Skåne Spotlight

Build your own bridge to Skåne

This month’s regional spotlight looks at the region of Skåne and its capital of Malmö. The games industry in the old port town, and the surrounding region, has seen huge growth in recent years, and now has a development community and supporting infrastructure that’s second to none.

Skåne’s capital Malmö has more games developers and studios per capita than almost anywhere else on earth. Sitting just across the waters of the Øresund from Copenhagen, Malmö is relatively modest in size, but packed with opportunity.

The biggest studio is Ubisoft’s Massive Entertainment, creator of The Division franchise. While mobile heavyweight King has a big presence in the city, and more recently Just Cause creators Avalanche Studios, opened here too.

Looking at indie teams, Little Nightmares creator Tarsier Studio was founded here in 2004. It is one of a plethora of homegrown outfits. Alongside them are micro studios such as Simogo, creators of Sayonara Wild Hearts, and DeadToast Entertainment, the one-man team behind My Friend Pedro.

With mobile and console, triple-A and indie studios, all working side-by-side, it’s understandable why the long-running Nordic Game Conference is held in Malmö every year.

And the development community’s growth isn’t slowing. Hitman creator IO Interactive chose Malmö for its second studio in early 2019, making the short hop over from Copenhagen. Sharkmob was founded by Malmö veterans in 2017 and recently came to wider prominence when it was acquired by Tencent. Plus Swedish strategy king Paradox Interactive established its third Swedish studio here in 2017.

Photo credit: Apeloga

All that activity has created an industry hub that rivals any in the world. 2018 figures show that Swedish-registed companies alone employed almost 8,000 industry professionals in the area, a figure that leapt 48 per cent since 2017, and anecdotally has continued to rise steadily since.

The region is now home to over 70 game studios, generating €1.87bn in revenue in 2018, up a hefty 33 per cent from 2017.

Malmö isn’t alone in the Skåne region. Up the coast is Helsingborg, a historic coastal town, which is home to yet more development talent, such as Pixelbite, creators of mobile strategy title Xenowerk Tactics, along with localisation specialists Localize Direct. Another key asset of the region is Lund, boasting the oldest university in Sweden – rated amongst the top 100 in the world.

Skåne is clearly a region any developer or company should seriously consider if it’s looking to relocate or expand – be they a triple-A goliath or an indie start-up. So let’s look a little deeper behind the success story of the area and whether it might be a good culture fit for you and yours.

AN OPEN PORT

While the Swedes and the Danes maintain a healthy rivalry, Skåne with its fertile rolling fields more resembles Denmark and similar parts of Northern Europe than the stereotypical dense forest and small hamlets of the northern counties of Sweden. In fact Skåne was a part of the kingdom of Denmark up until the 17th century.

That proximity to Denmark is still a major part of everyday life for those in Malmö. For example, Copenhagen’s Kastrup is the airport of choice for developers we spoke to. It’s the third-largest in Northern Europe, handling around 30m passengers a year.

“Our airport is one of the better international airports in Northern Europe,” Massive Entertainment CEO David Polfeldt tells us of Kastrup. “This gives Malmö a direct line to all of the world. There are direct flights to Shanghai, to Seattle, another one to LA and so on. And it’s literally 20 minutes away from the office.”

That short journey is thanks to the hugely impressive tunnel and bridge combination that spans the Øresund, connecting Sweden to Europe with a dual-use train and car crossing. The strait is one of the busiest waterways in the world, providing access from the North Sea into the Baltic. Malmö’s position upon the strait, as a key port shaped its history, for better and worse, and gave birth to the thriving games industry hub we find here today.

Malmö and the surrounding region is universally applauded today as a fantastic place to live. As Sharkmob’s Martin Hultberg concisely notes: “Malmö is a small town by the ocean on the doorstep of a major capital city in close proximity to some of the most lush, beautiful countryside in the world. What’s not to like?”

However, the strength of its games industry comes out of a more troubled past, both for Malmö itself, as a once industrial powerhouse, and Europe more generally. Massive’s Polfeldt takes us through that recent history, describing Malmö as a “comeback city.”

