THIS WEEK (7/2019) IN THE FINNISH GAME INDUSTRY

Play Finland’s Weekly Newsletter
In this report we will combine week 7/2019 from the Finnish Game Industry.
News are gathered from the Play Finland group posts during the week. That is why we recommend you to post by yourself (however not flood) your Finnish Game Industry related news to the group. It also guarantees that your news will be visible in the weekly newsletter /news compilation. Play Finland is at the moment one of the main channels for sharing information inside the industry.

Events:

• Games Now Spring 2019 program:
  • James Wootton: Games for Quantum Computers – Games Now! lecture series
  • 1th March
    @ Design Factory/Streamed, 15-17 EET
    “Check your Assumptions – Making the Most of User Experience Research”
    Inger Ekman, DICE/Electronic Arts
  • 1st April
    @ Design Factory/Streamed, 15-17 EET
    “Playing with grief: What participatory game design can do for mourners.”
    Sabine Harrer, Copenhagen Game Collective
  • 6th May
    @ Learning Centre/Streamed, 15-17 EET
    “Why Godot Right Now?”
    Ariel Manzur, Godot Engine
  • 10th-12th May
    @ Learning Centre/Otaniemi
    Games Now! Jam
• 15th-17th February Quantum Game Jam in Helsinki on the with quantum physicists and some quantum technologies. Apply now
• 19.02.2018 Gamification Group is organizing a workshop series on the topics of WEARABLES, BODY and GAMES.
  • Application Form
    Application Deadline: 30.01.2019
• Suomen pelialan opinnäytekilpailu 2019 on avoinna – Finnish Game Studies Thesis Competition is open. Opinnäyte tulee ilmoittaa ehdokkaaksi 28.2.2019
• 1-3 March Dog Jam in Helsinki
• 14 March Game Audio Awards / Oulu
• 18-19th March Game Connection America / San Francisco
  • see the Nordic Offer DL feb. 6th
  • Helsinki based game start-ups (less than 5 years of age) can apply Helsinki travel grants to GC America participation. There is also a quota of 4 Helsinki companies who can participate free to GC . Everything works by first come first served bases. More info about that from Henrik Keinonen. https://newcohelsinki.fi/fi/meista/
• 18th-22 March Game Developers Conference
• 6th April IT and Games Job Fair Helsinki 2019
• April 11-12th; GameDev Days 2019 / Tallinn
• 22-24th May Nordic Game Conference / Malmö
  • 50% off on conference passes to Nordic Game 2019, 22-24 May in Malmö, Sweden. This counts until midnight, January 3rd.
  • CHRISTMAS PRESENT TO THIS GROUP: the first 10 to select this group in the menu and enter this code, NG19PF5MLGG4, will get the Dinner Experience for free!
• 28-30 May. Casual Connect in London;
  • The submission form for the international Indie Prize scholarship at Casual Connect Europe 2019 at QE II Centre, London. Make sure to submit your game BEFORE MARCH 20.

See also The Game Industry Events calendar: http://www.neogames.fi/en/events/eventcalendar
Neogames is creating a tool for the city of Helsinki summarising all key games industry related events in Helsinki
Open jobs & Recruitment

• Random Potion is looking for a programmer and an artist to join our team to develop our ambitious online co-op roleplaying game!
• Hei kaikki taiteilijat. Taiteilijat kuten kuvittajat, graafikot, animaattorit, videotaiteilijat, valokuvataiteilijat, piirtäjät, kuvataiteilijat, mixed media-tyypit ja kaikki siltä väliltä. Etsin yhteistyötaiteilijoita erääseen kaupalliseen projektiimme, jossa pääsemme esittelemään Helsinkiläisiä taiteentekijöitä erilaisin keinoin. Palkkio maksetaan ja projekti on hieno. Laita mulle linkki portfolioosi tai instagram-tiliisi ja lyhyt kuvaus itsestäsi/teemoistasi/välineestäsi osoitteeseen saara@lucidhelsinki.com, niin katsotaan jos meillä syntyisi synergiaaaaa. Kiitos!
• Kyy Games is looking for an anime-inspired writer for a freelance gig. Requirements:
  Deep knowledge of Anime & Manga
  Excellent written English
  Attention to details
  Experience on game writing
  Send us a message at info@kyygames.com with relevant portfolio materials included.
• Interested in joining the incredible team over at Wargaming Helsinki?
• Wanted: 3D Artist to join Koukoi Games! See more & apply now
• Hideyuki Shima,  Japanese music composer with experience in making music for game, TV programs, anime, theaters and movies. Check out  detailed CV and audible demos.
• bunch of summer trainee positions open again at Rovio! Apply now to get a chance to work in our great teams: https://www.rovio.com/careers/
• Get your self matched in Game Factory Talents. Find your place in the Finnish Games Industry
  • Games Factory Talents have introduced a new platform to make your talent visible for the game studios. They are building a community of developers to showcase, making it easier for the game studios to find the talent they need.
  • “Instead of building a platform only for job seeking game industry professionals, we wanted a platform where the game studios could come and meet the talent even before they start the long and expensive process of advertising an open job position. Our Talent Board features industry professionals from all levels of experience to most of the various positions studios might be looking to fill”, explains Kim Bäckroos, CEO of the newly formed Games Factory Talents.
  • New talent is being added to the Talent Board constantly, and Games Factory Talents are inviting all industry professionals and game studios to take part. Head over Games Factory Talents to look at the talent and job positions available and make yourself visible for the hiring studios.Follow Games Factory Talents on social media for the latest news and information on any upcoming talent acquisition events.
  • https://www.linkedin.com/company/gamesfactorytalents
  • https://www.instagram.com/gamesfactorytalents
• Are you looking for game industry professionals to join your team? Oleg Paliy & José Jácome
  are inviting you to join our recruitment event in Kiev in December. You will have a chance to pre-screen the candidates in advance and conduct f2f interviews on the spot. You can also join our #PlayFinland stand at the biggest local #gamedev conference Games Gathering, this way you can combine recruitment and business meetings.
• Jobs in Games: Rovio’s Heini Kaihu on how to get a job as head of studio.
  • if people are interested in taking part in ‘Jobs in Games’ series feel free to get in touch with Craig Chapple!

