This week’s news from the Finnish Game Industry spans policy debates, industry events and strong studio momentum. Globally, Google plans to cut its Play Store commission from 30% to a new service fee model of 20% for in-app purchases and 10% for recurring subscriptions starting in 2026. Industry strategy shifts are also visible as Sony signals a return toward console exclusivity. Discussions closer to home continue around ecosystem support as the development of Oulu’s game industry sparked debate in Kaleva, with responses highlighting both current expertise and future potential.
The event calendar remains active with more events coming; the Over 7 Hills IT and games conference coming to Turku on 5 May and the Bit1 student game finale at Helsinki XR Center on 2 April. Talking about students; the Game Studies Thesis Competition 2026 approaches its March deadline. On the studio front, Arizona State University and Bitmagic pioneer AI-assisted game development education, Remedy continues its ambitious push with Control Resonant, Housemarque reveals new gameplay from Saros and begins hiring for its next project, and Antti Tiihonen unveils a new trailer for Reconfigure. New Finnish releases also keep coming as 10tons launches Dysplaced into Steam Early Access.
This week’s news from the Finnish Game Industry is packed with various topics and an exceptional wave of studio activity. The Story of Hill Climb Racing – 13 Years of Neckflips had its premiere screening in Oulu last Friday, where Neogames’ Elina Tyynelä was present in the front row. The documentary is now available to watch on YouTube. Business Finland’s Creative Immersive Experiences programme is organising a Funding Clinic in March. Game education remains active with the Summer Days of Game Education in June and new teams joining Game Catalyst. On the studio front, major updates arrive first as Cities: Skylines 2 and Gladio Mori roll out significant patches. New trailers follow for titles such as Frostrail, Second Stone: The Legend of the Hidden World, Drivers of the Apocalypse and Last Drop, alongside continued international recognition for Sektori. Looking ahead, more games are approaching release: THYSIASTERY by Dirga Games launches on Steam on 9 March 2026, and Part Time Monkey introduces its latest creation WARENA, coming to Steam. Steam Next Fest showcases a strong selection of Finnish demos, underlining the breadth of current development from tactical shooters to mythology-inspired adventures. New Finnish game releases continue as Nightsoil launches on Steam.
Lastly, an important note for job seekers: the Finland Game Talent Fair debuts in Helsinki on 23 April.
This week’s news from the Finnish Game Industry highlights both results and resilience. Neogames Finland has published the annual list of commercial games first released globally in 2025 by Finnish developers, while Director KooPee Hiltunen noted on LinkedIn that the industry’s more than €3.5 billion in tax revenue is already significant for a small country and could grow further with the right investments. At the European level, EGDF gathered its members to assess the state of the industry in 2026, with President Hendrik Lesser concluding that “we must fight forward – we are not survivors, we are fighters.” Back home, creativity was on full display as 259 new games were created across Finland during Finnish Game Jam 2026, all now publicly playable via the Global Game Jam platform. On the studio front, Hologram Monster has released Ritual Party into Steam Early Access.
This week’s news from the Finnish Game Industry is big: Supercell reported strong results, with operating profit before depreciation and amortisation rising six per cent to €932 million last year and contributing €220 million to the Finnish economy. Remedy Entertainment’s revenues continue to grow in 2025, reaching €59.5m, and the company has appointed former EA executive Jean-Charles Gaudechon as its new CEO. Neogames is compiling the annual list of commercial games first released globally in 2025 by Finnish developers and invites the community to help complete or correct it. On the studio front, The Last Care Taker gets excellent feedback and releases a trailer for The Final Frontier Update 2, 10tons released new videos of its upcoming title Dysplaced, Cornfox Brothers brings Oceanhorn 3: Legend of the Shadow Sea to Apple Arcade on 5 March, and a new gameplay trailer for Control Resonant showcases what may be Remedy’s most ambitious project to date. The event calendar remains active as Expa organises Internships & Employment Day 2026, LEADERBOARD 2.0 by Tampere Game Hub follows soon after, and the Nordic Game Conference 2026 calls for game executives. Students are reminded to apply for the Bit1 competition before 22 February. And finally, Finnish game jammers created 259 games across the country during Global Game Jam 2026 in just about 48 hours.
This week’s news from the Finnish Game Industry: The Finnish Game Museum celebrates its 9th anniversary on 7 February with a virtual event on Twitch. Neogames Finland’s Suvi Latva and KooPee Hiltunen offer a slightly more serious, but not purely depressive, look at the current state of the Finnish Game Industry at Pocket Gamer Biz. On the studio front, Nitro Games wraps up its project with Business Finland, receiving a final funding instalment of €340,000, while Bitmagic unveils an AI-created take on the classic Civilization formula and Cities: Skylines 2 sees its UI undergo an “extreme makeover” as Iceflake steps in as the new developer. Talking about making games; Finnish Game Jam, organised last weekend across Finland, once again showed the strength of the grassroots scene as jammers created 259 games during Global Game Jam 2026 in just about 48 hours. Looking forward; Road to Vostok enters Early Access on 7 April, and Ritual Party by Hologram Monster gets its Early Access release date for 17 February.
This week’s news from the Finnish Game Industry highlights how strong investments in education and coaching continue to support new game companies across the country. GameCity Kajaani keeps expanding its open learning offering with a growing library of free lectures from game design to legal, while the second Game Track programme is about to kick off in Jyväskylä, fuelling the pipeline from skills to entrepreneurship. On the game development front, there is once again good news as The Last Caretaker is selling well, with gross revenue of $7.6m less than two months from launch, and Jussi Loukianen has founded a new Finnish publishing company, Coyote Time Publishing. Finns have also made their voices heard in the regulatory discussion around games, with 59 368 people signing the “Stop destroying videogames” initiative. To wrap up the week on a high note, game development in its purest form is celebrated as Finnish Game Jam weekend begins as part of Global Game Jam, with more than 20 jam sites across Finland, including the National Gallery.
This week brings plenty of good news from the Finnish Game Industry. Amistech Games’ My Winter Car continues its strong performance with around 377k copies sold and gross revenue of roughly $4.7m to date, while Hill Climb Racing has reached an impressive two billion downloads and is still climbing. Neogames’ Suvi Latva and Jari-Pekka Kaleva were waving the Finnish flag and taking the pulse of the industry at Pocket Gamer Connects London. Finnish game developers community strength and support is visible in action as Finnish studio BIT ODD donates professional drawing tablets to students, junior developers and rising artists and opportunities keep coming as Supercell opens applications for the Spring 2026 cohort of Supercell AI Lab. There is also a milestone worth celebrating as the Finnish games industry community group on Facebook, PlayFinland, turns 18 years old. And finally, a reminder for students: registration for the Bit1 student game competition is open until Sunday 22 February, with a few weeks still left to polish your game to mint condition.
This week news and headlines in the Finnish Game Industry Mika Tammenkoski, CEO of Metacore, reflects on the lessons of 2025 and looks toward 2026, suggesting that the recent turbulence in the mobile game industry may well represent a new long-term normal. Remedy Entertainment continues to challenge itself by pushing its creative and production boundaries with the upcoming CONTROL Resonant. As a practical reminder, the Epic MegaGrants application round is now open. Next week, many Finnish game developers head to Pocket Gamer Connects London, the first international industry checkpoint of the year.