Game Developer Index 2021 - DATASPELSBRANSCHEN Swedish Games Industry
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Game Developer Index 2021 DATASPELSBRANSCHEN Swedish Games Industry
Third edition March 2022 Published by The Swedish Games Industry Research: Alexander Milton, Gabriella Tångfelt, Lukas Isaksson Layout: Ingrediensen AB on behalf of Blinka Blå Illustration, cover: Patrik Antonescu Text & Analysis: Johanna Nylander Translation: Tracy Rylance The Swedish Games Industry is a collaboration between trade organizations ANGI and Spelplan-ASGD. ANGI rep- resents publishers and distributors and Spelplan-ASGD represents developers and producers. Dataspelsbranschen Swedish Games Industry Magnus Ladulåsgatan 3, SE-116 35 Stockholm dataspelsbranschen.se swedishgamesindustry.com Contact: johanna.nylander@dataspelsbranschen.se
Key Figures
Key Figures 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
Number of
667 (+14%) 586 (+14%) 513 (+16%) 442 (+14%) 389 (+22%)
companies
Revenue, million
3.312 (+43%) 2.318 (+24%) 1.872 (+33%) 1.403 (+6%) 1.325 (+6%)
EUR
Revenue per
employee 238 (-9%) 255 (+10%) 236 (-10%) 263 (-15%) 309 (-8%)
thousand euro
Result, million
720 (+46%) 493 (+47%) 335 (-25%) 446 (-49%) 872 (+65%)
EUR
Number of
employees 6.596 (+11%) 5.925 (+11%) 5.317 (+14%) 4.670 (+25%) 3.750
in Sweden
Men 5.186 (78,6%) 4.699 (79%) 4.286 (80%) 3.821 (82%) 3.107 (83%)
Women 1.410 (21,4% 1.226 (21%) 1.036 (20%) 849 (18%) 643 (17%)
Number of
employees in
7.177 (+121%) 3.253 (+25%) 2.604 (+290%) 668 (+23%) 541
Swedish compa-
nies abroad
Key figures from the last five years. Increase from previous year in brackets. We have used the annual average
exchange rate defined by the Riksbank, Sweden’s central bank. In 2020 1 EUR was 10,4867 SEK
Index Foreword
Key Figures 3
Foreword: Creativity is the new steel 4
Summary 6
Revenues & Results 8
Highlights 10
Creativity
Employees 12
Number of Companies 14
Other types of business 14
Number of Employees 15
& Revenues by Company type
Women & Gender Distribution 16
The Industry Voice: My Nilsson 17
Several initiatives in the industry 19
Financial journalist Pontus Schultz passed
Some key figures 19
away prematurely in 2012. A famous quote
Largest companies 20 from him reads “creativity is the new steel”.
Revenue in EUR million 21 It is gratifying to be able to present a
Number of Employees in Sweden 21 new record year. Some media have called
Business Groups and the Stock exchange 22 computer games “the new basic industry” and
Listed companies 22 this may be a good fit for an industry that had
a turnover of EUR 3.3 billion in 2020. That is
The Industry Voice: Martin Lindell 24
about the same as exports of wood products
Game Developer Map – Sweden 26
or iron ore, significantly more than the export
Swedish game companies 31
of trucks, to name a few well-known basic
around the globe industries.
Game Developer Map – Global 32 But games, of course, are different from
Investments & acquisitions 34 the basic industries in many ways. The raw
Investments & acquisitions 2020 35 material is creativity. The content is volatile,
Six billion downloads 36 digital, hit-driven. It exists on screens (or in
speakers!), is rarely touchable. Customers are
Entrepreneurship and 38
players all over the world, games are rarely
national collaborations
sold in different markets – the perspective
The Industry Voice: Patty Toledo 39
is global. Passion is the impulse of entrepre-
Covid-19 41 neurship. The growth of games has taken
Games industry in Europe 42 place without a proportionate increase in the
Public investments in the EU 44 consumption of the planet’s finite resources.
Threats and challenges 46 These and other factors make the world of
Recruitment 46 computer games different, for better or for
worse, but mostly for better. A strange basic
Work environment 46
industry.
Financing 46
Growth in 2020 was 43% compared to the
Digital Market 47
previous year. This is due to several factors.
Sustainability 47 The pandemic is one factor, when large parts
Methodology 48 of the world’s population have been more
Glossary 50 or less involuntarily trapped, games have
4 K AP IT ELNAMN
is the new steel
been able to offer an important breathing establishments abroad. Among the employ-
space: joy, fellowship, entertainment. This ees are many with foreign backgrounds, in
has been seen in sales (but has posed other “The raw some workplaces there are over fifty different
difficulties, such as delayed development material is mother tongues. Unfortunately, the problem
projects). Another factor is the growth of the creativity. of the so-called expulsion of competence
world market, driven by the addition of more The content remains, although there is hope in the form
players: new audiences and new markets. of investigative proposals and promises from
is volatile,
This, of course, benefits Swedish companies the government. Sweden has the future in its
that reach global audiences.
digital, hit- own hands: there is demand, there are ideas,
Part of the growth comes from acqui- driven.” there is capital – but we need more people
sitions; in this year’s report, for the first who have the skills to create games.
time, the number of employees in Swedish You could say that Pontus Schultz has prov-
companies abroad is higher than at home in en to be correct.
Sweden. The acquisitions are largely possi- Finally, during the fall, questions about
ble thanks to the fact that listed companies unwanted behavior including sexual ha-
use their shares to invest abroad as well. rassment have received a lot of attention. It
For example, Sweden is the largest investor doesn’t matter on what scale it occurs, each
in the German games industry. The stock case is one case too many. It hurts the person
exchange itself is also a successful export, who is affected, it damages the company and
several foreign games companies have it damages the whole industry. We have come
chosen to list their shares in Stockholm a long way with the work on gender equali-
instead of in their home country (alternatively ty, but there is still much to be done on this
double listing). This is thanks to the expertise point. As a trade association, we are working
in games that has emerged around Nasdaq with members to find and implement mea-
Stockholm. sures to address the problem. It is a job that
Most of this points to a continued positive may never be completed, but we must never
development for Swedish games companies, be careless with it.
but the bottleneck is the supply of skills.
