This week’s news from the Finnish Game Industry… has a strong gamescom flavour, with Finnish companies and games appearing across several corners of Cologne next week. Neogames will be at the Nordic All Stars Booth on 26–28 August, together with 13 Finnish game developers, and we will also host drinks at the booth on Thursday at 17:00, sponsored by Housemarque. Remedy’s CONTROL Resonant, now gone gold, will be publicly playable for the first time at the Level Infinite booth, Second Stone by Skyward Entertainment and Sonorous – Deep Down Below by HOONAYA will be at the Indie Arena Booth, and Finnish companies will also be represented at the Creative Europe MEDIA stand. Beyond gamescom, Netflix is planning to close its Helsinki-based Moonloot Games studio, and Nitro Games reported its H1 2026 results alongside continued investment in new growth. On the release side, Lohkare Games’ Last Drop has launched into Steam Early Access. Finnish developers can also apply for €10,000 or €20,000 in AVEK DigiDemo funding until 21 September, and submissions are open for the Finnish Games Week Steam Event on 12–18 October, giving participating games a potential second consecutive week of Steam visibility following Next Fest.
This week’s news from the Finnish Game Industry starts with Remedy, which is maintaining its 2026 growth outlook despite a weaker Q2 as investments ramp up ahead of CONTROL Resonant’s September launch. There was another milestone for the studio, with Alan Wake 2 surpassing three million copies sold as Control sales continue to grow. This is the week when many in the game industry, including Neogames, are preparing for gamescom, where we will organise the Nordic All Stars booth in the Business Area in Hall 4.1, Stand D-033g from 26 to 28 August, bringing a sizeable group of Finnish companies to Cologne. The game industry is facing turbulent times, and in that context Neogames’ KooPee Hiltunen discussed the current state and outlook of The Finnish Game Industry on Ylen aamu. From a slightly longer-term perspective, PocketGamer.biz interviewed Suvi Latva about how building a game company in Finland has changed over the past two decades. On the release side, new games keep coming: Netflix Star Daily Trivia, developed by Next Games, a Netflix Game Studio, and Tech Lab Games, has been released, Parta Games’ Choppa: Rescue Rivals launched on Steam and Nintendo Switch, and Lohkare Games’ Last Drop enters Steam Early Access on 18 August.
This week’s news from the Finnish Game Industry starts with a notable investment, as Heikki Herlin’s investment company Mariatorp has acquired a 7% stake in Remedy Entertainment. Housemarque’s upcoming Saros also received a notable mention from Sony, which says the game is steadily expanding its player base. Next Games, a Netflix studio, released Netflix Minigolf last week, and Managing Director Saara Bergström spoke to What’s on Netflix about the game’s development and the studio’s work on Netflix’s cloud-based living-room games. Dirtnap by Part Time Monkey, Unstable Entity and Nitroyale is heading to Steam Early Access on 28 August, while Kitka Games has soft launched Brinko – Party Royale in Finland and India and Warena, developed by Part Time Monkey and published by Coyote Time Publishing, was released on Steam in July. The August event calendar starts next week with the IGDA Helsinki and IGDA Turku meetups on 11 August, followed later in the month by gamescom dev and gamescom in Cologne.
On the operational side, Nitro Games signed a development services agreement worth approximately €2.1 million for an unannounced mobile shooter and transferred the development and publishing of Autogun Heroes to Hyperkani. FakeFish’s frosty survival co-op shooter Frostrail is heading into closed beta on 31 August, and The Last Caretaker received the substantial New Horizons update. The summer also delivered a varied group of new Finnish releases: Antenna Games’ Ogre Chambers 2222, Runoi Games’ debut title Fortune Fragments, Coyote Time Publishing’s cyberpunk body-horror FPS Voltage High Society 1.0, and the Steam Early Access launches of Disc Golf Masters and Bonobo Software’s Taival. However, the summer news was not entirely cheerful, as Tribo Games announced that it is closing after four years. Further ahead, Pocket Gamer Connects Nordics returns to Helsinki on 20–21 October, with Neogames newsletter subscribers receiving 14% off tickets using the code PlayFinland14.
This summer’s recap from The Finnish Game Industry brought a colourful first look at what comes next, led by Trine 6: Together in Time in all its kaleidoscopic glory. The latest adventure from Frozenbyte will arrive on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC on 17 September. Rovio unveiled the first official trailer for The Angry Birds Movie 3, and CEO Alex Pelletier-Normand was appointed COO of SEGA Europe’s West Studios. The Finnish industry will soon head to gamescom in Cologne, where Neogames is once again organising the Nordic All Stars booth in the Business Area from 26 to 28 August.
On the operational side, Nitro Games signed a development services agreement worth approximately €2.1 million for an unannounced mobile shooter and transferred the development and publishing of Autogun Heroes to Hyperkani. FakeFish’s frosty survival co-op shooter Frostrail is heading into closed beta on 31 August, and The Last Caretaker received the substantial New Horizons update. The summer also delivered a varied group of new Finnish releases: Antenna Games’ Ogre Chambers 2222, Runoi Games’ debut title Fortune Fragments, Coyote Time Publishing’s cyberpunk body-horror FPS Voltage High Society 1.0, and the Steam Early Access launches of Disc Golf Masters and Bonobo Software’s Taival. However, the summer news was not entirely cheerful, as Tribo Games announced that it is closing after four years. Further ahead, Pocket Gamer Connects Nordics returns to Helsinki on 20–21 October, with Neogames newsletter subscribers receiving 14% off tickets using the code PlayFinland14.
