Kansallinen pelipäivä 11.11.2012 - part of International Games Day

International Games Day - Kansallinen pelipäivä 11 November 2012. Press release in Finnish only - sorry: Kansallinen pelipäivä juhlii pelaamisen monimuotoisuutta ja tuo uudet pelaamisen muodot perinteisen pelien rinnalle samanarvoisina. Pelipäivä antaa pelialan toimijoille mahdollisuuden esitellä omaa toimintaansa ja kokoaa kaikki peleistä kiinnostuneet eri sukupolvien edustajat kirjastoihin, kouluihin ja nuorisotaloille pelaamaan yhdessä.

This is an opportunity for Finnish game developers as well. What about coming out of the studios and giving ordinary people an idea what you are working on. More information from the Kansallinen pelipäivä website.

IGDA Finland October Gathering with Unity and GameFounders

9th October was a day of tricks and treats for the game folk in Finland.

October’s IGDA Finland Presentations are now behind us, and they were a success! All 250 tickets were reserved in advance. The theme of the evening was Unity 4, and a few lucky ones even won themselves a full Unity Pro 4.0 license. Just in case you inexplicably missed the event, let’s recap.

Nick Jovic and his merry men from Unity Technologies gave us a taste of the next generation of their platform. Colossal Order’s very own Damien Morello shared his tips and tricks for Unity, and you even get a chance to put your freshly gained knowledge to good use: Antti Lihavainen opened VIOPE’s world wide Game Programming Contest.

What comes to the post-Unity Gathering in Bar Cuba, the words of a fellow attendee sums things up nicely: ”It's a bit crowded.”

Nick Jovic was in the mood for a popquiz, and awarded correct answers with Unity’s t-shirts. We learned, for example, where the company’s main office is situated (San Francisco, for future reference) and where Unity will established their newest office (Berlin, now you know).

The other big thing came from across the Baltic Sea. Kadri Ugand from the Estonian game accelerator GameFounders first greeted us with kind words and then dropped the proverbial bomb: the second round of GameFounders program is now officially open!

Thank you for spending an evening with us! This time the number of attendees in the Gathering went up to 261. See you in November!

IGDA Finland in Steam

If you haven't heard of Steam Greenlight before, it's about time. Steam Greenlight is a new publishing platform inside Steam, where users can influence which games are to be sold in Steam's Store. Greenlight is a great opportunity for Finnish game developers to get peer support and, quite simply, to get the word around. And on the internet the word does get around.

Naturally IGDA Finland doesn't want to stand in the way of progress. IGDA Finland has a Greenlight Collection in Steam, where we want to showcase your games. The collection is an easy way to browse, rate and discuss upcoming games. If you want your game in the IGDA Steam Collection, contact us and ask us to add your game. If you already have a Steam account, send a message to the user IGDA_Finland. If you aren't in Steam yet, you can send email to jukka.huiskonen@igda.fi.

We also have our own Steam Group, and we welcome you all to join us there! The point of all this is to help gamers and developers throughout Finland to find an inspire each other. What Finland lacks in size, it makes up for in enthusiasm.

See you in Steam!

Finnish gaming cluster is on the threshold of hyper-growth

Habbo Hotel, Max Payne, and Angry Birds are examples of the international success stories created by Finnish gaming companies. The community award received by Finnish gaming cluster was presented to three organizations that are active in the field: Finnish Game Developers' Association ry., which represents gaming companies, IGDA, which brings together game developers in Finland, and Neogames, which represents business, training and research in the games industry.

"The task of organizations is to serve as a spokesperson for the industry and promote company activities by creating structures for matters like training and financing. Game companies are always aware that they have to be international. They participate in tough international competition right from the start, so the operating field for organizations is also international," explains KooPee Hiltunen, Director of Neogames Centre of Game Business, Research and Development.

In economic terms, the rapidly growing game industry is Finland's most important cultural export, and it produces top international products and success stories. More than 90% of the market for Finnish game companies is in the United States and Western Europe. Companies that develop games and provide game services are at the heart of the industry. The game industry employs approximately 1,300 people in Finland. The combined turnover of the 70 companies operating in the industry was more than EUR 165 million in 2011, and the industry is the largest of its kind in the Nordic countries.

This post is a partial copy of this press release

Exclusive IGDA Finland screening: YLE Teema "Pelinrakentajat" documentary on Finnish game industry

YLE Teema provides an exclusive opportunity for the Finnish game developers community to see Pelinrakentajat documentary before the masses. The documentary film is in Finnish. When & where: January 18th at 7PM, Andorra movie theater, downstairs of Corona Pub, at Eerikinkatu 11.

Register to the event: / rekisteröidy tapahtumaan täältä: http://pelinrakentajat.eventbrite.com/

*** YLE Teema ja IGDA Finland kutsuvat teidät seuraamaan Pelinrakentajat dokumenttifilmin ekslusiivista ennakkoesitystä. Päivämäärä on 18. tammikuuta, kello 19. suomalaiset pelikehittäjät ovat lämpimästi tervetulleita Andorraan, Eerikinkatu 11 (alakerta).

Pelinrakentajat on YLE Teeman peli-illan avaava dokumentti. Suomalaisesta pelintekemisestä kertova tarina lähtee 90-luvun alun demoscenestä ja kulkee suurien konsolipelien ja pienempien kännykkäpelien kautta aina tähän päivään. Ennen kaikkea siitä tinkimättömyydestä ja intohimosta, minkä avulla Suomen peliteollisuus on noussut 20 vuodessa lähes tyhjästä merkittäväksi teollisuudenhaaraksi.

Dokumentissa on haastateltu kymmentä pelialan vaikuttajaa mm. Remedyltä, Housemarquelta,Bugbearilta, RedLynxiltä ja Roviolta. Toimittaja Kaj Laaksonen Ohjaaja Tommi Mattila Tuotanto Markku Mastomäki YLE Kulttuuri ja viihde 2012 Kesto 54 minuuttia   Tervetuloa! Welcome!