Games education in Sweden is of a high Stockholm October 2021
standard but is not enough to meet the needs
of companies. Reaching a larger labor market Per Strömbäck
is an important driver for acquisitions and Spokesperson Swedish Games Industry
G A ME DEV EL O PER I N DEX 2021 5
Summary
The Game Developer Index charts, presents and analyzes
the operations of Swedish game companies as well as
international industry trends in the past year, by compiling
the companies’ annual accounts.
Swedish game development is an export industry • 81 companies started in 2020, bringing the number
in a highly globalized market. In just a few decades, of active companies to 667 in December 2020, an
the video game business has grown from a hobby increase of 14% compared to 2019.
for enthusiasts to a global industry with cultural and
economic significance. The Game Developer Index • In 2020, 43 investments and acquisitions were report-
2021 summarizes the Swedish companies’ last reported ed, four of which had a business value above the bil-
business year (2020). The report in brief: lion mark. Swedish companies were the purchaser in
40 of the deals, and in 11 of the transactions the seller.
• Swedish games industry’s revenue grew to EUR 3.3
billion in 2020, which is an increase of 43% compared • The 10 most profitable companies paid a total of over
to global sales that increased by 20%. EUR 140 million in corporate tax on profit.
• Every fifth employee in game development in Swe- • The 10 largest employees have paid social security
den is a woman, 1.410 in total. This corresponds to a contributions of over 130 million EUR in total.
share of just over 21%.
• 19 Swedish companies are listed on the Stock Ex-
• A majority of companies are profitable and the sector change in Sweden. Together, their revenue was EUR
in total is profitable for the twelfth year in a row. 2 billion in 2020, and with a total market capitaliza-
The total profit for the industry was EUR 720 million tion of EUR 10 billion in December 2020.
in 2020.
Game development is a growth industry. Fourteen of
• Swedish game companies are growing and employ- the companies that exist today have existed since the
ing a total of 6,596 people on site in Sweden and 1990s, but just over half of all companies have been
7,177 people abroad. The difficulty in recruiting Swed- registered in the last five years. Games developed in
ish staff remains and many companies are expanding Sweden are released on a global market with strong
through acquisition of foreign development studios. growth and the supply of skills is also largely in a global
In Sweden, the number of employees increased by labor market. Some factors for continued growth are:
671, an increase of 11%. more investments in regional clusters with incubators,
accelerators and trainings, more serial entrepreneurs
6 S U MMAR Y
Iron Gate – Valheim
3,3
starting new businesses and the implications and
effects of the last couple of years’ frequent and large
investments and acquisitions.
Swedish games industry’s revenue Swedish game developers are characterized by their
grew to EUR 3.3 billion in 2020. range and quality. Sweden has world leading devel-
720
opers within AAA, console, PC, mobile, VR/AR, digital
distribution and specialized subcontractors. The biggest
challenges of the sector are indirect such as access to
skills and funding, particularly in the early stages, as
The total profit for the industry was well as laws and regulations around digital markets that
EUR 720 million in 2020. are out of step with developments. The biggest future
issue is regarding diversity, both among game design-
ers and players. Although major advances have been
made in the last few years, a lot of work remains to be
done. Long-term, video games have every opportuni-
ty to increase diversity and inclusivity; games offer a
possibility to leave the everyday behind and step into
worlds where the only limit is the imagination.
The number of “second generation companies” is
growing, e.g. where experienced game developers
have gone on to create their own projects, or where the
management has created a second company,
Also growing, is the number of investments and
acquisitions with Swedish companies as purchasers. In
total Swedish companies were lead investor in 40 of 43
games-related business deals in 2020. Of these, eight
were investments and acquisitions on the Swedish
market. Successful companies increasingly re-invest in
the industry, often in the Swedish market.
G A ME DEV EL O PER I N DEX 2021 7
Revenues & Results
Swedish game companies have continued to expand during
2020 and increased revenues by 43% to 3.3 billion EUR.
This is an increase of more than a billion euro.
3 312
Revenue M EUR 2 318
1 872
1 325 1 403
1 248
1 028
427 757
130 256
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
In the global arena, the companies have successfully creates value in the parent company as there is gener-
gained market shares, attracted talent and expertise ally a low proportion of purchases of goods or services
and, not least, created gaming experiences for hun- from outside.
dreds of millions of players worldwide. According to The pandemic has affected the industry. Revenues
analysis company ICD data, the global industry grew by have initially been good for many companies with
20% in 2020, and according to Superdata, the increase games on the market, as well as those that could be re-
was 12%. The European trade association ISFE has leased during the year. The players have become more
measured the increase in five European countries to active and at times games have been one of the few
22%. The same study estimated the total revenue for social spaces available. At the same time, several com-
the Games industry in Europe to 23.3 billion euro. panies have seen their share price affected by market
With 81 new companies, the Swedish industry is expectations, and there have been major changes both
showing stable growth and over the past decade has for existing employees and to recruit to a situation that
increased turnover from EUR 130 million to an incredi- in many cases has meant working entirely remotely. A
ble EUR 3.3 billion over a ten-year period. longer analysis of the impact of the pandemic can be
The industry as a whole continues to be profitable, found later in the report.
now for the 12th consecutive year. Throughout the year, there have been many invest-
For Swedish parent companies with subsidiaries ments as well as write-downs and depreciation on de-
abroad, the entire revenue is included in the total, as velopment projects. Both of these events have affected
not all companies separately account for the revenue the reported results in this report.
nationally in their public reports. This can, on the one Unchanged from previous year, seven companies
hand, make it more difficult to compare the games have a turnover of over EUR 100 million. The ten largest
industry with other industries, while knowing that a companies account for 82% of total revenue and
large part of the value is retained in the group and thus the ten most profitable companies have collectively
8 RE V ENU ES & R E S ULTS
Paradox – Hearts of Iron IV – Battle For The Bosporus
paid more than EUR 140 million in tax on earnings. In
addition, payments of social security contributions on
“With 81 new companies, the salaries have increased as the number of employees
in Sweden increases, and the ten largest employees
Swedish industry is showing stable have together paid over EUR 130 million in total social
growth and over the past decade security contributions. 35 companies have a turnover of
has increased turnover from EUR over SEK 100 million.