This two week’s news from the Finnish Game Industry starts with Remedy, as Control Resonant launches on PS5 on 24 September and new CEO Jean-Charles Gaudechon discusses the next steps for Alan Wake and Control as franchises. Neogames has released its new report on game industry growth and entrepreneurship, Game Industry Entrepreneurship Paths from Start-up to Growth. Regarding to industry support, Jyväskylä is forming a shared strategy for games sector development. For game developers, there are several international opportunities to note: the W Love Games scholarship for gamescom dev and gamescom Cologne 2026, the Creative Europe MEDIA stand at gamescom with a 26 June deadline, and China Game Business Boost 2026 at China Joy, with the deadline today. On the studio side, SEGA and Rovio have appointed Toons Max as the official Angry Birds licensing agent in China, Rovio’s Anastasiya Kara discusses the shift from core-first to event-first mobile games. New releases include Tree Men Games’ HELI 100, Jestercraft’s Mining Grounds, MicroDose’s Marble Sort with Voodoo, and Pelimies Remake for iPhone and iPad. Also worth noting: Ari Pulkkinen was recognised to legendary status at the Nordic Game Awards, and the Way Forward Forum takes place in Oulu today.
The week we had in the Finnish Game Industry is led by The Finnish Game Awards 2026, where Channel37’s robot adventure The Last Caretaker won Best Finnish Game of 2025, followed by Amistech Games’ My Winter Car in second place and Kimmo Factor’s Sektori in third. The gala also brought several other awards and recognitions: Cities: Skylines II by Colossal Order won the new Best IP Expansion of the Year category, Clash Royale by Supercell received Neogames Finland’s first Business Excellence Award, Kokoon Games was named Rookie of the Year, Sektori won Best Creative Achievement of the Year, and Valtteri “Wanda” Lahti received the Power Player of the Year lifetime achievement recognition. You can find all the winners and awards in the newsletter. Outside the gala lights, Returnal director Harry Krueger announced his new Finland-based studio Cosmic Division, Matias Myllyrinne founded Mainstay Games, and Bonobo Software’s role-playing game Taival continued its wonderfully Finnish one-euro Kickstarter campaign after reaching 10,000 Steam wishlists.
Angry Birds celebrates its induction into the World Video Game Hall of Fame, Sega is navigating a $31.6m net loss, Housemarque’s Saros keeps getting praises and Virtual Hunter reaches the 20,000-wishlist mark, Catland reveals geopolitical satire CORDCUTTER, and an insightful retrospective on indie self-publishing from MiTale.
This two-week news round from the Finnish Game Industry are HUGE! Housemarque launched SAROS worldwide last week with fantastic reviews, and the Finnish Game Industry will be celebrated at the Finnish Game Awards on 21 May. Check the nominees below, and note that the event will also be streamed. On the studio side, the ground is rumbling: Supercell is set to acquire Merge Mansion studio Metacore, with reports that up to 160 jobs could be cut, while Remedy reported a stable Q1 despite lower revenue and operating profit after the Control franchise passed 6 million units, and Nitro Games will develop a mobile game based on the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Good news for developers is that Griffin Gaming Partners has launched a $100 million indie developer fund, and the DigiDemo concept support application period is also open until 12 May 2026. Since public policy also shapes the practical operating environment for game companies, Neogames has published the Finnish Game Industry parliamentary election goals in Finnish.
This week’s news from the Finnish Game Industry starts with Finland’s new Country Brand Strategy, which now includes a dedicated narrative for the industry developed by Neogames together with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The Finnish Game Awards is approaching on May 21, bringing the industry together onsite and via livestream, with ticket sales opening next week. For developers planning their next steps abroad, IGDA Finland is accepting submissions for gamescom 2026 until April 30.
On the studio side, Remedy has released Control Ultimate Edition for iPhone, and Alan Wake 2 is set to appear in Phasmophobia. Sega and Rovio continue to expand Angry Birds licensing through a new partnership with WildBrain, and indie developer Kimmo Lahtinen is preparing to launch Sektori on Switch 2 on May 14. Business updates also continue, as Nitro Games has published its annual report for 2025.
This week’s news from the Finnish Game Industry are about hands-on game development and business; Neogames hosted a workshop with industry professionals on how to tackle growth challenges in Finnish game companies as part of its AEL Foundation-funded project. Important reminder for Finnish PC developers: submissions are now open for the Finnish Games Week Steam Event 2026. Speaking of publishing, Coyote Time Publishing has expanded its portfolio to five games with new signings Warena and EMUUROM. On the studio side, good news includes Rovio Entertainment’s Angry Birds receiving the “International Classic IP Honor” at the 2026 Weibo Gala, while Gladio Mori has surpassed 100,000 units sold on Steam Early Access. Finnish game developers also keep delivering new releases and updates, with Snow War launching in Early Access and Channel37 delivering surprise Update 3.5: Shadow Drop for The Last Caretaker. Looking ahead to the coming weeks, the Finland Game Talent Fair debuts in Helsinki on 23 April, Silver Legend hosts its Skill Check event on 24 April, and later Way Forward Forum returns to Oulu on 5 June