Weekly News 17/24

Neogames’ Suvi Latva discussed how juniors can find an entry to their first position in the game industry on Klaus Kääriäinen‘s Jestercraft podcast
Finland – and the Finnish game industry – desperately needs more international talent. We believe the current game industry talent pool in Finland needs to be doubled, in order for us to continue its successful growth. Metacore’s COO Anna Kaskeala-Moore and Neogames’ director KooPee Hiltunen discussed together with the decision-makers how to support immigration of international talent and the integration of their families. Watch the clip (in Finnish) on the MTV news
Neogames’ event about game studio funding #GetFunded24 was a success, check the stream on YouTube

IGDA Finland Leadership Day 2024 call for speakers is open! Save the date September 30th, this will be our 6th Leadership Day with a day filled with inspiring talks! Signup to become a speaker, the deadline is until June 7

Metacore hires King exec as Merge Mansion closes in on €400m
Several Finnish Games in soft launch, to mention few:
- Supercell: Squad Busters
- Lightneer: Rumble Arena
- Phantom Gamelabs: Riftbusters
- Towerpop: Omega Royale
- Fingersoft: LEGO Hill Climb Adventures
- Ubisoft / Redlynx: Gwen’s Getaway
- HypeHype: HypeHype
Sustainability & Earth Day
- Merge Mansion takes on environmental issues in time for Earth Day
- Birds Helping Birds – Angry Birds Dream Blast Earth Day Campaign

Neogames’ KooPee Hiltunen comments Remedy’s Bafta nominations on YLE. + Alan Wake 2 scoops up prizes at Bafta Games Awards
Game Jams at libraries in Kajaani inspires people to participate game development
An article about the event in March. Expectatations of US investors and partners regarding game developers. Article about great event; The Finnish Games Industry Showcase organized in Finnish Consulate at LA. Over 20 Finnish studios showcased their games and products to American industry peers and investors at the residence of the Consul General of Finland in LA Okko-Pekka Salmimies. The audience was also honored by the presence of Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio. The event was the second gaming-themed showcase organized by the Consulate General of Finland and Senior Trade Commissioner Zsuzsa James. Showcasing companies were: Fingersoft, Rovio, Geeklab, Quicksave, Kuuasema, Social First, UNEVN, Ray Browser, Zaibatsu Interactive, Return Entertainment, Remedy, Metacore, Frozenbyte, Nitro Games, Dodreams, MyGamez, BitMagic, Spectarium Games, Sommoro Games, VUO AI, Next Games, PIKL worldwide, Dazzle Rocks, Flatfish.
Act Normal Games has released “Rauniot”, an article about it in Finnish
Bosmic Forge has release Ants Took My Eyeball in Steam, an article about it in Finnish
Supercells Squad Busters going global on May 29th, read the article from HS

Games and Apps UA Talent application time starts on 6th May
Hanki Games is looking for a full-time developer for the Sledders snowmobile simulator
Turku UAS is looking for a developer with expertise in Unity, who also possesses Finnish language proficiency

2nd May; Xbox Sustainability Toolkit Workshop Online | 10am & 5pm GMT
21-24th May Nordic Game Conference @ Malmö, Sweden
30th May – 2nd June; CROSSING LATITUDES 2024 /Brazil – Finland Game Jam. W Love Games and Finnish Game Jam associations in collaboration with Embassy of Brazil in Helsinki are organizing
30th September IGDA Finland Leadership Day 2024