plays a big part in the creation of both online and land-based games in venues such as casinos.
However, the players are leaning more towards Finnish online casino games as opposed to visiting a land-based casino, as a more preferable option. In Finland, gaming is part of an old tradition and many graduates seem to be more inclined to skilling themselves within these industries as opposed to any other, mainly because it is lucrative and fitting to the trends of the 21st century.
The country itself is helping a lot of new and existing entrepreneurs with networking opportunities and startups, that many of the international companies and foreign studios see this as an attractive investment and as such, are moving to Helsinki to be able to tap into the vast talent of developers and other successful companies, to join hands in creating something that works for its audience as opposed to just filling a gap in the market.
The introduction of various forms of online payment has also got a lot to do with it. Now you can easily transfer, withdraw and deposit money on most online casino games, with ease. Transactions take a matter of minutes and mobile is harnessing the benefits of this throughout all forms of games. Many of the games are also free with the purchase of an app, also known as “freemium” games.
Game Development in Finland
All in all, there are over 250 video game studios for the development of games in Finland. This is considered a small amount in the region considering how fast the sectors have grown. The shortage of game developers has pushed companies to hire talent from outside the country and outsource as much talent as possible.
The way forward is to improve the transition of the immigrant talent into these gaming companies, for both online and mobile games. Although the shortage is not being affected with mobile games, especially since the smash hit “Angry Birds” has become so popular. This game alone was downloaded over 50 million times and the sequel Angry Birds 2 was not far behind this number as well. The company that developed the game “Rovio Entertainment” has produced some of the most impressive and addictive games in history.
So, how did they become so famous? With a few strategies, as listed below:
App Store Optimization: everything from the media, to the logo and the name gave players an attractive impression. Besides this, new updates were released on an ongoing basis. Items such as video previews on app stores got people clicking.
Mechanics Monetization: the game uses a few different monetization mechanics to support its development. For example, players can purchase gems and use them to buy upgrades, in case they run out of lives. It also helps to accelerate your progress in the game.
Mini-Games: The developers created different ways players can spend their purchased gems, and mini-games were one of these ways, which, when played, unlocked other lucrative offerings.
These and other genius ideas all came together seamlessly and have made not only the games industry an attractive prospect for investors and players, but has also helped towards strengthening the country’s economy.
