May 13, 2025 – The Finnish Game Awards 2025 honored the best Finnish games and game developers in nine categories while also celebrating the 30-year history of the Finnish Game Industry.
IGDA Finland recognized Daria Bokovaya as the IGDA Volunteer of the Year, while the IGDA Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Christopher Hamilton. Finnish Game Jam named Ali İrdiren as the Jampion of the Year. The W Love Games Excellence Award for best indie game went to Finnish Cottage Simulator by Ranela Games. The gala also honored the winner of the Bit1 Student Game Competition 2025, Team Scavenger, known for their space station game Spaceship Scavenger.
The Rookie of the Year award was presented to Hanki Games, known for their snowmobile game Sledders. The Best Creative Achievement of the Year went to Tensori for their atmospheric and enigmatic game Pools.
The Power Player of the Year award was presented to Ilkka Paananen, founder of Supercell, for his lifetime achievements in the Finnish Game Industry.
The main award of the evening was the The Finnish Game of the Year 2024. This year board decided to present the award also to runner ups. Third place was shared by three games: Lego Hill Climb Adventures by Fingersoft, Finnish Cottage Simulator by Ranela Games, and Squad Busters by Supercell. Second place went to Supermoves by Makea Games.
The main award, Finnish Game of the Year, was presented to Pax Dei by Mainframe Industries. The winner, Pax Dei is known as a vast, social sandbox MMO game. It draws inspiration from the legends of the medieval era, where myths are real, ghosts exist, and magic is unquestioned. In this massive open-world playground, players choose their roles and immerse themselves in the game world alongside thousands of other players. The player explores the world, builds a home, establishes a reputation, and crafts their own stories.
“This year’s gala was a bit unusual,” noted Joni Lappalainen, Chairman of the Board at the Finnish Game Developers’ Association. “Finland is globally recognized for its mobile games, but in 2024, only a handful of new mobile titles were released. All the winning games this year were published for PC and/or consoles. The fierce competition in the gaming industry is also evident in the fact that Makea Games, the developer of Supermoves, which placed second for Finnish Game of the Year, was unable to continue operations despite having created a great game. We’re also seeing the rise of a unique domestic simulator game culture in Finland. This year, Finnish Cottage Simulator, created by a small team from Jyväskylä, took home two awards following in the footsteps of Pro Pilkki, My Summer Car, and other distinctly Finnish simulators. The gala also celebrated 30 years of the Finnish game industry. A ceremonial speech was delivered by Ilari Kuittinen, founder and CEO of Housemarque, the oldest active game studio in Finland and the event’s main sponsor.
The nominees, runner ups and winner of the Finnish Game of the Year 2024 were selected through a member vote conducted by the Finnish Game Developers’ Association. The vote included over 70 commercially released Finnish games in 2024. All the winners and links to the winning games can be found in the list below.
A video recording of The Finnish Game Awards gala can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/live/wbUi-S9ykAU.
The 2025 game gala is sponsored at the platinum level by Housemarque, at the gold level by Small Giant Games, and at the silver level by 10tons, Colossal Order, Fingersoft, Kuuasema, Metacore Games, Metaplay, Next Games – A Netflix Game Studio, Supercell, and Ubisoft RedLynx.
The Finnish Game Industry 2024 report, to be published by Neogames in the fall 2025, will offer more insight into the state of the industry. Preliminary results suggest that year 2024 was overall a better year for the Finnish game industry than the somewhat downbeat year 2023.
Photos: Finnish Game Awards 2025
List of winners:
IGDA Volunteer of the Year 2024: Daria Bokovaya
IGDA Lifetime Achievement 2025: Christopher Hamilton
Finnish Game Jam – Jampion of the Year 2024: Ali İrdiren
W Love Games Excellence Award 2024: Finnish Cottage Simulator (Ranela Games)
Bit1 Game Competition 2025: Spaceship Scavenger (Team Scavenger)
Rookie of the Year 2024: Hanki Games
Best Creative Achievement of the Year 2024: Pools (Tensori)
Power Player of the Year 2024: Ilkka Paananen
Finnish Game of the Year 2024: Pax Dei (Mainframe Industries)
Links to the winning games:
Finnish Cottage Simulator: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1723780/Finnish_Cottage_Simulator/
Spaceship Scavenger: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1040460/Space_Scavenger/
Pools: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2663530/POOLS/
Pax Dei: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1995520/Pax_Dei/
More information: Neogames Finland ry / KooPee Hiltunen / +358-40-5324176 / koopee@neogames.fi
Finnish Game Developer Studios Association (Suomen Pelinkehittäjät ry)
The Finnish Game Developer Studios Association) is a network representing game development companies in Finland. The association fosters collaboration between companies and advocates for the interests of the game development industry. It organizes events, shares industry information, and ensures that the concerns of game developers are considered in relevant decision-making processes. Notable initiatives of the Suomen Pelinkehittäjät ry include the Pelimetsä-project, monthly breakfast events, and the annual Finnish Game Awards Gala.
Neogames Finland ry
Neogames is a member-based, non-profit game industry association. Our task is to coordinate, accelerate and support the growth and development of the Finnish game industry. We connect professionals from different sectors of the gaming industry and promote their common interests. More information at https://www.neogames.fi/.