WEEK (37/2019) IN THE FINNISH GAME INDUSTRY

Play Finland’s Weekly Newsletter
In this report we will combine weeks 37/2019 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:

• 3D-kulttuurihubi’s  consulting sessions / 3D-hubin neuvonnat syksyllä 2019
  • 24 September 2019 from 13:00-16:00 Palvelujen pelillistäminen (Asiantuntija Turussa) / Services gamification (Expert in Turku)
  • 8 October 2019 from 13:00-16:00 AR-markkinointi (Asiantuntija Helsingissä) / AR-marketing (Expert in Helsinki)
• 17th September: Games UR/UX Finland Meet Up
• 26th September Northern Game Summit / Kajaani
• 27th September Xmasjkl – The Finnish Game Industry Seminar / Jyväskylä. Seminar speakers are:
  • Mikko Toivanen, Customer Engineer, Google Finland
  • Mark Cochrane, CEO, Lightneer
  • Elina Arponen , CEO, co-founder, Quicksave
  • Felicia “Licia” Prehn, Head of Production, Nopia Oy
  • Luai Mahjneh, Manager, Game Development Partnerships & Jani Eronen Lead Developer, Veikkaus Game Studio
• 28th September IT and GAMES job Fair in Kiev
  •  space for couple of more games studios for the annual IT and Games Job Fair Kyiv
• September 30th Leadership Day by IGDA FInland / Helsinki
  • Registration is now open for IGDA Finland Leadership Day, held at Helsinki City Hall on 30th September, 2019.
• 1st-2nd Oct Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki.
  • Discount code for all PlayFinland members: PLAYFINLAND20 that gives you 20% off tickets
  • The first speakers have been announced for Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki, this Oct 1-2. Features Bethesda, Jam City, Ogury, Super Evil Megacorp, East Side Games and more.
• 2nd-4th October Game UX Summit 19 / Lille France
• 17th October Konsoll 2019 / Bergen Norway
• Oct 26th DevCon 2 Tampere
• 29th-31st October Game Connection Europe 2019 / Paris
  • Join Neogames and the Nordics at Game Connection Europe
• 14th-15th November YSÄRI GAME JAM! if you are interested ping Licia Prehn
• 15th November W  Games Conference 2019
  • First speaker announced: Sophie VO
  • Second speaker announced:  Gabriele Aimone
  •  first keynote speaker:  Ekaterina Dolgova from Redhill Games
  • Nikolina Zidar talking about her work in making most unique game studio in Finland!
• 16-17th November Aalto university agreed to hosts Theme Park. A digital art rally!
• 19th November; Press Start invites 1,000 game developers to the Cable Factory  for a free kick-off to the Slush Week.
  • No middleware, no service providers – just games. Attendance is free and by application only. Apply here slush.org/press-start
  • Learn from industry veterans, connect with peers, get a glimpse into some up-and-coming games and meet a pool of investors. And let’s not forget the after-party.
  • The first speakers and open applications to the event will be released in August.
  • applications opened up for live demo showcase at Press Start. This time you can forget your presentations – it’s all about playing live!

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

•  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
• 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? Take a look at http://www.devs.tv/jobs/ for the current list of all jobs available in the Finnish Game Industry!

Announcements;

• Applications opened up for live demo showcase at Press Start. This time you can forget your presentations – it’s all about playing live!
  • Apply to attend: slush.org/press-start
    Apply with your demo: https://slush.typeform.com/to/SupYvu

Other News;

• Suomen pelimuseon syksyyn mahtuu uuden näyttelyn avautuminen 13.9, paikannuspeliseikkailuja, akateemista pelitutkimusta, tamperelaisten pelitalojen esittelyä ja kaikenlaista.
• MindSeize is at the halfway point their  Kickstarter campaign
• Build fast and start playing: How Ministry of Games created its Rapid Development Funnel
• Oceanhorn – The Adventure Video Game  was on the Apple Keynote on some of the videos & Apple Arcade – Let the games begin
• Play Ventures | How to Properly Pitch Your Start-up
• Digi & Game Center premises at Matarankatu 2, Jyväskylä, Central Finland have been Pre booked already about 80% of it already in just a week since announced!!
  • Tuomas Roininen Chairman of the Expa Game Business Co-operative and Seija Takanen CEO of Jykia shook hands together and made Great Cooperation deal between JYKIA and Peliosuuskunta Expa to make Digi & Game Center Co-development Ecosystem in the Heart of Finland happen.The Center shall start operate 01/01/2020.
    More Details and News: https://www.facebook.com/digigamecenter/
• Elite Game Developers podcast: Rapid Development and Validation with Riku Rakkola Co-Founder and CEO of Traplight
• Tarvitsemme 500 Pelialan asiantuntijaa viikon sisällä suomeen; Tavoitteena tulisi olla koko oleskelulupaprosessiin kuluvan ajan lyhentäminen useista kuukausista vain seitsemään päivään.

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.