THIS WEEK (40/2018) IN THE FINNISH GAME INDUSTRY

Play Finland’s Weekly Newsletter
In this report we will combine  week 40/2018 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:

• 8th Oct. Kauko-ohjattava ihminen – RCH 201 Välitetty kosketus / Riihimäki
• 12-14th Oct. Dash team is organising Europe´s biggest design hackathon  in Helsinki Kattilahalli.
  • Eight amazing design challenges to solve from our partners also including a Game Design challenge from EA games. APPLY NOW! (the application period closes on Sunday 16th of September) More info
• 16th Oct. IGDA Helsinki Hub October seminar + gathering with Next Games
• 18th Oct. Gaming and esports event, Grail Quest – Pelifestari 2018 / Turku
• October 19th Monetization in Games: Past, Present and Future – ft. John Romero / Helsinki
• 24th-26th October, Join Neogames and the Nordics at Game Connection Europe / Paris
• 10th Nov. DevCon Tampere 2018
• 10-11th November. Theme Park. Digital art rally 2018 / Kouvola
• 14th Nov. Xmasjkl – The Finnish Game Industry Seminar / Jyväskylä
  • First patch of Speaker announcements!
  • Mika Rahko, Futureplay
  • Lauri Vuohensilta, Hydraulic Press Channel
  • Adam Sporka, Composer, Kingdom Come Deliverance
  • Jussi Immonen, Nitro Games
    ..and more announcements coming soon!We are super happy to have COOL people coming again as a our speaker to 2018 event at Jyväskylä, Central Finland
  • Ticket sales are open! Early Bird Prices -10% are available until 21.10.2018
  • The Finnish Game Industry Seminar now annual event already 4th time!
• 19-23 November 2018, Nanjing: IMGA Judging Sessions, China Game Design Seminar and the Awards Ceremony & Parties
• 22 November Manse Games Event / Tampere
  • First Speakers Announced!
  • Teut Weidemann joins to talk about F2P game monetisation.
  • Petri Ikonen. The talk will focus on how the studio overcame the obstacles of designing a F2P mobile game from a well-loved IP, and how their design thinking has changed during production and running the live service.
• 23-25 November Junction / Helsinki
• 4-5th Dec. Slush
• 22-24th May Nordic Game Conference / Helsinki
  • Gaming Track

See also The Game Industry Events calendar: http://www.neogames.fi/en/events/eventcalendar
Open jobs:

• Redlynx is looking for Associate Producers for both mobile and console projects! Reveal yourself by applying here. + bunch of other interesting positions open as well, so check it out!
• More jobs at gamesjobs.fi
• Get your self matched. Find your place in the Finnish Games Industry
• 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!

Releases;

• Drag Bikes android open beta

Announcements;

• Nitro Games’ Board of Directors has resolved, subject to approval on an Extraordinary General Meeting, on a directed share issue of SEK 47.4 million.
• Suomen Kulttuurirahaston keskusrahaston apurahat vuodelle 2019 ovat haettavina 1.−31.10.2018. Pelit ovat ensimmäistä kertaa mukana omana hakualanaan. Apurahaa voi hakea pelien taiteelliseen suunnitteluun tai toteuttamiseen, ja pelillä tulee olla taiteellisia, kulttuurisia tai yhteiskunnallisia tavoitteita.
• Neogames is listing Finnish games released globally (and for first time) on 2018. Please help and make sure that yours are listed! and please let suviATneogamesDOTfi know if there are mistakes.

Recommendations from Play Finland community;

• Discussion about Localization recommendations:
  • Transfluent
  •  Full XP
  • Testroniclabs
  • LivingGamesJapan
  • Worker Bee Inc.
  • Universally speaking
  • Localize Direct
• Book recommendation; Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made

Other News;

• TODAY at Kajaani for the all new Discovery Contest! 😍 It’s a brand new hybrid of game show and pitch battle, touring 14 countries. In this qualifying round, three studios battle, on-stage, before a panel of experts:
  • BrainDMG presenting Hexaterrestrials. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U40t_TLvfQ
  • Biting Mascot presenting Captain’s Tail: http://www.bitingmascot.com
  • Red Stage Entertainment presenting Skábma – Polar Night. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0uu5qb7PsM
• Gregory Pellechi: Stories in games are changing, and not necessarily in a good way when the games themselves aren’t coming to an end. They examine that on the latest episode of The Writing Game. You can also find the podcast version here.
• Bitwisards – nuoret gurut kyberavaruudesta. Koko sarja Areenassa 4.10.2018 alkaen.
• Finnish Game Day ’18 – Investments in Games
• Heikin ja Pasin Peliliiteri. Sarja videoita, joiden ideana on tuoda peliharrastuksen perusteita lähemmäs ketä tahansa. Ajatuksena on, että täysi nyyppäkin voi lähteä kokeilemaan pelaamista. Kannustamme molemmat jo omien töidemmekin puolesta ihmisiä pelaamaan ja hyödyntämään digipelejä työssään, joten videoissa ja niiden infossa on sekin ulottuvuus.
• Sleepy Sentry got Stirring Abyss – Gameplay Trailer out.
• Housemarque goes battle royale: “We’ve had pushback, and we’re expecting more”
• Deadline extended for games submissions for Ludicious – Zürich Game Festival to Monday the 8th. There is a little more space for submissions from Finland.
  • Developers selected for the #ludicious19 expo receive accommodation support & can win up to 8k € in cash in the Ludicious Innovation in Game Awards (& 4k € in the Emerging Talent, aka Student awards).
• Nominate your game for the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2019
• Kotkalaisen peliyhtiö Nitro Gamesin pörssistartti Tukholmassa mennyt putkeen, osake kallistunut yli 30 prosenttia
• Tarvitsetko musiikkia peliin? Ota rohkeasti yhteyttä Heikki Karerantaan Musiikkinäytteitä on kuunneltavissa Soundcloudissa ja Heikin säveltämää musiikkia löytyy myös The Name of the Game -dokkarista.
• Fortnite menu theme medley [All Themes Seasons 1-5) – Game Music Collective
• Odyssey VR Combines Desktop and VR 
• Finnish game companies and game titles exhibited at the Tokyo Game Show 2018 last week.
  • I wrote Japanese report articles about them.Meizi Games’ mobile game BUILT FOR SPEED http://vsmedia.info/2018/09/21/tgs2018_5/
  • Surma Games’ Please the Gods http://vsmedia.info/2018/09/22/tgs2018_7/
  • The booth of Snowfall http://vsmedia.info/2018/09/23/tgs2018_10/
  • The booth of Fruitbat Factory http://vsmedia.info/2018/09/25/tgs2018_12/
  • Secret Exit’s Zen Bound 2 http://vsmedia.info/2018/10/01/tgs2018_22/
  • Next year is the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Finland. How about Finnish gaming industry jointly exhibits a huge booth at TGS 2019?
• Alvin From Earth – Community-influenced Adventure Series! got funded in Kickstarter.

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.