BEST FINNISH GAMES AND GAME DEVELOPERS AWARDED AT AN EXCEPTIONAL 25TH ANNIVERSARY GALA
The growing Finnish game industry held a socially distant celebration of its 25th anniversary and gave out awards today in The Finnish Game Awards gala. Remedy emerged as the company with the most awards won, and the Pelimetsä Project was also unveiled at the event.
2020 has been an exceptional anniversary year for many reasons, and therefore the already traditional ceremonies of The Finnish Game Awards were organised in an entirely new format. In a digital event for invited guests nine awards and accolades were given out. The winners of Finnish Game of the Year 2019, Small Screen Game of the Year 2019 and Big Screen Game of the Year 2019 were selected by the members of the Finnish Game Developers’ Association in a vote. The winner of the Applied Game Award 2019 was selected by a committee set up by the board of the Finnish Game Developers’ Association. The winner of Best Creative Achievement of the Year 2019 was selected by the board of Finnish Game Developers’ Association.
During the gala event, IGDA also gave out their Volunteer of the Year 2019 award to Joonas Häll, and Finnish Game Developers’ Association gave out the Power Player of the Year 2019 award to Sonja Ängeslevä for her long career in the Finnish game industry and the Rookie of the Year 2019 award to Resistance Games, who hail from Oulu. The award for the Bit1 contest held earlier in the year was given out to Improx Games for their victoriuous game The Last Cube.
The Finnish Game Awards also saw the unveiling of the Pelimetsä Project. The Finnish game industry is committed to the UN sustainable development goals, and the Pelimetsä Project, launched last year, has already raised nearly € 500 000 to protect biodiversity in Finland. These donations have been used to conserve more than 130 hectares (over 320 acres) of Finnish old-growth forest. The project, which was set in motion by people within the industry, is set to continue in the coming years under the guidance of the Finnish Game Developers’ Association.
The Finnish Game Awards is organised by the Finnish Game Developers’ Association and Neogames Finland. Sponsoring The Finnish Game Awards 2020 are the brightest stars in the firmament of Finnish games: Housemarque, Remedy, Colossal Order, Rovio, Supercell, RedLynx, Fingersoft, Small Giant Games, Unity, Seriously, Next Games and Futureplay.
You can watch The Finnish Game Awards 2020 on YouTube at http://www.neogames.fi/fga-2020.
The winners in The Finnish Game Awards 2020 are:
IGDA VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR 2019: JOONAS HÄLL
IGDA’s operation is based on volunteers and this year the annual Volunteer of the Year award was given to Joonas Häll. Among his other duties, Joonas has worked as coordinator for the IGDA Helsinki hub.
POWER PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2019: SONJA ÄNGESLEVÄ
Sonja Ängeslevä’s contribution to the development of the Finnish game industry has been consistent and energetic over many years. In celebration of their 25th Anniversary, Finnish Game Developers’ Association wanted to thank her for her valuable and ongoing work.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR 2019: RESISTANCE GAMES
Hailing from Oulu in Northern Finland, Resistance Games is a game studio founded by industry veterans. The founders have already been an influence on the game industry in Oulu, and their new studio gives the industry new pep to its step.
APPLIED GAME AWARD 2019: PIKKU KAKKOSEN ESKARI / PIKKU KAKKONEN APP TEAM
One of the most recognisable domestic children’s brands, Pikku Kakkonen by national broadcaster Yle, broadened its scope to provide children under seven with an interactive digital play application. Pikku Kakkosen Eskari, which runs on mobile devices, allows the child to learn necessary skills for learning how to read and write.
BEST CREATIVE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE YEAR 2019: TRINE 4: THE NIGHTMARE PRINCE / FROZENBYTE
The iconic game series Trine, by the Helsinki based company Frozenbyte, has reached its visually and musically amazing fourth installation. Since its publication, Trine 4 has been critically acclaimed piece of game art.
BIG SCREEN GAME OF THE YEAR 2019: CONTROL / REMEDY ENTERTAINMENT
Remedy Entertainment, founded 25 years ago, released its critically acclaimed game Control on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and on PC. Control’s second expansion, called AWE as a reference to the studio’s earlier game Alan Wake, will be published on August 27th 2020.
SMALL SCREEN GAME OF THE YEAR 2019: OCEANHORN 2 / CORNFOX & BROTHERS GAMES
Influenced by the Zelda game series, the wonderful Oceanhorn 2 adventure game was considered so impressive by Apple that it was published exclusively on the brand new Apple Arcade platform in September 2019.
FINNISH GAME OF THE YEAR 2019: CONTROL / REMEDY ENTERTAINMENT
Control by Remedy Entertainment has won several awards worldwide over the past year, and garnered several mentions as the best game in 2019. Finnish game developers agreed with these assessments, and named it the Finnish Game of the Year 2019.
