IGDA Finland Presented Volunteer of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Awards at Finnish Game Awards

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On May 13th, we celebrated the Finnish Game Awards alongside Neogames and Suomen Pelinkehittäjät ry, with awards presented in two categories this year.

The first category was the IGDA Volunteer of the Year. This award was given to our amazing volunteer, Daria Bokovaya, who has actively contributed to the reawakening and refinement of the Chat Corner concept, and continues that humble and impactful work even today.

The second category was the Lifetime Award, which recognizes long-term dedication and contributions to our community. This year, the award was presented to Christopher Hamilton, who has been with us for many years and continues to make incredible events like Leadership Day and Finnish Games Week possible.

Thank you both for your invaluable contributions, IGDA Finland is truly lucky to have you among us!

Also a big congrats to the rest of all the winners:
Mainframe Industries for winning the Finnish Game of the Year 2024 award with the game Pax Dei.
Makea Games for taking the second place with the game Supermoves.
Fingersoft / LEGO Hill Climb Adventures, Ranela Games Oy / Finnish Cottage Simulator and Supercell / Squad Busters for placing third.
Ilkka Paananen for receiving the Power Player of the Year 2024 award.
Hanki Games Oy for being the Rookie of the Year 2024.
Ranela Games Oy / Finnish Cottage Simulator for winning the Excellence Award for best indie game awarded by W Love Games
Ali İrdiren for becoming the Jampion of the Year, awarded by Finnish Game Jam
Team Scavenger for winning the Bit1 Student Game Competition 2025, with their game Spaceship Scavenger.

The full game awards ceremony can be watched from Youtube.

Unreal Fellowship Now Open to International Talent

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Intensive Unreal Fellowship programs have been organized since 2023 in Novi Sad, Serbia byEpic Games / 3Lateral. This year they have opened it to international students!

🎓 The Unreal Fellowship: Product Storytelling is a 4-week, full-time, in-person deep dive into Unreal Engine and Motion Capture systems. The program is completely free and structured like a full-time job: Monday to Friday, 9–5. Students will need to cover transportation and housing costs.

💥 With just 14 spots per group, this is a rare opportunity for aspiring creators to work with cutting-edge tools in a world-class environment.

🔗 Follow this link to learn more and apply for the June cohort. Deadline: June 1, 2025

Games Job Fair Spring 2025: Bridging Talent and Opportunity in Finland's Gaming Industry

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Games Job Fair Spring 2025: Bridging Talent and Opportunity in Finland's Gaming Industry.

The Spring Games Job Fair is set to return on April 24, 2025, offering multiple opportunities for game developers and creative professionals to connect with  Finland's growing games studios.

 Organized by Games Factory Talents, this year's event will be held on April 24, 2025, at Helsinki's historic City Hall, providing a platform for career advancement within the gaming industry.​

Event Overview

The onsite event will start at 9:00 AM, featuring a series of insightful talks aimed at career development and providing updates on industry trends. 

Attendees will have the opportunity to engage directly with representatives from Finland's leading studios, such as Rovio, Metactore, Nitro Games, Remedy, Social First and many others. 

Job seekers can participate in face-to-face CV and portfolio reviews. 

This in-person format fosters meaningful connections and offers a comprehensive experience tailored to both junior job seekers and industry professionals.​

Key Highlights

  • Expert Speakers: Gain valuable insights from top industry professionals sharing their knowledge and experiences.​

  • Networking Opportunities: Engage with hiring companies actively seeking new talent and expand your professional network.​ 

  • Job Opportunities: Explore a variety of open positions across participating studios, offering diverse career paths. 

  • CV/Portfolio Reviews: Receive personalized feedback from studio recruiters to enhance your application materials.​

CV and Portfolio Reviews

On April 24th, from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM, attendees can participate in CV and portfolio review sessions conducted by industry experts. These sessions operate on a first-come, first-served basis, so we encourage you to secure a spot at the registration. Please ensure you have your CV or Portfolio at hand. 

Registration Details

Pre-registration is mandatory for those wishing to attend the event. Doors will open at 9:00 AM, with talks starting at 9:30 AM. Participants interested in CV or portfolio reviews should book their review slots at the registration desk upon arrival and have their CV or Portfolio available. 

For more information and to register, please visit the event page: ​GamesJobFair.com



IGDA Finland End of the Year Highlight

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This year we hosted over 250+  meetups from all over Finland!

These events involved regular meetups, tabletop game nights, game jams, game dev lunches, picnics, hub visits, collaborations between hubs and other organizations, and much more!

Grant

The first-ever IGDA Finland Grant was announced, and it went to the talented team at End-all Entertainment and their game Paradigm Island!

Finnish Game Awards 2024

At the Finnish Game Awards 2024, this year’s IGDA Volunteer of the Year 2023 went to  Nova Salmivaara.

#LastOnline

This year we were honored to take part in the Blood Donation Campaign #LastOnline, which have been shared at our hubs, and highlighted on our posts!

The Campaign will run until the end of the year so there is still time to save lives:

More things that happened this year:

  • We got a new hub: Ostrobothnia, a vibrant community led by Benjamin Vehling in the regions of Jakobstad and Kokkola. 

  • Leadership Day by IGDA Finland was part of Finnish Games Week together with PGC Helsinki and W <3 Games.

  • Kajaani Hub celebrated its first Kajaani Game Awards.

  • Lahti Hub celebrated its 5th anniversary

  • Peliosuuskunta Expa / Jyväskylä Hub, became the northmost Unreal Authorized Training Center.

  • Continue to support the art event Theme Park Finland.

  • This year you could find popular chat corner at events like PGC and W Love Games.

Find out when our next year’s events are by checking out the calendar or by following our hubs directly from our Linktree: https://linktr.ee/igdafinland 

We have also worked on improving things inside IGDA Finland, such as spicing up hubs leads meetings with useful workshops, improving our anti-harassment work, general communication, collaboration and onboarding. We will continue working on these next year as well.

Thank you to the current board members. Kristo Juurinen, Vesna Grau, Jami Andersson, Niko Pyrhönen and of course our beloved chairperson JJ Häll.

We will continue the work with IGDA Finland together with a new board that is filled with folk of high talent!

With the lead of our new chairperson Kim Kupiainen, we will also have Karoliina Kuutti, Jonne Taivassalo, Emma Varjo, Joeli Niva, Vesa Raudasoja, Aleksi Kariniemi and Emma Von Munthe Af Morgenstierne Vantaa.

As our advisors we will have, Christopher Hamilton, Natasha Skult, Teemu Haila, Jay Ranki, JJ Häll, Niko Pyrhönen and Jami Andersson. They will ensure that whatever we do, provides the highest value to the community.

This year has been challenging for many in our community, with significant hardships affecting individuals and companies across the game industry. We acknowledge the struggles that many of you have faced and emphasize that IGDA Finland remains committed to being a support network for you. Our hubs, events, and special interest programs will continue to be available to help connect, uplift, and inspire our community as we navigate these uncertain times together.

If you or your company want to support our work, please explore our JOIN US page or consider volunteering with one of our amazing HUBS

IGDA Future Invites You to Contribute to "Should Games Be Fun" Survey

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Fellow gamedevs - IGDA Future team invites you to help researchers from University of Turku and University of Jyväskylä in their study of finding what defines “fun” in games!

Survey is completely anonymous and welcomes both gamers and game developers to give their input on what is fun in games, it takes 10-25min to fill and we thank you in advance!

https://form.jotform.com/243111190156344