Play Finland’s Weekly Newsletter
In this report we will combine week 22/2020 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.
We (admins) occasionally publish industry related posts or links in Play Finland. But since there is so many things going on, we don´t even try to cover the whole field.
Best Regards,
Neogames Finland
Events:
- 26-29th May AWE – Augmented World Expo AWE USA 2020’s online event
- Become a member of AWE Nite Helsinki’s meetup group https://www.meetup.com/AWENiteHelsinki/ and get a special discount at just $99 (by April 1st)
- 27-29th May Nordic Game 2020 / Malmö, Sweden => online event
- NGC20 wil be organized online 27-29 May and NGC20+ in 25-27 November at Slagthuset in Malmö. Now also NGC20 online only tickets are available with €99. Discount code #PlayFinland
- May 28th GamesIndustry.biz Investment Summit Online
- 5th June Premium PC Games Sales Projections webinar
- June 8-12 PG Connects Digital #2. Interested to speak at there?
- 4-6thAugust GDC Organizers Plan New 3-Day GDC Summer Event For August
- 25-29 August; Gamescom / Cologne. Gamescom will under no circumstances take place on site in Cologne this year. Digital event will be organized.
- 29-30th September Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki
- 15th October Reboot Develop Blue / Croatia
- Over the years, Develop Blue has become one of the main annual conferences for European game developer communities. Therefore, EGDF and Neogames Finland ry. are happy to announce a 10% discount code for a STANDARD CONFERENCE PASS Please do not hesitate to contact the associations to receive yours.
- 16 October W Love Games conference / Helsinki
- TICKETS are available now and the link is first shared to those who have signed up for W Love Games newsletter. Sign up to a newsletter here.
- 6th of November #XmasJKL 2020 – The Finnish Game Industry Seminar / Jyväskylä
See also The Game Industry Events calendar: http://www.neogames.fi/en/events/eventcalendar
Webinars & Streams & Videos
Since all the game industry events have been postponed, cancelled or moved to online due to Corona virus epidemic, EGDF in co-operation with European country organizations has collected a list of online (and postponed) events.
Open jobs & Recruitment:
- Nitro Games is looking for Artists, Animators, Producers, Programmers.
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BusinessFinland has launched a nationwide job board to advertise jobs for #English speakers in #Finland. Advertising the open positions in the portal is free of charge for the companies.
- If you are looking for talented games industry professionals in Finland for short or long term hire – please check out ever growing #GamesFactoryTalentBoard and please reach out for details! Also if you are #Talent working in games industry or willing to join the Finnish games industry feel free to apply! https://gamesfactorytalents.com
- Pocket hunt has launched their recruiting app for games people in Finland, Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Benelux countries, Bangalore and Singapore.
- 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!
- Take a look at https://thehub.fi/jobs for the current list of all jobs available in the Finnish Game Industry!
Announcements:
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- Great Success! Finns are winning in Nordic Game Awards / (Article only in Finnish) Suomi palasi taas voiton makuun! Pohjoismaalaisia pelejä juhlivat Nordic Game Awards -palkinnot jaettiin
- Control (Remedy Entertainment) is the Best Nordc Game of the year + Best Technology / (Article only in Finnish) Control voitti Pohjoismainen vuoden peli 2020 -palkinnon
- Baba is You (Hempuli) wins the best game desing in Nordic Game Awards / (Article only in Finnish) Baba is You voitti parhaan pelisuunnittelun palkinnon Nordic Game Awardseissa
- Great Success! Finns are winning in Nordic Game Awards / (Article only in Finnish) Suomi palasi taas voiton makuun! Pohjoismaalaisia pelejä juhlivat Nordic Game Awards -palkinnot jaettiin
Releases:
- 10tons reveals Skeletal Avenger – a roguelite hack’n’slash dungeon crawler.
- Sockventure: Prologue is now out on Steam
- Rumble Hockey is released on iOS & Android
Financial support;
- Zsuzsa James is sharing few interesting/recent funding & publishing options that she has pointed;“BIG NEWS ALERT: Coronavirus has dramatically changed the funding landscape for entrepreneurs, who need advice and funding from strategic sources more than ever. This is why a group of us gaming industry executives, angels and VCs came together to launch the Fast Forward Games initiative, with the hope to enable a faster and more efficient fundraising process for gaming start-ups. The idea behind ffwd.games is simple; entrepreneurs e-mail hello@ffwd.games information about their studios, fund-raising requirements and a pitch-deck. We will then provide: (a) Feedback on the pitch, offering advice on how best to present your funding proposition (and to whom), (b) Fast-track intros into major VCs, with whom we have a close relationship and a pre-agreed process to review your pitch, (c) Angel investments from the group, who will make a decision within 48 hours of a zoom call, all done remotely, without meeting in person. Tough times require bold action, and I am proud to be part of a group that came together so quickly to offer not just advice but concrete support & capital to amazing entrepreneurs. Ping Zsuzsa James directly, or e-mail: hello@ffwd.games.”
