Weekly News 37/26

This week news about the Finnish Game Industry is… led by Channel37’s 400,000 Early Access sales and Xbox roadmap for The Last Caretaker, MiTale’s move into transmedia publishing, and new developments from Housemarque and Remedy. Neogames is also keeping international talent firmly on the policy agenda: international specialists already make up 35% of The Finnish Game Industry workforce, and our 2027 parliamentary election objectives call for a more predictable path for international talent to stay and work in Finland. Also this week, European developer organisations are challenging Apple’s latest EU business terms, new funding opportunities are open, and September continues to keep everyone reasonably busy.

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📣 Neogames Dones & News

• Neogames continues to highlight key priorities from its 2027 parliamentary election programme, including attracting and retaining international game-industry talent in Finland. International specialists account for 35% of the workforce in The Finnish Game Industry. Read the full policy programme

📰 Game Industry News, thoughts & discussions

• Visionist’s September “Good Game News from Finland” roundup highlights recent developments across The Finnish Game Industry. The monthly overview covers company news, releases, upcoming games and other developments from Finnish studios and developers. Read the September roundup
• Finland ranks among Europe’s leading game-industry countries relative to its size, according to the latest EGDF data. Finland ranks 8th in the EU by talent base, 7th by number of studios and 5th by combined industry turnover, with Helsinki ranking 9th among European game-industry talent hubs. Read the latest European industry data
• European game developer organisations are challenging Apple’s new EU business terms. EGDF and 17 other organisations argue that the revised terms still undermine effective competition under the Digital Markets Act. Read EGDF’s statement
• Applications are open for Finnish Game Incubator 2026 until 18 October. The free remote programme is for Finland-based teams already developing a game. At least one team member must speak Finnish, and the required skills assessment and game-business plan must be submitted in Finnish. Programme details and application
• Aalto University Executive Education’s Game Executive programme has an online info session on 7 October. The programme focuses on management and leadership in the game industry and starts in January 2027. Game Executive programme and info session

🎮 News from and about Finnish Game Companies

• Channel37’s The Last Caretaker will reach 1.0 and launch on Xbox in spring 2027, with Game Pass availability from day one. The Helsinki studio also reports more than 400,000 copies sold since Early Access launch. Read more
• Housemarque has announced the free Zenith update for SAROS. The update adds new replayable modes, progression options and accessibility features later this year. Read the State of Play announcement
• Remedy Entertainment has published the final PC requirements for CONTROL Resonant ahead of its 24 September launch. The specifications cover standard, ray-tracing and path-tracing configurations. Read more
• Skyward Entertainment’s Second Stone received a positive hands-on preview from Gamereactor following gamescom. The preview takes a closer look at the Helsinki studio’s upcoming action RPG. Read the preview
• Iceflake Studios has launched the first episode of its new “Under Construction” developer-video series for LEGO Skylines. The episode introduces the Tampere-based team and development of the upcoming city-builder. Watch Episode 1
• Finnish studio MiTale is expanding from independent game development into transmedia publishing. The company will publish games and other media, with external submissions opening in early 2027. Read more
• Finnish publisher VRKiwi has released Detective VR on Steam and PlayStation VR2. The investigation game launched on 9 September. Read the launch announcement.

😍Upcoming NEW Finnish game releases

• Gladio Mori leaves Early Access and launches in full on 16 September. The Oulu-developed fighting game is coming to PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Gladio Mori on Steam

💰 Funding

• Business Finland’s new continuous Sprint Grant offers small Finnish companies €75,000–€100,000 for early-stage R&D projects with international growth potential. The grant covers 75% of eligible project costs. Review the funding call.
• AVEK’s DigiDemo application window closes on 21 September at 16:00. Companies may apply for €10,000 or €20,000 towards a demo or pilot. DigiDemo application guidelines

📝 Jobs & Recruitment

• Looking for work or talent in The Finnish Game Industry? See Finnish game-industry job resources

👉 Upcoming Events

• 16–18 September – Thriving in Games Group Summit, Helsinki.
• 23–25 September – Northern Game Summit, Kajaani.
• 12–18 October – Finnish Games Week Steam Event, online.
• 19 October – Leadership Day by IGDA Finland, Helsinki.
• 20–21 October – Pocket Gamer Connects Nordics, Helsinki. Mobile and PC and console Big Indie Pitch applications close on 5 October. Use discount code PlayFinland14 for 14% off tickets. Get discounted tickets.
• 22–23 October – W Love Games 2026, Helsinki and online. Registration and calls are open.
• 3–4 November – Game Research Days 2026, Jyväskylä.
• 5 November – Finnish Game Industry DEI Summit, Helsinki and online. Registration is open.