Today, the Finnish Game Industry celebrated its annual The Finnish Game Awards gala and awarded the international hit Alan Wake 2 as the best Finnish game of 2023.
Finnish Game Developer Studios Association and the umbrella organization for the Finnish game industry, Neogames Finland, hosted The Finnish Game Awards gala on Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Helsinki at Ravintola Töölö. The event celebrated the best Finnish games of 2023 and their creators, presenting a total of eight awards and recognitions. A recording of the gala’s award ceremony can be viewed on YouTube.
The evening’s main award, the Finnish Game of the Year 2023 title, was claimed by Alan Wake 2, a PC and console game produced by Remedy Entertainment. Alan Wake 2 has undeniably been the most internationally visible and talked-about Finnish game product of the past year, accumulating an impressive number of international awards and garnering significant media attention both domestically and abroad. The Finnish game industry now crowns this masterpiece with its own collegial recognition.
At the gala, Finnish Game Developer Studios Association honoured local game developers with additional awards. Game studio Road to Vostok was awarded Best Creative Achievement of the Year 2023 for the development of a survival game of the same name. The jury highlighted the developer’s successful transition to a different game engine following the controversial changes in Unity’s terms of use last autumn. Switching game engines mid-development has been considered nearly impossible, but Road to Vostok’s example demonstrates that creativity in challenging situations is still alive and well.
The Rookie of the Year 2023 award was presented this year to Notovia, in recognition of their successful I´m on Observation Duty horror game series. Honoured as the Power Player of the Year 2023, Natasha Skult, a longstanding influencer in the Finnish Game Industry, was commended for her extensive and energetic engagement, not just in her own game development endeavors but also in various gaming industry initiatives, both locally in Finland and as the chairperson of the international IGDA organization.
Finnish game industry organizations also presented their own acknowledgments at the gala. IGDA Finland honoured Nova Salmivaara as the IGDA Volunteer of the Year 2023. Finnish Game Jam awarded Laura Piispanen the Jampion of the Year 2023 title. W Love Games granted the W Love Games Excellence Award to game developer Jesse Makkonen for their game Afterdream. Additionally, the main prize of the Bit1 competition aimed at game development students, the Bit1 Game Award 2024, was presented at the gala. The award was claimed by Team Pendulo for their game Oddli.
Winners of the Finnish Game Awards 2024
- Finnish Game of the Year 2023: Alan Wake 2 by Remedy Entertainment
- Best Creative Achievement of the Year 2023: Road to Vostok
- Rookie of the Year 2023: Notovia
- Power Player of the Year 2023: Natasha Skult
- IGDA Volunteer of the Year 2023 by IGDA Finland: Nova Salmivaara
- Bit1 Game Award 2024, winner of the Bit1 Competition: Team Pendulo for Oddli
- Jampion of the Year 2023 by Finnish Game Jam: Laura Piispanen
- W Love Games Excellence Award 2023 by W Love Games: Afterdream by Jesse Makkonen
Organizers and Sponsors for Finnish Game Awards 2024
The Finnish Game Awards is organized by Suomen Pelinkehittäjät ry (Finnish Game Developer Studios Association) and Neogames Finland ry. The gala event was set up by event agency TAPAUS.
Gold sponsors: Colossal Order and Supercell
Silver sponsors: Dreamloop Games, Fingersoft, Housemarque, HypeHype, Metacore Games, Metaplay, Next Games – A Netflix Game Studio, Remedy Entertainment, Small Giant Games and Ubisoft RedLynx