This newsletter shares the good news of the Finnish game industry once a month. The content is intended to be an interesting news roundup both for separate newsletter subscribers and for media representatives interested in games.
Much of the Finnish games industry was on holiday in July, so there was an unusually small amount of news. We therefore decided that this would be a good time to run a survey about the future development of the newsletter. This issue also includes a few short news items and a look at the visibility of Finnish games at Gamescom. In addition, Nitro Games announced a development agreement worth approximately €2.1 million and the transfer of the mobile version of Autogun Heroes to Hyperkani.
1. Important reader survey
The Good Game News from Finland newsletter has been sharing positive news from the Finnish games industry for over a year. We would now love to hear your thoughts on how useful and enjoyable you find the newsletter. All feedback, ideas and suggestions are very welcome and greatly appreciated. Survey is open HERE until August 21 and maybe you will see some changes based on your feedback already in the September’s newsletter. The survey also includes questions from Game Makers of Finland.
2. New game releases and updates in July 2026
The tactical dice-driven game Dice of Kalma has now attracted more than half a million players worldwide. The game has received new additional content, showcased in a new trailer, and is available for PC via Steam and on mobile devices through their respective app stores.
Tuomas Erikoinen, who worked on the original Angry Birds, has released with Part Time Monkey and Coyote Time Publishing his own card game, Warena, on Steam. The game combines the fast pace of mobile games with the tactical depth of traditional real-time strategy titles.
Bonobo Software’s open-world role-playing game Taival has launched in Early Access on Steam. Players can journey through its world alongside a spirit companion either alone or in groups of up to four, with an engaging story and numerous quests to discover.
Haruki Satomi, President and CEO of Sega Sammy Holding, recently visited Rovio to discuss gaming culture and his own history in the industry. The interview is available here.
European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen from Finland will attend Gamescom for the first time in August. Virkkunen will speak about the EU’s games strategy at the political opening ceremony before joining senior German politicians on a tour of the event.
Rynkky Digital has unveiled Finnish Middleschool Simulator, an open-world game about surviving the ninth grade in a small Finnish town. Players can study, cause trouble, tune mopeds, go to the sauna and build a local reputation when the game launches on Steam in January 2028.
Channel37 has released a new video looking back at the journey of its post-apocalyptic survival game The Last Caretaker so far. The retrospective celebrates the players who have taken on the game’s mission to save humanity and accompanied the studio throughout its development journey.
Critical Force has launched the Scattershot update for Critical Ops on Android and iOS. Update begins a major clan-system overhaul and introduces the Black Market event, death-information pop-ups, friendly fire and extensive changes to Defuse mode and grenades.
Cornfox & Bros has released the Between the Realms update for Oceanhorn 3: Legend of the Shadow Sea. The update adds the first part of the Hand of the Savior quest, two large dungeons, the Cybernetic Parasite enemy and the final component of the mysterious machine, alongside numerous improvements and fixes.
Titan Roc has released its debut game, Forsaken Realms: Vahrin’s Call, on Steam. The story-driven fantasy action RPG sends players into the war-torn region of Vahrin, featuring real-time combat, exploration and a classless character progression system.
The multiplayer shooter DIRTNAP, developed by Unstable Entity, Part Time Monkey and Nitroyale, will launch in Steam Early Access on August 28. Inspired by games such as Worms, the action title features real-time battles for 2–10 players in fully destructible environments.
3. Finnish games at Gamescom
Neogames is again organizing Nordic All Stars booth in Gamescom Business Area on August 26.-28. The shared booth brings together Finnish game studios and game industry organizations from Finland, Sweden, Norway and Estonia. It provides a meeting point for publishers, investors and other potential international partners interested in the Nordic and Baltic game industries. At least the following Finnish organizations will be present: Murska Digital, Simucube, Dreamloop Games, Susa Games, Grimtek, Neon Cocoa, GameCity Kajaani, Kajaanin AMK, Normogames, Bonus Stage Publishing, Kokoon Games, Fennica Gaming, VRKiwi, BusinessTampere ja XAMK.
3. Nitro Games signed over 2 million Euro development deal
Nitro Games has secured a new development-services agreement worth approximately €2.1 million with an unnamed European game developer and publisher. The Finnish studio will continue working on an unannounced mobile shooter based on the partner’s IP, bringing the combined value of orders from the customer to approximately €4.1 million, with the latest phase expected to be completed in early 2027. Nitro has also transferred the development and publishing of the mobile version of Autogun Heroes to Tampere-based Hyperkani under a revenue-sharing agreement. Nitro retains ownership of the IP, while the game’s web and Discord versions remain unaffected, allowing the company to focus more resources on its other mobile projects.