THIS WEEK (9/2019) IN THE FINNISH GAME INDUSTRY

Play Finland’s Weekly Newsletter
In this report we will combine week 9/2019 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
• 1-3 March Dog Jam in Helsinki. Register here
• 5th March IGDA Finland Turku Hub March Gathering
• 8th March International Women’s Day with Women In Games Finland
• 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

• Helsinkiläinen valmennuskurssien järjestäjä hakee kurssivetäjää. Kyseessä on Inkscapella tehtävän peligrafiikan alkeiskurssi. Oppilaita on 20 kpl, osa täysiä aloittelijoita ja osalla hieman enemmän kokemusta (joille voi keksiä lisätehtäviä). Kurssimateriaali on tehty, eli tarvittaisiin opettajaa verkossa järjestettäville etäopetuskerroille. Puh. Nro: +358 505 165 yhdeksan neljä kahdeksan Sekä katja.ylisiurua(at)valmennuskeskus.fi
  
• 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;

• HipFire Games closes their funding round in 24hours
• 50+ Finnish Developers/Companies are joining to GDC/GC San Francisco

 
Releases;

• Kimble Games releases Drag Bikes 2 – Scooter vs Dragster V2

 
Other News;

• Gregory Pellechi latest episode of Video Game Sauna; YEEA Work Oy are the guests
• FakeFish Barotrauma will be published by Daedalic Entertainment!
• Gregory Pellechi; Lessons from Improv
• Spacehaven Kickstarter is live
• Trials Rising by Ubisoft RedLynx & Ubisoft Kiev has officially launched worldwide!
• Legendary Nordic Party in GDC is in jeopardy because lack of sponsors. Basically this means that without sponsor help the party might be cancelled. IMHO that would be a shame. Ask yourself, “should our company sponsor this traditional and prestigious event”. If the answer is yes, you´ll find the sponsorship options below. Contact person is: per.stromback@dataspelsbranschen.se.
• Devs.tv want to invite you to join! 1st of March, as it is a national Futures Day here in Finland, it is also a good day to discuss the future of games with an awesome panel! Everyone is welcome to join the live and Q&A!
• Submit your game to Game Dev Day Tallin and get:
  👉2 Conference passes
  👉Space at the showcase area
  👉Access to workshops
  The Game Village Showcase winner will be awarded by Casual Connect Indie Prize scholarship:
  Two free all-access passes to Casual Connect, a guaranteed spot at Indie Prize and free accommodation in Europe and Asia during the conference. Apply
• Finnish people don’t like to shout their own praises, so here’s Kotaku doing it for RedLynx/Ubi. “Trials is the perfect video game” – that’s a nice quote for the box.
• Vasta kun 25-vuotias Mats Steen kuoli, vanhemmat ymmärsivät, että tällä oli ystäviä – “Pelimaailmassa tyttö ei näe pyörätuoliani vaan sieluni” / Never underestimate the gaming communities’ power to enrich lives. Opprinnelig artikkel på norsk
• Last chance to apply to the Helsinki XR Center incubator with your team before they huddle up and start making decisions! Apply if you know what the future of VR or AR should look, feel or taste like and all that is left is to just do it.
• Kuinka herättää peliyrityksen mielenkiinto työnhaussa?

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.