Presented at Colombia 3.0. (2013). The story is about IGDA Finland & the growth of Finnish game development community. What are the key building blocks, how IGDA Finland became being one of the most active IGDA chapters in the world.

1. “Give me a place to stand on
and
I will move the world”.
Archimedes
Sonja Ängeslevä
“Queen Bee” and President of IGDA Finland
sonja.angesleva@igda.fi

3. It will never work!
“It never felt like a viable business. Rather it felt like
anything good will ever come out of this.”
(Jani Penttinen CEO Transfluent, Ex-Remedy, Ex-Housemarque, Ex-
WestWood Studios, Ex-Bloodhouse)

4. Gamer Developer Gamers
“I didn’t do anything – just played games all the time.”
“We made the first $$$ publishing deal for Remedy
when working at the basement of my parents’ house.
When I showed the contract to my father, he was
totally amazed. Is this real business? So you are
actually doing something productive - not just playing
games?”
(Samuli Syvähuoko, Ex-Remedy, Ex-Recoil)

5. Social is the key
 It does not matter where you are
 Group, friendship, fans, hobby, support matters
 Success drives good spirit and success
 Believe in yourself, find likeminded and try things
 Passion, emotion, motivation
 Better than the rest
 Something fun
 Express yourself
Finland!
Colombia!

8. President of
Finland

9. 2006 2012
Over 400 people attended April 2013
Gathering
(Country of 5Million ppl, 200 game studios,
1800 ppl working in the games industry)

10. Secret sauce
 We are open (for better, for worse)
 Community rules, community helps
 Together against the world
 Focus on growing the industry
 Share Share Share
 Find the right people
 Try Fail Try Fail Learn
 May the best win

12. 1993 1997 2000 2005 2010 2013
Finnish success stories
Over 200
companies

13. Hype is good for you
 Emotion <3
 Everyone wants part of the gold dust
 Hype attracts attention
 Attention attracts investors
 VC's attract talent
 Talent means fresh ideas
 It is connected to learning from other ecosystems
 It is a positive spin
Talent
Ideas
VCs

14. How are we different
 Core competencies: telecom & IT industry
expertise, mobile SW. Public financial support,
crackers (demo scene) ‘n’ gamers.
 Find your own way of games development
 The Finnish way
 American entrepreneurs sell stories and
dreams. Apple is a story.
 Finnish entrepreneurs sell about technology
and reality. Nokia is about pixels and bytes.
 Do not over glorify Silicon Valley or Israel
(or Finland)

16. No hipsters around here
Assembly Summer 2013 4K winner
Assembly summer 2013

17. 2012:
Average
salary
3590 € /
month
Source: Neogames 2013
Target
2020:
6500
16%
women

18. Source: Neogames 2013
Target
2020:
1.5B €
(3.8B COP)
(650M COP)

19. Source: Neogames 2013

20. Source: Neogames 2013

21. 1-2-3-4-5-6 to get started
1. Build on what you have
2. The things you do not have will come
3. If you do not have anything, start something! This
happen surprisingly fast!
4. Failing is part of the story
5. There needs to be a leader – one torchbearer
6. Every company does not have to make the same
mistakes – community rules!

22. Building developer
community
 What’s the core activity?
 What’s the need (who is the audience)
 Act fast, solve problems
 Keep high quality and trustworthiness
 Push new ideas
 Document events, activities, history
 Spread the word

23. Thanks!
What do you think?
Sonja.angesleva@igda.fi
souplala
peliklusteri.com/
Igda.fi