We returned to Helsinki City Hall and held our best event yet with two viewing spaces at City Hall and online broadcast that reached hundreds including watch parties in different countries.
Leadership Day by IGDA Finland
There were no dedicated games leadership conferences in Europe... so we decided to make one! Leadership Day by IGDA Finland is an international event about how we build companies, teams and working cultures to build better games. We held the inaugural conference in 2019 and with the support of the community, it has evolved into an annual forum for leadership in games.
Get Your Tickets to Leadership Day 2025 by IGDA Finland
As always, the event will be hybrid, with two types of tickets available: Live Stream Tickets for those who can’t join us in person, and Attendee Tickets for those who can.
#cultureofsharing
Games companies, their inner workings and cultures are some of the least documented aspects of game development. Yet we and our work are all defined by these choices every single day. Join us in learning and challenging the cutting edge of leadership in games from some of the brightest minds in the industry!
Less, but better
This one day event is designed around a thought provoking speaker track and ample room for networking with industry peers. We will of course organize an IGDA Mentorship Cafe to help you grow your professional network.
Like all things IGDA Finland, the conference is non-profit and made possible by our volunteers and partners.
Leadership Day 2025
Save the Date! Leadership will take place on Monday, October 6, 2025
We’re kicking off Finnish Games Week with a day of inspiring talks and networking.
Speakers
Ilari Kuittinen
Studio Head, Housemarque
Lloyd Craske
Producer, Metacore
Diana Kalenova
Production Director, Next Games / Netflix Games Studio
Licia Prehn
Next Games, a Netflix game studio / We in Games Finland
Essi Jukkala
Supercell / We in Games Finland
Laura Smith
UPWARD Insights
Jari-Pekka Kaleva
Managing Director, European Game Developers Federation (EGDF)
Jessica Blechingberg
Investee Partnership Lead, Supercell Investments
Jiri Kupiainen
Founder and Chair of the Sustainable Games Alliance
Conference Venue
City Hall / Helsingin Kaupungintalo
Pohjoisesplanadi 11-13, 00170 Helsinki
Note: you can reach the venue very easily with public transport. No special arrangements or taxis needed!
Networking Mixer
At 16:00 the event will move just around the corner from City Hall for a mixer by IGDA Finland and The Gaming Playbook.
Sofia Helsinki
Sofiankatu 4 C, 00170 Helsinki
(If you are using Google Maps be sure to enter the above address. Entering Sofia will send you to the wrong place!)
Please note that there are separate tickets for the Leadership Day event and the Mixer. If you plan to attend both you need two tickets.
During the lunch break we’ll be hosting a Mentor Cafe on the first floor of City Hall. Here games industry leaders will share their knowledge and expertise in short, 15 minute mentoring sessions This is a great opportunity to either be a mentor or a mentee or both! We can’t promise that everyone will be matched as it depends on the pool of mentors, but we do our best.
Can’t make it to Helsinki? Host a Watch Party!
Leadership Day is best experienced live, so we invite game developer communities to host an event to watch our live stream. Our Q&A system allows remote viewers to post and vote on questions in real-time. Sign up to host a Watch Party and we’ll send you additional information.
We’re thrilled to announce the following Watch Parties:
Narobi, Kenya hosted by GameUp Africa
Code of Conduct
IGDA Finland is committed to keeping our community safe for everyone and has
a zero-tolerance policy on harassment in any and all of its forms - please read our Code of Conduct.
Previous Events
Partners
This event wouldn’t be possible without help from our partners and sponsors.
Sponsors
If you are interested in sponsoring please see our sponsorship package.
Organizing Committee
We’ve been making this event happen since 2019. We aim to make it better each year and there is more that needs doing. Drop us a line via firstname.lastname@igda.fi to join the fun!
Volunteers