Embracer Group has had revenues of over EUR 850
130 million to an incredible EUR million this year, which means that the Karlstad based
3.3 billion over a ten-year period. company consolidates its position as the country’s larg-
est game development group, and alone accounts for
The industry as a whole continues just over a third of the entire industry’s increase during
to be profitable, now for the 12th the year.
consecutive year.” The games industry is an export industry and, like
all Swedish exports, has benefited from the favorable
SEK exchange rate versus the rest of the world. This is
particularly noticeable in the buoyant revenue figures.
Despite the weak Krona, several companies have
made large investments, which of course influences
the result. A more detailed review of investments
in the Swedish industry can be found in the chapter
Investments.
G A ME DEV EL O PER I N DEX 2021 9
Highlights
The number of Swedish-developed games that are released varies from
year to year, but these days the industry is broad enough for individual
titles not to have a significant impact on the overall outcome. Here are
some examples of major events in 2020 and early 2021:
• Embracer Group continued to grow by acquiring
several companies around the world and now con-
sists of nearly 80 studios with over 240 brands. In ear-
ly 2021 Embracer acquired American company Gear-
box Entertainment, creator of famous games such
as Borderlands and Brothers in Arms. The Swedish
operating group Coffee Stain is the publisher of the
independent Skövde based studio Iron Gate, which
in January 2021 released the game Valheim, which
in the first month made a huge success and sold 5 Expansive Worlds – theHunter Call of the Wild
million copies.
• King continues to be stable going forward. Candy
Crush had over 273 million players and the brand had
sales of over 10 billion in 2020. The Swedish company
reported 4.7 billion in sales and during the year was
the most profitable company in the industry with a
profit of over EUR 250 million.
• Mojang continues to have stable sales and continues
to be the world’s best-selling game with over 238 Fast Travel Games – Wraith: The Oblivion Afterlife
million copies sold. In May 2020, Minecraft Dungeons
was released. Meanwhile, Minecraft: Education Edi-
tion is used in school education in over 150 countries.
• Stillfront has a continued good growth and ac-
quired several game studios in 2020, such as German
Sandbox Interactive and US based mobile game
developer Storm8.
• G5 Entertainment maintains a stable position in
the mobile games segment with good growth in
both sales and number of employees. The company
reports record results, and for the fourth year in a
row their turnover is over EUR 100 million. With a
10 H IG H LIG H T Swide game catalog including games such as Hidden • Avalanche Studios Group had several major suc-
City, Mahjong Solitaire and Jewels of Rome, the cesses during the year. Expansive Worlds theHunter:
company had 7.4 million active players (MAU) at the Call of the Wild passed one billion in sales and has an
end of 2020. average of one million monthly active users. Systemic
Reactions Generation Zero and Second Extinction
• For Paradox, 2020 was the best in the company’s both have over one million players. In the summer of
history in terms of both turnover and profit. Crusad- 2021, Avalanche Studios Group announced upcoming
er Kings III was the company’s biggest and perhaps game Contraband, which will be developed with
most important game release of the year, and the Xbox Game Studios as the publisher.
game was praised by both players and critics. Para-
dox has expanded its business with the acquisitions • In 2020, Ubisoft Entertainment became the coun-
of French Playrion Game and Finnish Iceflake Stu- try’s largest employer in the industry with 741 em-
dios, while also gaining great success with releases of ployees, including 641 at Ubisoft Massive in Malmö
several expansions to existing games. and 100 people at Ubisoft Stockholm. During the
year, it became public that the company will make
• Several vampire games are in the making around a Star Wars game in collaboration with LucasArts.
the country. Paradox acquired the rights to World of Alongside this project, the studio is working on the
Darkness several years ago and is currently working upcoming game Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora in
on upcoming Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines partnership with Lightstorm Entertainment and
2. Malmö studio Sharkmob released Vampire The FoxNext Games, as well as Tom Clancy’s The Division
Masquerade – Bloodhunt in 2021; a battle royal game series.
based on the World of Darkness.
• Another collaboration with LucasArt takes place in
• Unrelated to this universe, Skövde-based Stunlock Uppsala where MachineGames has been commis-
Studios has announced the survival vampire game sioned to develop the next upcoming Indiana Jones
V Rising, and Linköping-based Graewolv has the adventure.
vampire game Project Veil in development.
• During the year, several Swedish game companies
• Raw Fury has continued to have good growth have been awarded prizes at various galas. For exam-
during the year, invested heavily in more indie game ple, Lost in Random from Thunderful Zoink won the
projects, and in the summer of 2021 opened two art Best Indie Award at Gamescom 2021.
galleries, one in Stockholm and one in Croatian Za-
greb. In August 2021, the investment company Altor The above list is not exhaustive; there are many other
acquired a majority in Raw Fury and bought out the examples of Swedish game development success in the
former partner Nordisk Games. past year.
G A ME DEV EL O PER I N DEX 2021 11Employees
The number of employees in the games industry
in Sweden increased by 9% in 2020 to 6,596 people.
This corresponds to 671 new full-time positions.