“Malmö went through tough times, in the 70s, and in the 80s, when the old heavy industries just disappeared. There used to be

Above: Martin Hultberg, Sharkmob

Above: Sandra Smedegaard Mondahl, IO Interactive

Above: David Polfeldt, Massive Entertainment, and (top) images from the Massive offices in Malmö. Polfeldt’s new book, The Dream Architects, provides a further insight into Massive, Sweden’s games industry and much more. one of the biggest shipbuilding wharfs in Europe, the car factory and traditional old industries, and those all died out and left the city in a bit of a really bad shape.”

Unlike many, though, Malmö came roaring back to life. “One of the things the politicians did was begin building, getting rid of the old factories and building private homes. Those attracted a lot of young people with university degrees who are looking for somewhere to live.

“It’s an important part of the mentality and philosophy of Malmö,” explains Polfeldt. “There is a very good understanding of community, helping each other and being positive towards new things. That helped the IT industry as, in the absence of traditional industries, Malmö had to reinvent itself.”

And that positivity to the new, that reinvention “is built into the city now, from politicians, from landlords, from companies, from people who grew up here when the times were worse.”

HARBOUR OF HOPE

But that influx of young people is only half of the story that Polfeldt has to tell: “Malmö specifically, but Sweden in general too, has embraced several waves of international residents,” he explains. From those fleeing persecution during and after World War 2, “a huge wave when Yugoslavia fell apart,” and then many “Italians, Greeks, Portuguese, Spanish and South Americans” who came to find work during Malmö’s industrial boom days, and more recently another wave from the Middle East.

“All this is normally considered a burden or a fairly complicated integration problem. But it has made Malmö extremely international to a degree that is disproportionate for being a fairly small local town in the south of Sweden,” Polfeldt points out.

“It’s not particularly Swedish,” he says. “It is very international in its thinking, in its population. And what we’ve found as a gaming company is that it helps us because we’re aiming at the global market. So having a globally aware workforce is a competitive advantage.

“Integration has shaped a demographic that is unusually well suited for international competition. And the truth is that half of our staff today were not born in Sweden. And they find it extremely easy to come to Malmö and just become a part of the city.”

That competitive advantage, born out of multiculturalism, is something that others have identified, including Sandra Smedegaard Mondahl, HR manager at IO Interactive.

“We depend on diversity and different ideas to be brought to the table to make creative and inspiring games that keep challenging the status quo and be ahead of the curve,” says Mondahl. “Therefore Malmö’s diverse and multicultural aspects are great qualities when it comes to both getting inspiration for features as well as stimulating our minds in different ways both inside and outside of work.

“The multicultural aspect also makes it easier to get around not speaking English as well as making international friends when you relocate which makes integrating as an expat much easier.”

That includes Mondahl, who despite coming from just over the water, is an expat herself: “With me being Danish, the ever-old war between Denmark and Sweden has always been a bit of a standing joke. Especially now, after having lived in Sweden for over three years, and joining IO Interactive, a Danish company, the irony is hard to miss. But I’ve always wanted to work with international people – Skåne, the games industry and IO Interactive definitely offers me that.”

QUALITY ASSURED

Malmö is a welcoming town then for those coming from outside of Sweden – even from old rivals. And Scandinavia generally is considered around the world as having a great quality of life, but what’s it really like to live in Malmö and Skåne?

Tarsier Studios CEO Andreas Johnsson sums it up for us. “Malmö is an amazing city to live in, diverse, amazing food, great pubs… All the options I would have in a big metropolis, but within bike distance are the ocean, rapeseed fields, forests…”

IO’s Mondahl agrees: “Skåne and Sweden in general provides a healthy work-life balance, where I can run into nature, eat amazing food – there’s more restaurants per capita than anywhere else in Sweden! But at the same time, the small, convenient city offers the ability to get anywhere on a bike.”

