The Finnish Game Awards 2026 celebrated a diverse lineup of winners, including a world-saving robot adventure, a distinctly Finnish winter driving experience, an adrenaline-fueled techno shooter, city-building creativity, and an exceptional group of Finnish game developers.
The gala evening began with the W Love Games Excellence Award 2025 for the best indie game of the year. It was presented to dice-driven role-playing game Paradigm Island by End-all Entertainment.
The evening continued with IGDA Finland recognizing Joni Paasikivi as the IGDA Volunteer of the Year. The IGDA Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Emma Von Munthe Af Morgenstierne Vantaa.
The gala also honored the winner of the Bit1 Student Game Competition 2026, with Dappal Interactive taking home the award for its unique tennis game My Tennis Apocalypse.
Finnish Game Jam presented the Jampion of the Year award to Noora Archer for her role as the lead organizer of the exceptional Spaceship Game Jam game development event.
The entirely new award category for Best IP Expansion of the Year was won by Colossal Order’s city-building game Cities: Skylines II. The highly anticipated update was described as a game-changing addition because it enabled players to create and share their own content for the game. Fans have already created more than 1,500 custom assets, and the number continues to grow.
The Rookie of the Year award went to Kokoon Games. The experienced team boldly founded a new studio in the highly competitive mobile games market.
The Power Player of the Year lifetime achievement recognition in the games industry was awarded to Valtteri “Wanda” Lahti. They is a key figure in the games industry in Jyväskylä and serves as Chair of Expa Game Business Cooperative.
The Finnish game industry organization Neogames Finland presented its own Business Excellence Award for the first time. Clash Royale by Supercell was recognized for demonstrating that even a long-running hit title can be successfully revitalized and taken to new heights despite the challenging market conditions of 2025.
The Best Creative Achievement of the Year award went to Sektori, a fast-paced techno shooter by Kimmo Factor that represents Finnish gaming heritage at its best. The game was created by Kimmo Lahtinen, with music composed by his brother Tommi Lahtinen.
The evening’s top honor, the Best Finnish Game of 2025 award, was a closely contested race between three titles. Third place went to Sektori, the techno-shooter by Kimmo Factor. Second place was awarded to My Winter Car, the winter driving game from Amistech Games.
The top prize and the title of Best Finnish Game of 2025 went to Channel37’s robot adventure The Last Caretaker. Set in a world overtaken by the sea, the game is currently available in Steam Early Access and has already achieved both critical acclaim and commercial success.
“Sometimes a game can be many things at once. Channel37 has succeeded in creating a game that is simultaneously wistful, atmospheric, and visually stunning, while also being engineered with remarkable precision. It’s rare to be able to justifiably fit both wistfulness and engineering into the same sentence. That alone is an achievement in itself,” commented says Joni Lappalainen, Chair of the Board of the Finnish Game Developers’ Studios Association. “Game award galas have been organized in Finland since 1998, although the organizers, award categories, and formats have varied over the years. The Finnish Game Developers’ Association has organized the gala together with Neogames Finland since 2014. The mission of the gala has always remained the same: to bring together the Finnish game industry, celebrate its achievements, and highlight the latest developments for invited guests. This year, the main awards went to outstanding indie productions. Next year, the situation may already be different, as the Finnish game industry is constantly evolving and developing.”
The winners for Finnish Game of the Year 2025 have been selected through a member vote by the Finnish Game Developers’ Studios Association. Nearly 100 commercial Finnish games released in 2025 were included in the voting. All winners and links to the winning games can be found in the list at the end of this press release.
A video recording of The Finnish Game Awards gala can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/live/oBdFR-ePgYc.
The Finnish Game Awards 2026 was sponsored at the gold level by Housemarque and Small Giant Games, and at the silver level by Dreamloop Games, Expa Game Business Cooperative, Fingersoft, Hanki Games, Kuuasema, Metacore Games, Next Games, Supercell, and Ubisoft RedLynx.
More info
https://neogames.fi
Photos: The Finnish Game Awards 2026
List of winners:
W Love Games Excellence Award 2025: Paradigm Island (End-all Entertainment)
IGDA Volunteer of the Year 2025: Joni Paasikivi
IGDA Lifetime Achievement 2026: Emma Von Munthe Af Morgenstierne Vantaa
Bit1 Game Competition 2026: My Tennis Apocalypse (Dappal Interactive)
Jampion of the Year 2025: Noora Archer
Best IP Expansion 2025: Cities: Skylines II (Colossal Order)
Rookie of the Year 2025: Kokoon Games
Power Player of the Year 2025: Valtteri ”Wanda” Lahti
Business Excellence Award 2025: Clash Royale (Supercell)
Best Creative Achievement of the Year 2025: Sektori (Kimmo Factor)
Finnish Game of the Year 2025: The Last Caretaker (Channel37)
Links to winning games:
Paradigm Island: https://paradigmisland.blog/
My Tennis Apocalypse: https://www.dappal.com/my-tennis-apocalypse/index.html
Cities: Skylines II: https://www.paradoxinteractive.com/games/cities-skylines-ii/
Clash Royale: https://supercell.com/en/games/clashroyale/
Sektori: https://www.gimblll.com/sektori/
My Winter Car: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4164420/My_Winter_Car/
The Last Caretaker: https://thelastcaretaker.com/
Neogames Finland / KooPee Hiltunen / +358 40 5324176 / koopee@neogames.fi
Finnish Game Developers’ Association (Suomen Pelinkehittäjät ry)
The Finnish Game Developers’ Studios Association is a network representing game development companies in Finland. The association fosters collaboration between companies and advocates for the interests of the game development industry. It organizes events, shares industry information, and ensures that the concerns of game developers are considered in relevant decision-making processes. Notable initiatives of Suomen Pelinkehittäjät ry include the Pelimetsä project, breakfast events, and the annual Finnish Game Awards Gala.
Neogames Finland Association
Neogames is a member-based, non-profit game industry association. Its task is to coordinate, accelerate and support the growth and development of the Finnish game industry, as well as to connect stakeholders across the sector and promote shared interests. More information at www.neogames.fi.