THIS WEEK (6/2019) IN THE FINNISH GAME INDUSTRY

Play Finland’s Weekly Newsletter
In this report we will combine week 6/2019 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:
  • 11th February
    @ Design Factory/Streamed, 15-17 EET
    “Games for Quantum Computers”
    James Wootton, IBM Research
  • 11th March
    @ Design Factory/Streamed, 15-17 EET
    “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
• Feb. 12th IGDA Finland Helsinki Hub x Finnish Game Jam Post Play Party / Helsinki
  • The demo corner is strictly for games created at GGJ/FGJ 2019. Submit your game here
• 13th April TEG – Tampere eSports Gathering
• 15th-17th February Quantum Game Jam in Helsinki on the with quantum physicists and some quantum technologies. Apply now
• 19.02.2018 Gamification Group is organizing a workshop series on the topics of WEARABLES, BODY and GAMES.
  • Application Form
    Application Deadline: 30.01.2019
• Suomen pelialan opinnäytekilpailu 2019 on avoinna – Finnish Game Studies Thesis Competition is open. Opinnäyte tulee ilmoittaa ehdokkaaksi 28.2.2019
• 1-3 March Dog Jam in Helsinki
• 14 March Game Audio Awards / Oulu
• 18-19th March Game Connection America / San Francisco
  • see the Nordic Offer DL feb. 6th
  • Helsinki based game start-ups (less than 5 years of age) can apply Helsinki travel grants to GC America participation. There is also a quota of 4 Helsinki companies who can participate free to GC . Everything works by first come first served bases. More info about that from Henrik Keinonen. https://newcohelsinki.fi/fi/meista/
• 18th-22 March Game Developers Conference
• 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

• 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!

 
Announcements;

• Rovion kurssi nousi 9,4 prosenttia – yhtiö sai pelialustalleen strategisen sijoittajan Japanista
  • Peliyhtiö Rovio on saanut tytäryhtiön kautta omistamalleen pelialusta Hatchille tärkeän strategisen sijoittajan. Vähemmistösijoittajaksi yhtiöön lähteeJapanin johtava mobiilioperaattori NTT Docomo.
  • Japan’s Docomo invests in Finnish Rovio spin-off Hatch
• Neogames is updating the list of Finnish commercial games released globally (and for first time) on 2018. Make sure that yours are listed! Please tell (in comments or email: suvi(AT)neogamesDOTfi) what is missing and help to correct mistakes. 🙂 Thanks!

Releases;

• Rovio is releasing  Angry Birds  VR: Isle of Pigs is here! with Resolution Games. You can play it on the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift. 
• Worbital online demo is now out on Steam!
• Claybook released on Switch
• A Giant Problem has just launched on STEAM

Recommendations;

• Veli-Pekka Piirainen asks if anyone has experience of working with 12traits

Office Space:

• Playmore Games is looking for a roomie! They have a huge and cool office space in the heart of Helsinki city centre and we’re looking to share the space with another company. In this office fits easily a company about 10-25 people. They have a gorgeous view from the 8th floor.

Other News;

• Latest news from the Discovery contest: The qualifying winner at Ludicious in Switzerland was ”One Hand Clapping” by Bad Dream Games.
• Bugbyte is going to launch a Kickstarter at the end of this month (Feb 27th) for their game Space Haven, a RimWorld inspired spaceship colony sim.
• Trials Rising is coming to all platforms on February 26, 2019! Watch to see Trials Rising: Post Launch Trailer | Ubisoft [NA]
• Follow the development of Robber Docks‘s Wanton Rogue
• Elina Arponen was invited to the national YLE News broadcast, six o’clock news. The gaming part is towards the end and starts at 12:59.
• Ex-Flaregames head of PR Jon Howard lands at Rovio

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.