And while Malmö is a big hit with everyone it seems, you don’t have to live in the city itself, says Johnsson: “The nice thing with Skåne is that it is quite easy to commute. So people do live outside of Malmö, living the countryside dream, while having the benefits of Malmö during work hours.

Johnsson’s colleague, senior narrative designer Dave Mervik is originally from the UK, and notes that commuting in does have its downside “I live out in the countryside, which of course has its perks, but you also have to put up with a more parochial mentality that isn’t quite as common in Malmö. I really miss that side of life in the city.”

It’s a city packed with things to do, Polfeldt tells us: “Everything is really close, you can use a bike or walk by foot to almost anywhere. But because it’s still Sweden’s third largest city, we do have the biggest football team, the biggest ice hockey team, the biggest female football team, the Opera House and the theatre.”

Paradox’s Lars Håhus adds his own favourites: “An amazing number of great restaurants, being able to go for a swim in the ocean on your lunch break, or enjoying the Malmö festival right outside our studio during the summer.”

TALKING IT UP

Most people looking to move to Skåne won’t have to tackle the language barrier, with developers telling us that English is the community’s lingua franca and widely spoken beyond it too.

“Swedes are generally great at English,” Swede Lars Håhus tells us, in perfect English of course. “No matter if you are getting falafel or setting up a bank account, communicating is usually effortless,” he continues, effortlessly.

“Yes, you can definitely get by with only English, I do not speak Swedish myself!” Eliana Oikawa, COO of industry group Game Habitat tells us. “English is the official language in all major studios and Swedes are generally very comfortable with English and it’s no different here.”

English-born Mervik feels that some effort can still be made: “Sure, you can get by and a lot of people do. But for me I think it’s important to treat that with respect and not just expect people to be happy or comfortable speaking in English.

“Our working language at Tarsier is English,” he continues, “because we have employees from all over the world and don’t want language to be a barrier. However, it’s heartening to see the number of our colleagues actively working to learn Swedish. I think it’s a great way to feel even more at home and connected to the place you’re living.”

He does add, though, that not all Swedish is the same. “The Skånsk dialect is an absolute nightmare to both understand and replicate, which is a shame because I absolutely love how it sounds!

“I’m from Liverpool and have heard enough bad impressions of the Scouse accent to last a lifetime, but that’s a piece of cake compared to Skånska. So far I’ve managed to say the words ‘four’, ‘school’ and ‘back’ in Skåne-ish without people laughing. It’s got even worse with where I’m living now, and I’m fast running out of vague, non-committal replies. They’re gonna find me out any day now!”

Sounding like a local isn’t essential of course, but a little local knowledge will still go a long way.

This feature was supported by Invest in Skåne, the official investment promotion agency for Skåne, works to promote this southernmost region of Sweden. Skåne is home to one of the most interesting and dynamic game development ecosystems in Europe – if not the world.

At Invest in Skåne, we are proud to be part of this ecosystem. We can help you visit, meet, explore and, most importantly, get settled in the region.

As a special promotion, during 2021, we will be sponsoring a guest office at Game Habitat to give international developers a chance to try the region out. So no matter if you are a one man indie or a multinational developer or publisher, we are here for you.

We are a non-profit governmental organisation and our services are free of charge. Do you want to know more about us, the region or how we can help you? Let us know by contacting Olof Tedin, Business Advisor, at olof.tedin@skane.com

Above: Christoffer Nilsson of LocalizeDirect, and (top) Helsingborg, where the company is based

If you’re thinking of relocating to the city then you have a number of options in terms of location. Massive and Tarsier for instance are in the middle of town, just south of Malmö Castle and the historic centre. With Massive recently converting an old factory into a massive new purpose-built studio. A great option for those with the means.

Malmö largely eschews high-rise buildings, but the shiniest and newest offices are to be found in Västra Hamnen (West Harbour), which sticks out into the sea to the north-west of the centre. Previously a wholly industrial area, and then a derelict slum, its rebirth is a huge local success story, with both IBM and the state broadcaster moving into the area recently.

