THIS WEEK (13/2019) IN THE FINNISH GAME INDUSTRY

Play Finland’s Weekly Newsletter
In this report we will combine week 13/2019 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
  • 11th March
    “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
• 3rd April; The Finland Unity User Group is visiting Accenture Suomi
• 3rd April: SCALING UP – From Content to Experience / Turku
• 4th Aril; Influencer Marketing Done Right – Workshop & Breakfast / Helsinki
• 6th April IT and Games Job Fair Helsinki 2019
• 9th April IGDA Helsinki April Seminar+Gathering w/ Game Makers of Finland
• 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

• Kopla Games is looking for producer
• 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!
• Curious on how to enter the Games Industry? On March 1st, during the Futures Day, one of the topics discussed on our stream was just that! Take a look and see what industry veterans have to say on the topic. If you know what your skills are, and just need a place to apply them, take a look at http://www.devs.tv/jobs/ for the current list of all jobs available in the Finnish Game Industry!

Announcements;

• SpaceHaven is about to hit $200k and be 500% funded on Kickstarter!
• Rovio Entertainment Corporation invests in Play Ventures Fund
• Women in Games Finland fb- group registered as an association and announced Taina Myöhänen as their President. 
  • The new board includes:
  • President: Taina Myöhänen
    VP: Emilia Machuca
    Secretary: Anu Eveliina
    Treasurer: Liina Pütsepp
    PR: Jenni Ahlapuro
    Events: Laura Aaltonen
    Partners: Suvi Kiviniemi
    Cooperation: Leena ViitanenDeputies:
    Speakers: Barbara Sofia Leal
    Mentorship: Andreea Ioana Cozma
    Networking: Taija Kynkäänniemi
    Deputy Cooperation: Maureen Sills
• A brand new gameplay trailer of Control was released by Remedy Entertainment

 
Other News;

• topic of Twitch and how streams are built might be interesting for many developers, so Max Sjöblom wrote a post over on LinkedIn, based on date from some of the scientific research done in the past years.
• Baba Is You Is A Brilliant Puzzle Game
• (only in Finnish) Hill Climb Racingista tunnetun Fingersoftin liikevaihto pieneni
• The Indie Games Showcase from Google Play
  Their international competition for indie game developers from Europe, Japan & South Korea. Deadline for entries is May 6, 2019.
• Convict Games’ STONE’s out April 8 on iOS
• Cave Digger by Mekiwi from Oulu was released on PSVR
• What’s the state of the game industry, game development, funding, start-ups and incubation in the Baltic Sea Region? Here’s an interactive map to give you an idea.
  This interactive map was produced as a part of Baltic Game Industry project (BGI). The project is financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund, within the programme Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme.
• The Game Executive program is up and running! Game Executive offers a unique 6 days intensive boot-camp, where you can learn how you can grow and develop your company. Whether you are a CEO or whether you are starting up a small company, there is something here for everyone. If you want to learn more about the program send an email at andreea.cozma@aaltoee.fi
• Oceanhorn 2 is on Apple Arcade

• Kim Soares have couple of extra tickets to MGS UK

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.