In the same year 4,000 full-time positions were added often run as a consultants, as they have only a marginal
abroad in Swedish-owned companies, mainly due to ac- influence on the total number of employees. Also not
quisitions. The largest employers in Sweden are Ubisoft included are foreign marketing subsidiaries based in
and EA Dice, both of which employ over 700 people. 15 Sweden.
companies in Sweden have over 100 employees. In addition to the reported numbers, there are
In addition to employees in Sweden, Swedish-owned people in different company structures, people in
companies have over 7,000 employees around the companies that have not yet published their accounts,
world outside Sweden, and a total of 7,177 people are freelancers and subcontractors that are not shown as
employed by a Swedish-owned game development employees in the annual accounts. Taking these hidden
company. More details about this can be found in the numbers into account, the total is estimated to be
chapter on Swedish Games companies around the higher. As an example, there are 255 sole traders regis-
world. tered under computer games in the Swedish business
The numbers presented above are based on the register.
reported average number of full-time employees over There is high demand for employees in all work
the entire accounting period. This means that the categories, which hampers the full development of
actual figure in the industry is often higher since many the companies, not least when it comes to recruiting
companies have expanded and with more employees within the Swedish borders. This is evident when the
at the end of the year than at the beginning of the year. companies expand, and Embracer, Stillfront, EG7 and
When possible, the number of employees in December G5 are examples of companies that employ more
2020 has been used as a reference to better reflect the people abroad than in Sweden. An overview of all Swed-
progress during the year. When it comes to employees ish-owned game studios can be found on the World
abroad, the Swedish company must have reported that Map later in the report.
there is a subsidiary in each country.
Not included are smaller subsidiaries, such as individ-
ual marketing offices or other forms of business offices, 6 596
5 925
5 320
4 670
Employees in Sweden
3 709 3 750
3 117
2 534
1 967
1 512
1 203
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
12 E MP LO YE E SReally Interactive – Virtuoso
LARGEST EMPLOYEE
BASES IN EUROPE (2019)
Sweden:
5,925
86,953
employees in 2019
Poland:
Germany: 7,800
compared to
10,487
77,916 in 2018
France:
15,000
Romania:
6,000
Spain:
9,500
Source: EGDF & ISFE Game Survey 2021
G A ME DEV EL O PER I N DEX 2021 13Number of Companies
In 2020, 81 new games companies were registered,
an increase of 14%, up to a total of 667 companies.
A major change in this year’s report is the total number to 115 companies thanks to the new NACE analysis.
of companies. This year, with the help of Statistics Looking back at old registers, we can see that around
Sweden’s business register, we have carried out a major 80 of these companies from 2010 are included in this
review of the companies in our database and manually year’s report. This points to a relatively small turnover
reviewed all companies with NACE code* 58.210 – Pub- of companies in the industry, and very few companies
lishing of computer games. Thanks to this, we identified go bankrupt or change operations.
almost 200 companies with a clear connection to the
industry who were not previously included in the Game
Other types of business
Developer Index. We also found 170 companies listed
under NACE 58.210 whose main business was in other In 2020, there were 231 Sole traders, 35 Trading part-
industries. These companies were not included in the nerships and 4 Economic associations registered under
Game Developer Index database. NACE 58.210 - computer game publishing.
Since far from all added companies were founded Among the sole traders, 87 reported revenue in 2020.
in 2020, we have revised and updated the comparative 12 traders reported a revenue of more than SEK 500K
figures for the number of companies accordingly based and only three individual firms had a revenue of more
on the companies that exist today. This means that we than SEK 1 million. 16 traders were women, 7 of these
in this report show higher figures historically compared reported revenues, none over SEK 500K.
to previous reports, but that the real figure is probably 12 of the Trading partnerships reported revenue.
higher since we can only revise for companies that Several of the businesses registered under NACE
still exist and not those who have shut down or gone 58.210 and operating in 2020 were not working with
bankrupt. For 2019, the revised increase was 151 com- game development. In addition to these, we are aware
panies from 435 to 586. It should also be noted that, of about 40 traders who create games, but have their
for administrative reasons, the economic activity of a business registered under other NACE codes. Some of
game studio may be divided into several companies. these can be found on the Game Developer Map.
More details about the selection can be found in the
* NACE, Nomenclature of Economic Activities is the European statisti-
Methodology chapter.
cal classification of economic activites. In Sweden these are called SNI,
In this year’s report, 103 companies are over ten Svensk näringslivsindelning.
years old, compared to previous Game Developer
Index, reporting that there was a total of 106 companies
in the industry in 2010. This data point is now revised 667
586
513
Number of Companies in Sweden 442
389
321
268
217
187
147
115
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
14 NU MBER OF COMPANIES2% 4%
48 % 12 %
Amount of Companies by size
Solo companies: 314
Without employees
Micro companies: 226Women & Gender Distribution
In 2020, both the number and the percentage of female employees
in the game industry increased. In total 21.4%, or 1,410 employees at
Swedish video game companies are female, an increase of 184 women
compared to last year. Among the new recruits, 27% were women.
During the year, 1,712 women were employed by a industry and to retain them, but also to make more
subsidiary to a Swedish game company abroad. This women start companies. Women in the game industry
corresponds to 24% of all staff at Swedish-owned game are mainly found in medium-sized and large companies.
studios around the world. The majority of these are The most equal distribution can be found in companies
working for Embracer Group, Stillfront, G5 Entertain- working on mobile platforms and VR. One company
ment and Paradox. that stands out in this year’s report is Avalanche Studios
What impedes analysis of this subject is the difficul- Group, which during the year increased both the pro-
ty in obtaining data on gender distribution in many portion and number of women employed in the compa-
companies. The listed companies have an obligation to ny and went from 18% women in the Swedish Division
report this in their annual accounts, but the majority in 2019 to just over 22% at the end of 2020. Also, six solo
of small, medium-sized and even large companies are companies are run as limited liability companies where
not making this information available, neither in annual a woman has taken a salary during the year.
reports nor web pages. For this year’s report, we have To the extent that data has been available, gen-
supplemented with data on gender distribution from der distribution has been reported based on gender
Statistics Sweden, but it has not been available for all identity according to how the respective company has
companies. There is also a lack of data on non-bina- reported this information.
ryness. In order for the industry to grasp the existing 16 out of 259 sole traders registered under NACE
challenges and actively work towards equality in, for code 58.210 (Computer game publishing) were women.
example, recruitment processes, it would be helpful if 44%, 7 of the female sole traders, reported turnover in
more companies made this information public. 2020. That compares with 33% of all male sole traders
The challenges lie in attracting more women to the in the industry.
