Why Sweden's games industry is still growing
Despite the many difficulties the games industry faces around the world, Swedish developers are feeling somewhat optimistic as the local development scene continues to experience rapid growth.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Dataspelsbranschen spokesperson Per Strömbäck says the general state of the Swedish games industry is "good", with the number of people working in the industry having grown from 2,500 to 8,500 people in the last decade.
He notes that while there are fewer vacancies at the moment due to the current global economic turmoil, there "aren't as many layoffs as in some other places, and the industry here is still growing."
Strömbäck says the current greatest strength in the Swedish games industry is the diversity in its titles, while the challenge will be to "ride out the economic downturn and retain investments."
"It is harder now for new studios to find funding and to rely on external investment," he explains. "But we have already seen a couple of really great releases such as Helldivers 2, and plenty of other titles still going strong. So we keep making great games, which is what we do best."
Strömbäck also expressed surprise at how quickly the Swedish games industry has "matured" within the last decade, and that it has struck the right balance between AAA, indie, and mobile studios in its ecosystem.
"The innovation and creative hunger is unmatched in such a small and concentrated location"
Two of its most successful developers include Hazelight Studios and Midjiwan, the creators of It Takes Two and The Battle of Polytopia respectively.
Hazelight Studios COO Oskar Wolontis agrees with Strömback's assessment of the Swedish games industry, adding that its rich history in gaming has solidified Sweden's place on the games industry radar – especially when it comes to talent.
"All this combined ensures Sweden has one of the best game development talent pools in the world," says Wolontis. "The experience, the innovation and creative hunger is unmatched in such a
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