Photo: Gamestop.com
THE NORDIC
GAME SUCCESS With games such as Minecraft, Battlefield, Candy Crush Saga, Angry Birds and Clash of Clans, Nordic games developers have conquered the world. One in ten people worldwide has played a Swedish game. With export sales of over 900 million euros, games have become Sweden’s biggest cultural export. This is largely due to the success of games such as Minecraft, Battlefield and Candy Crush Saga from the companies Mojang, Dice and King. According to the trade association Swedish Games Industry, the games industry is continuing to grow in Sweden. Clear evidence of this is the US games company Activision Blizzard’s purchase of King for a phenomenal 5 billion euros in February 2016. Finland also stands out internationally, with successful games such as Angry Birds and Clash of Clans. When earnings for games giant Rovio began to fall last year, some feared that the Finnish games bubble was about to burst. However, the trade association Neogames sees no such signs. Ilkka Hietala, the new Service Manager at HiQ Finland, comes from a successful career with one of Finland’s biggest games companies. He believes the future is bright for the Finnish games industry. “Major investments are being made in games, and interest in working in the games industry is growing,” he says. How come we are so good at designing games in the Nordic region? “Both Sweden and Finland were quick to start offering courses in game programming and development. Our education systems are generally good and we have a culture of working hard. We’ve also been blessed with many very gifted, skilled individuals who are passionate about games and games development. And, of course, it’s not the first time we’ve been successful in developing mobile solutions,” says Ilkka Hietala.
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NINTENDO GAME BOY
A Nintendo Game Boy console cost 90 US dollars when it was launched in 1989. The first 300,000 units sold out in two weeks in Japan. All in all, nearly 119 million of the consoles have been sold worldwide. Game Boy was also the first console to be used in space. The Russian astronaut Aleksandr Serebrov took his Game Boy with him and played Tetris whenever he got bored.
LJUSA UPP/KONTRAST
FUN FACTS
SALES
50 billion In 2015 global games sales totalled almost 50 billion euros.
It cost 500 million US dollars to produce the video game Destiny. This makes it the world’s most expensive ever game production. DESTINY
BEST-SELLING GAME CONSOLES OF ALL TIME
1. PlayStation 2 (Sony) was launched in 2000 and sold 155 million units 2. Nintendo DS (Nintendo) was launched in 2004 and sold 154 million units
The first arcade games were created back in 1930 but became more common in the late 1970s. The most popular games included Space Invaders, Pac-Man and Defender. ARCADE GAMES ZELDA
Photo: Wallpaperscraft.com
3. Game Boy (Nintendo) was launched in 1989 and sold 119 million units
ANGRY BIRDS
With a price-tag of some 4,000 euros (42,250 Swedish kronor) the Zelda Gold Pack game sold on Facebook in August 2015 holds the record as the most expensive game ever to change hands in Sweden.
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Almost as many women as men play games.
BEST-SELLING GAMES OF ALL TIME
1. Tetris Mobile (2006): 425 million units 2. Wii Sports (2006): 83 million units 3. Minecraft (2011): 73 million units
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Photo: Store.xbox.com
Angry Birds Space was downloaded 50 million times in just 35 days following its launch in 2012.
GENDER