1 410
Women Working in the Industry in Sweden
1 226
1 036
849
643
580
516
405
293
212
121
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
16 W OME N & G E ND ER DISTRIBUTIONTHE INDUSTRY VOICE MY NILSSON
Studio Manager, Frogsong
My Nilsson, now Studio Manager from forming a minority not only in companies as a
at Frogsong, investigated the rep- whole but also by forming a minority in their profes-
resentation of women in different sional category. Although the proportion of women
professions in the Swedish gam- is increased at the company as a whole, it does not
ing industry in 2020. Among other necessarily make a difference to those women who are
things, she found that a lower still a minority in their professional category, in tech
proportion of women than men where 8.4% were women, negative effects could persist
reached leadership positions, even if the proportion of women in all other categories
even when taking into account increased.
that fewer women work in the
industry. Most women were found in roles outside What other lessons can we learn?
the classic production chain of programmers, graphic – Hope is not lost! Every year since 2014, the game
artists and designers. developer index has measured a constantly increasing
proportion of women in the industry. Although it may
Hello My Nilsson! Were you surprised by anything in be some time before women’s minority status in indus-
the results of your study? try is significantly reduced, there are several possible
– It was expected that women were underrepresent- measures to reduce the negative effects women may
ed in the classic production chain and in leadership experience. According to research, there are a variety of
positions, but I was surprised that they were also so ways of working, such as breaking restrictive profes-
noticeably underrepresented in professions outside the sional identities and thus giving women a better fit in
production chain. the game industry’s seemingly male coded professions
to work with objective evaluation methods. If compa-
Is there anything in your results that you think nies can put aside prestige and work with real gender
more companies can embrace? equality internally as motivation with clear concrete
– What I most want companies to understand is the goals, I am hopeful for all people’s future experiences in
negative effects that female employees can experience the game industry regardless of gender.
Two key take outs from My Nilsson’s study
Gender distribution in different professions Distribution of leadership titles
Women Men
Management
Design
Tech
Art
37,5 %
Sound
Support 31 %
0% 50 % 100 %
“Support” includes all non-production roles such as marketing, Women outside leadership Men outside leadership
finance, and HR. Women in leadership roles Men in leadership roles
G A ME DEV EL O PER I N DEX 2021 17Sharkmob – Bloodhunt
Several initiatives in the industry
• In 2020, Paradox offered a game development course
aimed at women and people who identify as women
or non-binary under the name Games by Her. The
goal is to help improve diversity in the game industry
and, in particular, within programming.
• Leveling The Playing Field is a funding initiative from
Coffee Stain, focusing on smaller studios that employ
at least the same number of women as men, to pro-
mote equality in game development.
• In 2020, The Internet Foundation created Tidsvåg
– a virtual celebration of games and women’s
achievements in the industry.
• Wings was founded in 2018 and invests in indie
games by teams in which women and people of mar-
ginalized genders hold key company positions.
• GEM, Game Empowernment Movement, started
operations in southern Sweden in 2021 as a local initi-
ative to support gender equality and inclusion culture
in the games industry.
• DONNA is an interest group based at Skövde Univer-
sity that has worked for the past ten years on gender
issues in game development, work that has been
hailed as learning examples of how to work with
gender mainstreaming at colleges and universities. In
2021, the mini-conference DONNA DAY was arranged
for the fifth time in connection with the Sweden
Game Conference.
Some key figures
• 22 companies consist of at least 50% female employ-
ees, compared to 31 last year. The largest of these is
Star Stable with 73 women employed
• 70 companies have a higher proportion of women
than average, with at least 22% female employees;
in total they have revenues of EUR 1.4 billion
• 108 companies with more than one employee consist
of only men, the largest of these companies has 23
employees
G A ME DEV EL O PER I N DEX 2021 19Largest companies
More companies are expanding. Seven companies have revenues
exceeding EUR 100 million and 15 companies had over 100
employees. Around half of the companies report profit, 49
companies have profits of over EUR 1 million and 86 companies
have more than ten employees.
Something We Made – TOEM
20 LARG ES T COMP AN IESRevenue in EUR million
Company Revenue MEUR 2020
1 Embracer Group 861
2 King 447
3 Mojang 428
4 Stillfront Group 381
5 Paradox 171
6 G5 Entertainment 129
7 EA DICE 121
8 Ubisoft Sweden 68
9 Avalanche Studios Group 59
10 Toca Boca 55
In addition to the list above, Thunderful Group should be mentioned, which in 2020
had sales of M EUR 294, but where most of the revenue came from the distribution.
Number of Employees in Sweden
Company Employees in Sweden 2020
1 Ubisoft Sverige 741
2 EA Dice 714
3 King 693
4 Paradox 431
5 Avalanche Studios Group 376*
6 Embracer Group 286*
7 Goodbye Kansas Group 196
8 Sharkmob 156*
9 Star Stable Entertainment 143
10 Embark Studios AB 138
*Number of employees on 31 December 2020. Sharkmob employed an average of
124 people during the year, and in September 2021 had 240 employees in Malmö.
Embracer’s key figures are from March 31, 2021.
G A ME DEV EL O PER I N DEX 2021 21Business Groups
and the Stock Exchange
A change that has taken place in the Swedish games industry in recent
years that more and more business groups with a Swedish parent
company and subsidiaries abroad have gained market share and
retained their parent companies with a registered office in Sweden.