While the next up and coming area is Frihamnen (Free Harbour) and Hamnen, to the north of Malmö’s train station. Here it’s looking to repeat the gentrification, and diversification, that Västra Hamnen has seen such success with.

ONE STEP BEYOND

But enough about Malmö, let’s look beyond the reborn port to the rest of the Skåne region. Starting up the coast at Helsingborg. Another coastal town just across the strait from Denmark, but far smaller than nearby Malmö at just over 100,000 people.

“Malmö has grown to become a great hub for game development, says Christoffer Nilsson, LocalizeDirect’s co-founder, “But here in Helsingborg, we have LocalizeDirect, Pixelbite, and Frictional Games.” The latter being the horror specialists behind Soma and the Amnesia series.

LocalizeDirect does localisation work for many major studios around the world, as well as more local ones, Nilsson tells us. “Pixelbite were among our first LocDirect users, and now they will be among the first to try our new headless CMS for games – Gridly.”

Tarsier’s Andreas Johnsson notes the potential of the wider region: “I do think there is a possibility for both Landskrona [another coastal town] and Helsingborg to grow in terms of game development hubs. Accessible cities, close enough to get some value from the things in Malmö.”

The distance is practically reduced further still, says Nilsson: “The whole region is well connected by public transport: it is easy and quick to travel around here. It takes 40 minutes to commute from Helsingborg to Malmö, and an hour and twenty from Helsingborg to Copenhagen, which means that we do not limit ourselves just to one city.”

It’s cheaper than you might expect too, he explains, “The cost of living is less compared to Stockholm – according to some estimates, there is a 15-20% difference. And there’s less competition for talent as well away from the big city.”

The region also generates talent at a prodigious rate, says Nilsson. “When it comes to the video game business in Skåne, there are a few striking characteristics to it. Like the rest of Sweden, Skåne has a great pool of talent but is still close to Europe.

“A lot of development talent comes from Lund University. Also The Games Assembly, a vocational school, works purely in preparing specialists for the games industry, many of which are getting employed by the companies in Skåne.”

A dedicated school, turning out game developers, that sounds like an industry dream come true. Although, it’s not the only educator in the region, as Sharkmob’s Hultberg points out: “We also work closely with both Malmö and Lund Universities. The proximity of these two institutions is a great advantage for our region.”

A PERFECT HABITAT

Many of the freshly-trained developers who come out the doors of The Game Assembly go straight to work behind the doors of another local industry institution: Game Habitat’s DevHub.

A good example is Frogsong Studios, as COO Olle Lundahl explains: ”All the founders of Frogsong Studios met when studying at The Game Assembly and formed the company after doing an internship together.” It started at a local tech incubator Minc, but soon moved into DevHub. “Frogsong actually moved in one day before DevHub officially opened up,” he tells us.

DevHub is described as “a community-focused coworking building” for game developers. One that now boasts upwards of 25 different companies – taking spaces from as small as a single hotdesk, right up to entire floors of the building, seating forty people. Alongside indie studios you get the likes of IO Interactive, whose Malmö outpost is based here.

Lundahl says the benefits are huge. “Being located at DevHub has helped us a lot, not only by providing a roof over our heads but also to provide a social space where you can pop into a discussion about topics like programming with entity component systems or go waist deep in shader talk when you’re fetching a cup of coffee.”

And that local community is more than just informal support, Lundahl says: “We have worked together with Tarsier Studios on more than one title and helped Apoapsis Studios as well.”

The Devhub is the physical manifestation of Game Habitat, a non-profit organisation that supports the local development community – with over 30 studios and businesses as active members. And with a whole building to call its own, it’s a more substantial outfit than many national trade organisations we could name. So how did it start?

“Game Habitat was formed in 2013 by the industry in southern Sweden as a means to build upon and accelerate the bubbling community in the region. It was very much a joint effort by the game studios here,” says COO Eliana Oikawa.

Game Habitat helps co-ordinate the community in the region: “It’s all about having close relations with the game studios in the area as they are our family, friends, our members and they are essential to our operations by contributing both financially and by providing time and support to our cause.”