—-—-Epic Games just launched a publishing label with a 50/50 revshare deal with devs and directly from Epic—-Humble Bundle has two options for funding commercial games at Humble: 1) pure funding and light launch marketing, where the devs self-publish and 2) they fund+publish.
- You can now claim tax deductions for working at home during coronavirus
- Fast Forward Games (ffwd.games) is an initiative that brings together the top gaming CEOs, VCs and Angel Investors, offering their time, expertise, network and experience to accelerate the funding process for gaming start-ups. Due to COVID-19, the funding climate has changed, resulting a more challenging environment for many start-up studios looking to raise much-needed capital. We are here to help gaming entrepreneurs navigate these unprecedented times.
- Neogames has conducted the government support together in one page
- Business Finland lanseeraa kaksi uutta rahoituspalvelua lieventämään koronavirusepidemian aiheuttamia talousvaikutuksia. / Funding for SMEs and midcap companies whose business is affected by corona virus outbreak.
- 1) Only apply if you are in actual need. Every application is reviewed and that takes time and going through “free moneys, gimme!” applications just takes times from those in real crisis.
2) To be applicable for the grant, the Covid-19 must have affected your business in a negative manner and the project you plan to do with the funding needs to be either a new function/service/model for your company while the crisis is on-going or some way that you cope with the situation. This is not a grant to develop a DLC!
3) Check that you don’t have any unpaid taxes in foreclosure and match your application grant according to your revenue. If your company is generating 10k a year you will not be receiving a 100k grant. If you are a startup with running costs, external funding and product still in development but can’t launch due to covid or have some other issue, explain it to us in the application and this will be taken in account.
4) BF crisis funding is now only for companies between 6-250 employees. If you applied before this rule came into action last week your application will be reviewed and this new rule will not cause the application to fail.
- 1) Only apply if you are in actual need. Every application is reviewed and that takes time and going through “free moneys, gimme!” applications just takes times from those in real crisis.
- ELY-keskusten rahoitus yrityksille koronaviruksen aiheuttamassa poikkeustilanteessa ELY tuki tarkoitettu alle 5 hengen yrityksille. Business Finland tuki tätä isommille, jos kuitenkin on jo haettu BF tukea ei hakemusta pidä peruuttaa. Molemmista tukea ei kuitenkaan voi hakea / ELY Centres’ funding for companies in the exceptional circumstances caused by the coronavirus. Note that if company is over 5 people you should apply from Business Finland and smaller from ELY. If company already applied from BF, then it is ok, do not cancel your application. However, should not apply from both BF & ELY.
Other News:
- My Shadow is available on Steam as a free demo. Give feedback here
- Kayo Games: Explore SpaceX ‘Falcon9 rocket on Launchpad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. It works on your browser (PC or Mobile) without additional downloads.
- JKL Digi & Game Center is looking for partners / (Article in Finnish) Lähde yhteistyökumppaniksi Jyväskylän Digi & Game Centerille
- GameAnalytics launches The GameDev Toolbox – the first one-stop directory of mobile game service providers
- Pascal Debroek this week’s post it is time to debunk some persistent misconceptions on Player Support that might prove harmful to the Player Experience.
- Teemu Erämaa reach out Maya -game animators
- Alessandro Siani is doing a study on the impact of VR and gaming consoles on wellbeing during the COVID-19 lockdown. The survey is short and anonymous.
- Game Music Collective Band proudly presents an epic LIVE performance of the Battle Theme from a legendary Final Fantasy VIII.
- Ilari Kuittinen writes opinion in local news paper; Game Industry is a great example on innovation export / (Article only in Finnish) Ilari Kuittinen lukijan mielipide Helsingin Sanomissa; Pelialasta mallia uusien innovaatioiden vientiin
- Sustainable Digi & Game Ecosystem thanks for the support. Although the Digi & Game Center (DGC) crowdfunding campaign did not reach the minimum goal, the DGC’s story continues.
- Ilkka Immonen recommends Google accelerator for gaming companies. They’re looking for the second batch of companies now!
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EGD 061: Culture and People in Gaming with Daniel McLaren, ArenaNet
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.