This is reflected in market capitalisation, studios Image & Form and Zoink, they later
where Karlstad-based Embracer Group in merged with Nintendo distributor Bergsala
spring 2021 became the highest valued game and went public in December 2020. A signifi-
company in Europe. This report’s Game De- cant 95% share of Thunderful Group’s reve-
veloper Map illustrates where Swedish game nue is attributed to Thunderful Distribution,
companies are acquiring studios around the which includes the operations of Bergsala,
world. Nordic Game Supply and Amo Toys, while
The business groups in this report have the other part of the business, Thunderful
changed over the years. Goodbye Kansas has Games, that develops and publishes games,
existed in various forms and different corpo- is a smaller but growing share. In the case of
rate structures, and since 2019 the company Thunderful Group, we have broken out and
has been listed as Goodbye Kansas Group on included the part of the business related to
First North Stockholm. The company is also game development, i.e. 156 million in sales
active in film production and VFX , but the as- and 136 employees in Thunderful Games. In
sessment for this year’s report has been that total, the Group had sales of almost 300 M
the games part is a significant business for EUR in 2020.
the company, and their annual report states
that 2/3 of the revenue at the end of 2020,
Listed companies
including the VFX production, was in game
related projects. 19 Swedish game companies are listed on
Other business groups, such as Embrac- the stock market, 14 of which were listed in
er and Stillfront, have a large part of their the last 5 years. 5 of the companies had a
operations outside of Sweden. Together, the turnover in excess of 1 billion SEK in 2020. The
two companies own a significant part of the stock market table also includes Thunderful
German games industry. THQ Nordic, Koch Group, a game development company, but
Media and Goodgame are three examples of where a large part of the turnover is from the
Swedish owned game companies in Germany. division that distributes Nintendo’s games in
In this report revenue is reported on group the Nordic region.
basis as the parent companies are listed in Together, the listed companies had reve-
Sweden and have their registered office here. nues of EUR 2 billion in 2020, almost double
The proportion of employees is published by the total from last year.
studio and country. The total market capitalization for the listed
A new business group is Thunderful Group. Swedish game companies in December 2020
Formed by the merger of Gothenburg game was EUR 10,7 billion.
22 BU S INES S G R OU PS AND THE STOCK EX CHANGEKavalri Games – Equestrian the Game
Company Year of (first) listning Listed on Revenue 2020 MEUR
Starbreeze AB 2000 Nasdaq Stockholm 11
G5 Entertainment AB 2006 Nasdaq Stockholm 129
Star Vault AB 2007 Nordic SME -
Safe Lane Gaming AB 2010 Nordic SME 0,6
Stillfront Group AB 2015 First North Stockholm 381
Embracer Group AB 2016 First North Stockholm 861
Paradox Interactive AB 2016 First North Stockholm 171
Jumpgate AB 2016 Nordic SME 1,4
Gold Town Games AB 2016 Nordic SME 1
Enad Global 7 AB 2017 First North Stockholm 54
MAG Interactive AB 2017 First North Stockholm 21
Goodbye Kansas Group AB 2017 First North Stockholm 15
Qiiwi Games AB 2017 Nasdaq First North Growth Market 10
Beyond frames 2018 Spotlight Stock Market 1,2
Entertainment AB
Zordix AB 2018 Nordic SME 0,9
Adventure Box 2019 First North Stockholm 0
Technology AB
Thunderful Group AB 2020 First North Stockholm 291
Sozap AB 2021 Nasdaq First North Growth Market 1
Wicket Gaming AB 2021 Spotlight Stock Market 0
G A ME DEV EL O PER I N DEX 2021 23THE INDUSTRY VOICE
MARTIN LINDELL
Game historian and Senior Advisor at Embracer Group
What was Sweden’s first commercial game success?
– Christer Medin developed the game Stone Sling
for Philips Videopac, which was released back in 1981.
Shortly thereafter, Peter Inser started the company In-
tron, which, in addition to other software development,
employed six people to make games for Philips, among
others.
But what did it really look like, were there any
women who developed games in the 80s?
– Kajsa Söderström was the first female published
Agent 999 by Kajsa Söderström, from Allt om
game developer in Sweden. Her game Agent 999 hemdatorer issue 9, 1984
was listed in the magazine Allt om hemdatorer in
1984. Before that, Elsa Karin Boestad-Nilsson and her Cover to Stone Sling, developed to Philips
colleagues, among others Ulla Jismark, made war sim- Videopac by Christer Medin
ulators and turn-based strategy games for the defense
Article from Svenska Dagbladet, December
department in the 1950s and 1960s, but they were not 14th 1984, Headline: “Video Games during
entertainment games. working hours with the managers approval”
How did society really view the game pioneers of
the time, did they get any recognition?
– The daily press had the most amusing headlines
such as “video games during working hours with the
manager’s approval” when SvD wrote about Intron in
1984. Newspapers such as Allt om hemdatorer and
Joystick noted when games were developed by Swedes,
but it left no lasting impressions. It was probably only
with Digital Illusions (DICE ) and their diary in Datormag-
azin in the early 1990s that game developers gained a
little more stardom.
24 T H E IND U S T RY V OICEG A ME DEV EL O PER I N DEX 2021 25
Game Developer Map – Sweden
The table below shows the largest regions ranked by number
of employees and number of companies. Although the
majority of the employees are based in the capital, there
are a higher number of companies outside the capital.
1
Some Stockholm companies, for example King, Avalanche
Studios Group, Paradox Interactive and DICE , have offic-
es in more than one part of the country. Malmoe-based
Massive also has offices in Stockholm and Karlstad-based
Embracer Group owns several studios around the
country. Worth noting is that only employees of limited 2
companies are included, and that it is the number of full-
time employees stated in the annual reports. The actual
number of people working in games development in the
respective regions is therefore significantly higher.