IO Interactive works with Game Habitat, as Mondahl explains: “We’re proud to be working closely with both the other big triple-A studios and the indie community. We work on topics such as relocation of international employees, share ideas for how to make the industry better in terms of diversity and inclusion and other topics that are important for us as an industry and community.”

Tarsier’s Johnsson notes that Game Habitat forms an essential link between the community and local government (such as Invest in Skåne, see page 29):

“Game Habitat is definitely proof that the local government sees and understands what is happening. Just the last five years has resulted in an explosion of new developers, studios expanding into Malmö, and developers relocating to Malmö. For a relatively small city, this is a big & real thing that they need to nurture and support.” Above (from top): Eliana Oikawa and Peter Lubeck from Game Habitat.

Pictured: Game Habitat’s Devhub centre (and yes, of course it has a sauna)

SCHOOLING THE NEXT GEN

The Game Assembly (TGA) is widely cited as one of the most important facets of the success of Skåne’s games industry. We talk to Linda Nilsson, Education Manager Malmö, about the programme and its students.

How did The Game Assembly get started?

At the start of the century, the games industry really started growing in Sweden, and so did the demand for new employees, So, in close cooperation with Massive Entertainment, TGA formed with a vision to educate highly competent future game developers.

A curriculum was established with a unique concept, focused on interdisciplinary teamwork, and where the game programming students create and use their own game engines. TGA started in 2008 with two programmes, Game Programmer and Game Artist. Since then, the school has grown to offer five programmes in Malmö: Game Programmers, Animators, Artists, Technical Artists and Level Designers.

TGA students send in their work to The Rookies (a community for non-professional digital artists) every year and has been ranked a top 10 game development school in the world since 2017. In 2019 TGA expanded and started a second school, in Stockholm.

The Game Assembly is a school for Higher Vocational Education. This is a concept where programmes are created in accordance with the needs of the labour market and in close cooperation with employers in the industry. The programmes are in Swedish and government funded. The TGA has a board responsible for the quality and content of the programmes, consisting of employees from game companies in the region as well as student representatives.

Is it a struggle to keep up to date with a rapidly changing industry?

Since a main goal of ours is for our students to get employed in the industry, we find it essential to evolve together with it. We adapt and develop the programmes almost every year, making sure that we use the latest software and that our educators are up to date with what the industry needs. TGA has a highly competent workforce of full-time educators. They have years of experience from the industry and understand what it takes to create and release a game. Professionals

from the industry also visit and give lectures: Swedish, Danish, Finish and British companies visit throughout the year.

A mission of TGA is to educate developers, which is why we make sure the students learn to make games in cross-disciplinary teams. Half of their time consists of making games with students from the other programmes. Eight games are created during the two years in school prior to the internship phase, starting with the most basic to show their work and apply for internships. All more advanced 3D games. the programmes finish with a 4-7 month long

The Technical Artist programme is shorter and internship at a game company. they join in on the 6th-8th game projects. More The event has been a great success for both advanced games are made from scratch where parties and usually over 90% of the students the programmers create their own engines, secure an internship placement. After that, Game which gives them the skills they need in order Habitat, a game community organisation situated to conquer most of the already existing game in Malmö, hosts a Meetup where the companies engines in the business. and students get a chance to mingle and get to

Working in groups gives valuable insights into know each other even further. obstacles one can face while making games and TGA is an important part of the eco-system understanding the difficulties of other disciplines. of the industry, providing companies with future They also develop the communications skills game developers. We receive great feedback needed to be successful in the games industry. from companies saying that TGA students are

Giving and receiving feedback is a big considered junior developers by them, already component, and we focus on helping each other contributing at the beginning of their internships. in order to create both a caring and a creative work environment. Do you track the success of your alumni,

