Game production in Finland

1. Game production in Finland How to survive in a highly competitive and ever more concentrating global game market? Ari Närhi / Tampere Polytechnic - School of Art and Media 22.3.2004

2. Topics • a brief history • game industry trends • Neogames - a Finnish model for co-operation and networking

3. History • start in 1980s • game production as a hobby • minimal sales • first companies in the 1990s

4. Success stories - PC games • Remedy (founded 1995) • Max Payne (PC, PS2, Xbox) 2001, published by Take 2 Interactive - sold over 4 million copies • Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (PC, PS2, Xbox) 2003, published by Rockstar Games • Housemarque (founded 1995) • in early 1999, Housemarque signed a contract with Infogrames to develop Supreme Snowboarding for PC CD-ROM, which sold about 500000 copies. • Bugbear (founded 2000) • Rally Trophy 2001, published by JoWooD Productions, sold over 200000 copies

5. Others • Sulake • Habbo Hotel • virtual chat • Red Lynx • develops and produces Interactive Cross-Media Entertainment, new type of chatting solutions and interactive TV- formats

6. Mobile games • start in 1999 - SMS/WAP games • a lot of venture capital available in 1999-2000 • a lot of companies went bankrupt after 2000

7. Mobile games… • new start in 2002-2003 - Java games • Mr. Goodliving • Sumea • 20 people, 55 partners, 40 countries

8. Mobile games… • Nokia - N-Gage • new era of mobile gaming • a phone + a game console • sales disappointing - at least so far • games that make good use of its possibilities are coming out later this year

9. Game companies in Finland • usually very small • about half of the companies founded after 2000 • about 10 companies with more than 10 employees and over 400 000 € revenue • in 2002 about 400-420 employees - growth rate 5-10 % more jobs every year • many companies have other activities • ringtones, logos and other graphics for mobile handsets, programming and programming tools, web design…

10. Strenghts • good technological skills • good quality • reliable companies • flexibility - small companies • lots of active game players • Nokia!

11. Weaknesses • geographic location - far from USA • not enough contacts with big publishers • lack of professionalism especially in marketing • lack of publishers • lack of education • lack of funding • lack of appreciation • non-focused companies

12. Opportunities • internationalisation • networking • funding • education

13. Threats • international competition • small companies • lack of marketing and sales skills

14. Game industry trends… • growing budgets • in 1997 typically 15 months / 7 - 15 people / 350 000 - 900 000 € • 24 months / 30 - 40 people /2 -4 million euros , even 3-4 years, 5-10 million euros • high risk level

15. Game industry trends… • shorter life span in shops • hard competition • more companies • cheap labour in developing countries • concentration • few publishers, super developers • sequels - franchising • lack of new inventions and ideas

16. Game industry trends… • global markets - USA, Japan, UK • need for extensive marketing • brand management • a lot of capital needed • fast tehnological development • need for professionals • cross media • game-like movies, movie-like games

17. Game industry trends… • new platforms and devices • new consoles • online games, mobile devices, digital tv • community, social games, location based games • no room for independent products • hard for small companies to enter the business

18. Future • funding • without public funding independent and non-profit game production is not possible • funding needed for securing IPRs • international contact networks and co-operation needed • new genres of games • mobility, community games, pervasive games, cross media, digital tv… • Scandinavia as a testbed

19. Future

20. Neogames - a Finnish game cluster • a network in the field of games • a spokesperson for the field on both the national and international levels • activities launched on 3 November 2003 • co-operation with other networks related to the field • located in Tampere, Finland • http://www.neogames.fi/english/

21. Neogames aims at… • the creation of a comprehensive network of players in the games field • the development of games-related business • the support and coordination of research related to and supporting the games field • the improvement of the image of the games field and making the field better known: transferring games-related news from the culture section to the financial pages

22. Neogames – Network • game companies • research institutes • organizations • activities • Java/mobile group • field development group • business group • training group

23. Network…

24. Neogames – Development Centre • provides a support network for the development of future entertainment applications and games like educational games • interesting research initiatives and joint projects between members are now under preparation

25. Neogames – Training Forum • Neogames organises training related to the games and entertainment industries and participates in the development of the range of courses arranged by educational institutes

26. Neogames – Channel to the Market • an active provider of market information and an intermediary of marketing channels. • participates in the organization of Finnish events related to the games business and offers affordable opportunities to visit international fairs in the field by arranging joint travel deals