 
Announcements;

• Jaakko Kemppainen on Suomen ensimmäinen pelitaiteen läänintaiteilija / Jaakko Kemppainen is Finland’s first regional artist for games as art
• Futureplay takoi jo yli 10 miljoonan liikevaihdon
• Supercellin liikevaihtoluvut julki / Supercell reveals its turnover
  • Ilkka Paananen: “My take on Supercell’s 2018 and things i look forward to this year”
    • After generating $1 billion-plus from each of its first four games, Supercell’s falling revenue is kind of the point
• Rovio 2018-Q4 financial statement webcast is now online, no major changes to stock price so far.
  • Angry Birds -sarjan kasvaja paikkasi muiden hiipumisen – Ykköspeli kasvoi vuodessa 77%
  • Angry Birds maker Rovio sees sales growth in 2019 after weak fourth quarter
  • Revenue down by 5.4% at Rovio, but games segment holds firm
  • Rovio prepares to sell Hatch following lacklustre financials
• Peliyhtiö Next Games on ollut tappiokierteessä, joka ei yhtiön ennakkotietojenkaan perusteella ollut vielä oikenemassa. Yksi peliyhteistyö Universalin kanssa on nyt päättynyt ja uusi projekti käynnistetty.
• Control-peli rasitti vielä Remedyn tulosta
• Markus Pasula and Lasse Seppänen joins to Supercell
• Avekin Demotukea myönnettiin mm.
  • Spawn Point OSK:n muinaiseen Suomeen sijoittuvalle, PC:llä pelattavalle selviytymisroolipelille Please the gods.
  • Konseptitukea saaneiden joukossa on Rebekka Muntolan ja Joel Autionpeli Helmet, joka on runollinen seikkailu menneissä pelimaailmoissa ja -muistoissa.
  • Markus O. Kärjen pelimusiikkia ja klassista musiikkia yhdistävä Game Music Collective – YouTube, jossa ammattimainen pelimusiikkikanava toimii orkesterin uutena kasvualustana.
  • kaikki päätökset täällä

Releases;

• Kiemura releases  Picky Package on iOS and GooglePlay
• Part Time Monkey’s 13th game, Bouncy Town, out for iOS (already last week)

Recommendations;

• Joni Finne asks for For Unity devs: What kind of database solution you are using? 

 
Other News;

• Gregory Pellechi: Interested in education games and all the work they take?
  

• 2nd part of the Void of Heroes graphic novel to the Apple Books. 
• Pelit ovat jo niin realistisia, että ne tarvitsevat omat vaatesuunnittelijansa: Näin Heli Salomaa puki Remedyn odotetun Control-pelin hahmot
• Convict Games: STONE our Aussie Stoner Noir with a lot of Finnish talent and music involved got 4 nominations at NAVGTR
• Supercell staffing up China game development studio
• Elina Ahonen from JAMK University of Applied Sciences is conducting thesis is employee engagement in Finnish game industry. The agenda is to interview human resources managers or other persons responsible of employees in firms to gather best possible data. Goal of my thesis is to study and analyse how game companies in Finland succeed in engaging their employees and what/if there are similar issues rising from different companies that could be done better.
• Wreckfest nominated at 2019 D.I.C.E. Awards! / Bugbear-studion Wreckfest-autopeli kisasi vuoden 2018 parhaan autopelin palkinnosta maailman arvostetuimmassa pelialan gaalassa, D.I.C.E. Awardsissa.
• Suomalaisen Remedy Entertainmentin omaperäisyys kerää ihailua maailmalla – japanilainen peliguru Hideo Kojima vieraili Espoossa tutustumasssa hittipeliin: “Hän piti näkemästään”
• Game Designer  Janne Kodisoja joining MiTale

This is the weekly summary of news from the Finnish game  industry. If you want to have your news on the list, post them on the Play Finland Facebook group. The summary will be posted every Friday afternoon. Check out previous week’s list.