The programmes are high paced and we have both in getting jobs or setting up their own incredibly dedicated and passionate students studios? who work hard to stay on track to finally be We do a follow-up six months after graduation, employed at a game company. and last year close to 90 per cent were working in the industry by then. Our alumni network is of How many students do you see graduate great importance to our school and something every year? we truly appreciate. We stay connected through The last couple of years we have graduated closed social communication hubs where news around 80 students a year. Next year it will be and ideas are exchanged, or meetups are closer to 100, and more to come with our school arranged. Alumni also visit the school to hold in Stockholm. The vast majority of graduated lectures or lead workshops. Many like to stay in students get employed in the industry quickly. touch and talk fondly about their time at TGA! Several former students work abroad, for example in the UK, Japan and Canada. “The last couple of years we Do you work with local developers have graduated around 80

to place students?

Every year TGA hosts an event called students a year. Next year it ‘Meet and Greet’. Our students get a chance to meet professionals, will be closer to 100”

COME STRAIT ON OVER

Skåne studios vary in size from a single developer to one of the biggest in Europe. Whatever their size, everyone told us that Skåne was a great place to set up a studio or other games business. With Game Assembly, Game Habitat and Nordic Game Conference (see page 33), all contributing to make a great place to set up shop.

Game Habitat’s Oikawa summed up recent successes: “In the past few years we’ve seen major studios like Avalanche and IO Interactive choose Malmö as their next studio location. We’ve also seen experienced teams starting new studios, like Sharkmob. In record time they’ve been able to set up triple-A teams, which I believe speaks for itself.”

IO Interactive’s Mondahl spoke positively of the studio’s experience and the support on offer: “The Swedish government is highly supportive, when we needed to open the office in Malmö we quickly got help from Invest in Skåne who’s a great partner for someone who doesn’t necessarily know the ins and outs of the Swedish practices. They’ve been helpful when starting up, but also ongoingly.

“There’s a big effort in making Sweden the place to be for game development companies from the government’s side, and there’s plenty of support to get if you know where to ask – it’s not handed to you on a silver platter… A challenge can be that most information is only available in Swedish, so there’s a bit of translation costs associated with that.”

Oikawa continues on the benefits of the region: “Any major studio looking to move, or set up a new location in Sweden, would definitely benefit greatly from the availability of existing talent, and the community and quality of life makes it easier to attract and retain new talent. As for investing, we have one of the greatest and most varied selection of studios here you can imagine, making awardwinning and critically acclaimed games for all platforms and all genres.”

Access to talent is always an issue for new studios, after all great developers don’t just sit around twiddling their thumbs, waiting for someone to show up. That said, having a big pool in a relatively small city makes things far more fluid.

“There is a clear need of more talent, as all the studios are expanding,” Tarsier’s Johnsson tells us. “Some people move between the studios, but most of the recruits are people moving to the Malmö region. Malmö is an attractive city, and for the people that want to live in a house, there’s plenty of options with good commutes. I do think however, with COVID-19, that there might be a slowdown in people moving to Malmö and more people wanting to work remotely, which might slow down the physical growth of studio staff here.”

A possible issue, but one that affects everyone, and Skåne’s good public transport system makes living out in the countryside and coming into town occasionally an attractive option.

Paradox’s Lars Håhus agrees: “In general people are attracted to the humble size of the city combined with closeness to metropolitan Copenhagen and cozy Lund. The possibility to live in the countryside but still be able to come to the city for work with little commuting is also appreciated by many.”

UNIVERSAL ACCLAIM

We asked a lot of people a lot of questions about Skåne and Malmö. And almost without exception they were not only enthusiastic about the region and the city, but they also pointed out some great solutions to many of the typical problems that relocating and growing studios can face.

Game Habitat’s DevHub provides a fantastic place for smaller studios to startup with huge opportunities to network from day one. Game Assembly helps relieve some of the constant competition all developers have for talent, by introducing new talent, trained to industry needs, on an annual basis. While Nordic Game Conference puts Skåne on the map, seriously reducing the friction for anyone thinking about relocating here.

Beyond that, it’s a beautiful part of the world without being a boring one. Placed in a fantastic location as the gateway to Sweden, and within easy reach of both Copenhagen and the rest of the world. With the option of either the post-industrial boom town of Malmö itself, or somewhere more picturesque nearby. It really does look to have it all.

