This newsletter shares the good news of the Finnish game industry once a month. The content is intended to be a comprehensive news overview for both individual newsletter subscribers and international journalists interested in games.
In August, Finnish gaming industry saw a wealth of new releases, test phases, and trailers. They showcased a diverse offering ranging from horror to role-playing games and from sports to survival adventures. The Game Industry of Finland 2024 Report highlighted Finland’s position as a leading force in the European gaming sector and emphasized growth ambitions after challenging years. Finnish game studios also had reasons to celebrate and collaborate. Remedy is marking its 30th anniversary, Nitro Games signed new agreements, and the Spaceship Game Jam produced over 50 new space games. In addition, Metaplay made its top-level backend solutions accessible to smaller developers.
1. New game launches and updates in August 2025
- Studio Laaya has released its horror game Abrasion on Steam. The first-person horror experience takes place in an ancient megastructure full of secrets and dangers that encourage careful exploration of the environment.
- The RPG adventure For Evelyn II – Shards of Creation, developed by TaleHammer, has entered early access on Steam. Set in a fantasy world, the game places the player in the midst of war, dark magic, and challenging moral choices.
- New Paradigm Island created by End-all Entertainment offers a dice-driven RPG from an isometric perspective. Rely on your physical prowess, logical thinking, or intuition by rolling dice in true tabletop style.
- Ten Thousand Hearts released that their horror thriller Full Motion Voyeur will be released next year. The game explores the effects of surveillance culture from a unique perspective and ties it together with horror themes and a revenge story.
- Glitch Hammer released a new trailer of their upcoming robot fighting game Get Colossal. Tiny people and big robots clash in a multiplayer game that needs play testers in its early development stage.
- Supercell changed global pricing of the hit game Clash of Clans. Prices vary from country to country in the name of fairness, according to each country’s price level.
- Channel 37 revealed a new trailer for their upcoming survival-crafting adventure The Last Caretaker. Sail across a vast ocean world, recovering lost technology and ensuring humanity’s future before it’s too late.
- Bonus Stage Publishing started the test phase registrations of the sports game Disc Golf Masters. It gives players the opportunity to experience a virtual counterpart of disc golf on PC.
- Bonus Stage Publishing also started the test phase registration of the driving action game Drivers of the Apocalypse. It provides not only chaotic car battles but also fascinating features, such as vehicle hijacking, epic boss fights, and a dynamic apocalyptic world.
- Bugbear has released third content update for Wreckfest 2. This update brings brand-new cars, fresh tracks, smarter AI, and plenty of gameplay improvements.
2. The Game Industry of Finland Report 2024 is out now
Just released The Game Industry of Finland Report 2024 highlights resilience, renewal, and the long-term role of the Finnish game industry as one of Europe’s leading ecosystems. The data and information presented is based on a total of 71 company interviews carried out from January to April 2025. The Finnish game industry employed 4,300 people in 270 game studios at the end of 2024. Finnish game studios are optimistic about the future and are seeking growth after couple of challenging years.
3. Remedy celebrates its 30 years as an independent game studio
Founded in Espoo in August 1995, Remedy is now one of Finland’s most well-known game studios. The company is celebrating its milestone anniversary with fascinating announcements. Valentina Paz was given a task of creating a unique image that includes all of Remedy’s original characters together in a single picture. The theme is a fictional concert event by the band Old Gods of Asgard, where these characters spend time together. In addition, together with iam8bit, Remedy has released a selection of Control, Alan Wake, and Max Payne merchandise. There will also be plenty of other anniversary-related activities, such as Remedy’s own game streams, where the studio’s games are played from start to finish and the developers chat with the audience.
4. Nitro Games has signed development agreements with VOID Interactive and Starbreeze
With these new cooperation agreements Nitro Games is expanding its expertise beyond the development of action games. The development agreements are an excellent example of how the studio can bring its passion and know-how outside of its own games to selected client projects. The projects are already underway and are scheduled to be completed within this year.
5. Over 50 space games were made at the Spaceship Game Jam in a single weekend
Finnish Game Jam (FGJ) and the European Space Agency (ESA) organized the first Spaceship Game Jam game development event in eight Finnish cities during the last weekend of August. More than 300 attendees made over 50 space games in less than three days. These games are now playable at Ithcio and many inspiring event videos can be watched at Twitch.
6. Metaplay brings high-end backend solutions within reach of smaller mobile games
With the release of Metaplay Starter, game studios and projects of all sizes can benefit from the company’s backend solutions. Traditionally, high-end solutions have been either too expensive or too restrictive for small game developers. Metaplay aims to transform the industry by making its expertise and technology available to Unity developers of all sizes. Thanks to Metaplay’s know-how and technical readiness, the service scales seamlessly with games of any size. Metaplay has become one of the most significant players in the field thanks to its backend technology. It is known for collaborations on games such as Merge Mansion (Metacore) and Drive Ahead! (Dodreams).