THIS WEEK (8/2019) IN THE FINNISH GAME INDUSTRY

Play Finland’s Weekly Newsletter
In this report we will combine week 8/2019 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
• 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. Register here
• 12 March IGDA Helsinki Hub March Seminar + Gathering with Ubisoft RedLynx
• 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

• EHYT is looking for an education planner / game education coordinator to develop game education in Swedish. You can apply until the end of the month.
• JetDogs Oy is looking for passionate marketer to join Helsinki team.
• 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;

• 50+ Finnish Developers/Companies are joining to GDC/GC San Francisco
• A great opportunity to have visibility and presence for you company in the coolest party of the year (after Finnish Game Awards…) Nordic Party at GDC San Francisco. So they are looking for sponsors. Contact Anton Albiin anton.albiin@dataspelsbranschen.se if you got interested.
• Nitro Gamesin pelijulkaisu takkuili ja osakkeen arvo romahti: Ilmoitti yt-neuvotteluista joissa pahimmillaan vaarassa puolet työntekijöistä

 
Other News;

• 10tons Prepares to Re-Animate Undead Horde on Steam Early Access March 6th – Check the trailer
• A version of our Twitch box art made for Space Haven. 1 week left to the launch of  Kickstarter campaign.
• Mainonta on erilaista yhtiöllä, jolla on jo iso osa maapallon ihmisistä asiakkaana
• Jo Commodorea 80-luvulla hakannut pelinikkari haluaa ihmisten näkevän taiteen peleissä: “Pukusuunnittelijan palkkaus pelifirmaan on hieno alku”
• HS -analyysi Supercell Brawl Stars ominaisuuksista
  • Ilkka Paanasen vastine
• ”Hittejä ei voi ennustaa. Emme tiedä, miten yksisarviset syntyvät. Voimme vain pitää huolta toimialan kehityksestä. Silloin kilpailuasemamme on jatkossa hyvä”, sanoo KooPee Hiltunen.
• Suomi-Ruotsi 6-2: Eniten rahaa takovien 100 sovelluksen listalla on nyt 6 suomalaista peliä Yhdysvalloissa
• Why not participate in the Safari Kart 2.0 update Beta? What’s new? Well; ONLINE MULTIPLAYER. So now you will be able to play both random races against complete strangers or optionally create a custom race for your hand picked friends and foes.
  It’s been a long time coming – as it happens sometimes with hobby projects. But I think I’ve finally gotten it smooth enough for more public testing. Find your Beta links here:
  • iPhone/iPad & Android
  • Find any bugs or have other feedback? Feel free to send a note teemu@mobiteos.com
• Valo Motion just released a two player game for our trampoline platform ValoJump. A full game play video is also available on our website. It can be played at SuperPark Vantaa for anyone in the area.
• Switching to Unreal Engine, Cornfox & Bros. is moving mobile gaming forward with Oceanhorn 2
• PC Games Insider: what we learnt at Games Helsinki
• FakeFish  closed their alpha successfully. Navigate to blog to see what they have been up to with alien ruins, Barotrauma’s own brand of dungeon.
• Unreal Awards: Experience Design competition winners announced!
  • 2nd place: Project created by ZOAN

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.