Our only regret in writing this piece in 2020 was that we couldn’t visit ourselves. But there’s always next year, and at the speed Skåne is growing in industry esteem, by then there’s certainly bound to be something new to talk about. Above: Lars Håhus, Paradox Interactive

Below (from top): Andreas Johnsson and David Mervik of Tarsier

“The possibility to live in the countryside but be able to come to the city for work with little commuting is appreciated by many.””

LEARNING FROM THE NORDICS

Skåne, and Malmö specifically, are already wellknown to many across Europe (and beyond) thanks to the annual Nordic Game Conference. The event has been running for around 16 years. It’s one of the biggest game industry conferences in Europe, attracting over 2,000 visitors every year, and widely regarded as one of the friendliest and most popular too.

Paradox’s Lars Håhus explains the upside for local studios: “It’s truly a time where Malmö can show it’s best side and having a studio in the region enables us to contribute to the program closer with the Nordic Game team each year.

“If we have something interesting to share, we love having ‘Paradoxians’ on stage to talk about our latest insights. Paradox being a publisher, we aren’t actively looking for investors but our bizdevs attend to find talent and business opportunities each year. Our presence in the region means that relationships established at the conference are easier to maintain throughout the year.”

Tarsier’s Andreas Johnsson agrees: “It’s a major happening every year for us and a lot of the staff participate. As well as all the great talks, the ability for companies to meet us in our neighbourhood & office brings us all a lot closer together. Having the Nordic Game Conference on our doorstep is really a luxury that we must never take for granted, and it’s amazing to see that it has grown so much over the years.”

And other organisations rally around during the event to expand it across the city, Eliana Oikawa of Game Habitat tells us: “During NGC we take visitors on a bus tour of a bunch of studios like King, Massive, Tarsier, Avalanche, our DevHub as well as to game educations like The Game Assembly, to show a glimpse of all the diversity of talent and success that one can find here.”

We also reach out to Jacob Riis, the organiser of Nordic game Conference to find out more

How did the conference get started, why Malmo?

The Nordic Game conference originated as a part of the Nordic Game Program, an initiative to create a Nordic games industry with game developers from all over the Nordic countries, funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers. Erik Robertson, current CEO of Nordic Game, was appointed to lead the program, and as part of this work he decided to use his hometown of Malmö as the place for an annual gettogether, with the aim of giving the Nordic developer community a place to meet, discuss, and network. The city was perfect for this – not being a capitol, but yet very close to a major airport (Copenhagen) it kind of ticked the right boxes as a “neutral” meeting ground for Nordics. When the NGP ended, we took the opportunity to continue running the conference. At that point, in 2012, the conference was already a well-known event in the global calendar, and it was quite logical to continue being in Malmö.

Why should developers locate their businesses here today?

Most of the reasons I’ve already described above, and maybe adding that today there is a great feeling of community among studios

in Malmö, with established studios willing to share knowledge and experience with startups, making it quite easy to quickly “feel at home”. Also, Malmö is a fairly small town, so you never feel alone or lost. Being from Copenhagen, we often describe Malmö as an “urban village” with friendly people and a vibe of closeness.

Aside from the pandemic, how has the conference changed and grown over the years?

We started with Nordic Game being a meeting place for the Nordic studios, and as such we had 150 people attending for the first edition in 2004-5. Since then we have worked hard and very focused to keeping the vibe of an annual and cozy gettogether while evolving the show into a global event for anyone working with games. As such I sometimes describe what we do as creating a window – for the Nordic devs to show themselves to the world, and for the global industry to get a unique access to the entire, Nordic industry. So, before the virus we were beyond the magic 2000 attendee mark and were looking to expand even further. Postvirus we did our first ever online Nordic Game in May and had 1300 people participating, and right now we’re working on NG20+ - our first take on a hybrid between online and physical elements.

Right: Jacob Riis, Nordic Game Conference