Note that the numbers below include game studios
that started in 2021. 3
4
Region Number of Studios Number of employees
CAPITAL 310 4 244
WEST 105 613
SOUTH 98 1 237
NORTH 77 297 5
Rest of the country 95 229
Total 685 6 620
6
CAPITAL includes Stockholm, Uppsala and Söderman-
land. WEST includes Västra Götaland and Halland,
SOUTH includes Skåne and Blekinge, and NORTH 7
includes Norrbotten, Västerbotten and Västernorrland. 8
9
As far as possible, employees at local offices are report-
12
ed under respective location. 10
11
The purpose of the map is to illustrate as much as
possible where in the country there is game develop-
ment and which companies are behind it. Therefore we 13
14
have used studio names rather than company names
when such information has been available. For the same
15
reason, to the greatest extent, there are not administra- 19
tive divisions of studios on the map. Italicized names are
16 17
companies in forms other than limited liability com- 18
panies and added manually. Is your company missing
from the map? Please contact us with description. 20
21
26 G AME D EV ELOP ER MAP – SWEDENEloso Digital AB SPACELOOM STUDIOS AB Neon Giant AB
Flat Tail Studios AB Neozoo Creative Nexile AB
Frigol IT & Media AB Night Node AB
Goat Mountain Development AB PikkoTekk AB
Gold Town Games Red Cabin Games AB
JÄMTLAND 4
Grand Pike AB RLG AB
Lazer Wolf Studios AB Semiwork Studios AB
Åre
Limit Break Studio VisualDreams
Hindelid Development AB
Mindforce Game Lab AB Wicket Gaming AB
Natural User Interface Technolo- YemSoft AB
gies AB Teotl Studios
Nirah Studios GÄVLEBORG 5
Nordsken Handlingskraft AB
North Kingdom Gävle
VÄSTMANLAND 8
Strangewood Studios AB Early Morning Studio AB
Tales To Be Told Sweden AB
Köping
Tarvalley, Aktiebolag
LS Entertainment AB
Technique Program i Skellefteå DALARNA 6
Triolith Games AB
Vavel Games AB Borlänge
Vorto Gaming VÄRMLAND 9
Quiz Anytime AB
White Warlock AB Zoikum Games Aktiebolag
Yalts AB Karlstad
Arctic Beard Studio HB Agera Games AB
Falun
Limit Break Clear River Games AB
Aktiebolaget Adit Studios
Tap Your Feet Coastalbyte AB
Deadghost Interactive AB
Embracer Group AB
Giron Software AB
Umeå Forgebyte Studio AB
Kolesterol Cät Interactive AB
Bruno Janvier Software AB Gerado AB
MEGAFRONT AB
Cassius Creative AB Insanto Studios AB
North Concept ArtStudio AB
COLDWOOD INTERACTIVE AB Mirage Game Studios AB
NORRBOTTEN 1 Tension Onsite Sport AB
David Marquardt Studios AB Nuttery Entertainment AB
TENSION technology AB
Frostspektrum Interactive AB Plucky Bytes AB
The New Branch AB
Boden Level Eight AB QL Holding AB
5 Fortress AB Morningdew Media AB Hedemora
921 Studios AB Musikmedel Future Vision AB Kil
Clifftop Games AB
Cafiend AB nostop horses AB Philisophic Games Sweden
Killmonday Games AB
House of How Games Sweden AB ORYX SIMULATIONS
Nethash AB Skyturns AB Leksand
TNTX in Boden AB Slice Start Software Solutions AB HJO Creations Leksand REGION ÖREBRO 10
Wanderword i Sverige AB Source Empire AB
Frozen Waffle The Fine Arc Nordic AB Säter Degerfors
Turborilla AB Twoorb Studios AB ORBMIT Productions AB
Haparanda TWO 58 PRODUCTIONS AB
Tiny Lady Zordix Nora
OddGames Umeå Toasty Leaf AB
Luleå REGION UPPSALA 7
Bazooka Game Studios AB Örebro
Blamorama Games Enköping
VÄSTERNORRLAND 3 Yoger Games AB
Elder Grounds AB
October8 AB LOYD Studios AB
RDY Arena AB Shemshem Studio AB
Härnösand Håbo
Stormraven AB vibynary Aktiebolag
Setup Control Aktiebolag aMASE AB
Virtual Light VR AB
Pixadome HB
Örnsköldsvik Knivsta
BITZUM AB Studio Knick-Knack AB SÖDERMANLAND 11
Piteå
Aurora Punks AB
Sundsvall Uppsala Eskilstuna
Baldheads Creative AB
A bit ago AB Aegik AB AppsAlliance AB
Digital Awakening AB
AtomicElbow AB Bad Yolk Games AB DVapps AB
Frozen North Studios AB
Caeiro AB Chizu AB Todys Games AB
Lucky Star Creative Agency
Corncrow Games AB Disir productions AB Tree branch
Good Decision AB Doctor Entertainment AB
Grey Tower AB Epic Games Sweden Scanning AB Nyköping
VÄSTERBOTTEN 2 KONUNGER GAMES AB Frojo Apps AB SOZAP
Molntuss Spel AB GAME-HOSTING GH AB Sysiac games AB
Skellefteå Nbrigade Music Javxa
Boxplay Skellefteå AB R&P Games AB MachineGames Sweden AB
Creative Crowd AB Saber Interactive Sweden Matematikspel i Uppsala Aktie-
Cubetopia AB Sideline Labs AB bolag
DANIEL LEHTO AB SideQuest Sweden AB Continues on the next page
G A ME DEV EL O PER I N DEX 2021 27Continued from previous page Solna Filimundus AB Pronoia AB
Christian Nordgren AB FJRD Interactive Psychogenic AB
Frozen Dev AB Flarie AB Pusselbit Games AB
FunGI AB Flashe Gaming Group AB Quel Solaar AB
Jona Marklund AB Friend Factory AB Questadore AB
REGION STOCKHOLM 12 Kaj Forell Video Game Brand AB FunRock Development AB Rainbow Road AB
Sharcoal Studios AB Future of Retail AB RAKETSPEL INTERAKTIVA
