In 2024, the Finnish games industry produces €2.85 billion

The Finnish gaming sector experienced a 4.9% downturn over the last two years, with a turnover of €2.85 billion projected for 2024, according to the Finnish Games Industry report.

Issued by Neogames, this report includes insights from 71 studios employing 3,160 people. It attributed the industry's decline to "non-industry-related factors" such as economic recession, inflation, and a "general post-COVID slowdown". The report also pointed out the lack of substantial transactions and the shutdown of the mobile studio Seriously at 2022's end.

Investments in the industry decreased from €300 million during 2021-2022 to €128 million by the close of 2024. The previous period's figures were bolstered by a €150 million credit line from Supercell. Despite these challenges, Finland remained one of Europe's top five gaming markets by revenue in 2024.

The industry saw the release of 120 Finnish commercial games between 2023 and 2024, including "Alan Wake 2" by Remedy, "Squadbusters" by Supercell, "Cities Skylines 2" by Colossal Order, and "Pax Dei" by Mainframe Industries. Interestingly, only ten of these were mobile games, indicating a "significant change" from the mid-2010s when mobile platforms dominated.

In 2024, 58% of game developers were engaged in creating games for multiple platforms, and 23% were developing for three or more platforms. Meanwhile, 42% concentrated on single platform games, predominantly for iOS and Android.

Studio numbers grew from 232 in 2022 to 270 by the end of 2024. Neogames estimates suggest around 700 studios have existed since 1995, and 270 were actively producing games by the end of last year, marking a record high.

Geographically, nearly half of the studios are settled in Finland's Capital Region, covering Helsinki, Espoo, and Vantaa, where about 80% of the workforce is based, up from 76% in 2022.

Other prominent gaming centers include Tampere with 39 studios, Oulu housing 22, and Turku with 17. By the end of 2024, the industry's workforce grew to 4,300 personnel, a 200-person increase from the previous count. Of these, 3,800 were based in Finland, while 500 were at Finnish-owned operations abroad.

Among the companies surveyed, there were 3,058 full-time and 102 part-time workers. Female representation rose to roughly 25%, up from 22% in 2022, although Neogames suggested the actual percentage might range between 23% and 24% due to fewer companies being analyzed in 2022.

The percentage of non-Finnish employees increased from over 30% to 37%, with about 19% coming from outside the EU/EEA, compared to 15% previously.