Botkyrka Solutions Skövde AB G5 Entertainment AB P RODUKTIONER AB
Beadhead Games AB TRB Studio AB Gameloom AB Raw Fury AB
Stringent Ljud AB Life Games Handelsbolag Gamersgate AB Really Interactive AB
Gamescan Stockholm Studios AB Red Cup Games AB
Danderyd Stockholm stad Ghetto Blaster AB Refold AB
Peppy Pals AB 10 Chambers Gleechi AB Regius Group AB
Planeshift Interactive AB 10 Chambers AB Glorious Games Group AB Reset Media AB
Solvarg AB A Small Game AB Goodbye Kansas Resolution Games AB
Above Entertainment AB GraphN AB Ride & Crash AB
Ekerö Acegikmo AB Grindstone Interactive AB Ringtail Interactive AB
chillbro studios AB Adventure Box Technology AB Gro Play Digital AB Rock A Role Games AB
Playstack AB Aktiebolaget Fula Fisken Happi Studios AB Rovio Sweden AB
Ampd AB Hatrabbit AB Rowil AB
Haninge Amplifier Game Invest AB Hazelight Rymdfall AB
Gamatron AB Antler Interactive AB HELG Group AB Safe Lane Gaming AB (publ)
Horror Generation AB Apprope AB HVNT Entertainment AB Scion Studios AB
Pretty Fly Games AB Arcmill AB Hyperspeed Entertainment AB Shelter Games AB
Rain of Reflections AB Arrowhead Game Studios AB JO Johansson Film & L Lindbom AB Simway AB
art by rens AB Kavalri Games AB Sleeper Cell AB
Huddinge Avalanche Studios Group Kickflip Digital AB Snowprint Studios AB
Bearded Ladies Axolot Games AB King Spelkraft Sthlm AB
Frosty Elk AB Barnacles Studio AB Landfall Games AB STAR STABLE ENTERTAINMENT AB
Moon Mode AB Battlecamp AB Legendo Entertainment AB Starbreeze
Razzleberries AB Beyond Frames Entertainment Lekis AB Stillfront Group AB
Typosaurus AB AB (publ) LERP AB Strawberry Hill AB
Blackfox Studios Level Stars AB Stroboskop AB
Järfälla Blastronaut AB Light & Dark Arts AB Stumpysquid AB
Farewell games AB Bodbacka:Boom AB Like a Boss Games AB Sunhammer AB
Merrybrain AB Book of travel AB Linbasta AB Svartskägg AB
Unleash the Giraffe AB Checheza AB Lionbite AB Systemic Reaction AB
Chief Rebel AB LIQUID MEDIA AB TALAWA GAMES AB
Lidingö Chuffy Puffy Games AB Maadwalk Games AB The Gang Sweden AB
Bridgeside AB Coffee Stain MAG Interactive AB Thriving Ventures AB
Eight Lives AB Cold Pixel AB Mibi Games AB Tiger & Kiwi AB
Envar Entertainment AB Collecting Smiles AB Midjiwan AB Toadman Interactive AB
PIXEL TALES AB Coocoolo AB Might and Delight AB Toca Boca AB
Right Nice Games AB Cortopia AB Mimerse AB Tomorroworld AB
GD Studio Cosmico AB Miso Games AB Toppluva AB
Crackshell AB Mojang AB Trail Games AB
Nacka Creation Zero Point Holding AB Motvind Studios AB TROISDIM AKTIEBOLAG
2Play Studios AB Deeznuts AB MuddyPixel AB TwifySoft AB
Colin Lane Games AB Define Reality AB Mudpike AB Unity Technologies Sweden AB
LeadTurn Gaming AB Defold Mutate AB Valiant Game Studio AB
Liquid Swords AB Devm Games AB Nadasoft AB Villa Gorilla AB
Mentalytics AB Diax Game AB NAG Studios AB vingar interaktiva AB
Digital Exception Sthlm AB Neat Corporation Vinternatt Studio AB
Norrtälje Doomlord Interactive AB Neuston AB Virtual Brains AB
Argent Realms AB DorDor AB NFG Nordic Forest Games AB Visiontrick Media AB
Space Plunge AB EA Dice Northplay Holding AB Warm Kitten AB
Roaring Kittens Handelsbolag Ekvall Games Sweden AB Odd Raven Studios AB Wayfare Studio AB
Eldring Games AB Osivvi AB Westre Games AB
Sigtuna Elias Software AB Other Games AB Wild Games AB
Polygrade Holding AB Embark Studios AB Oxeye Game Studio AB Wilnyl Games AB
Svantech Studios AB Enad Global 7 AB P Studios AB Wonderscope AB
Usurpator AB ExoCorp AB Palabit AB wrlds creations AB
EXP Studios AB Paradox Development Studio AB Xpert Eleven AB
Södertälje Expansive Worlds Paradox Interactive AB Zenz VR AB
Diffident Games AB Experiment 101 AB Petter Bergmar AB Defender Studios
JN Interactive AB Fablebit AB Photon Forge AB Hörberg Productions
Fall Damage Studio AB PLAYCOM GAME DESIGN AB Nifflas Games
Sollentuna Fast Travel Games AB Playtrigger Games AB Ryggio Handelsbolag
Ullbors Illustrations AB Fatshark Plotagon Production AB Superposition Games
Shining Gate Software FEO Media Holding AB Polarbit AB Unordinal AB
28 G AME D EV ELOP ER MAP – SWEDENFatshark – Darktide
Sundbyberg Friendly Fire AB Falk Animation Studio
ÖSTERGÖTLAND 13
KEP Games AB Norrköping Gothenburg
AmberWing AB 1337 Game Design AB
Linköping
Täby Correcture Games AB Atvis AB
Aftnareld AB
Delayed Again AB Dimfrost Studio AB Box Dragon AB
Appelsin Apps AB
Frojo Investment AB FeWes AB Bulbsort AB
Avokodo Studios AB
NIALBE AB Gamesclub International AB Carry Castle AB
Beartwigs AB
Omnizens Games AB GOES International AB Craft Animations and Entertain-
Catalope Games AB
Polyregular Studios AB Molndust Interactive AB ment AB
Graewolv AB
Tealbit AB Perpetuum Media Sverige AB Creative AI Nordic AB
Incredible Concepts of Sweden AB
Warpzone Studios AB Pugstorm AB Creative Vault AB
Irrbloss AB
Handelsbolaget Seatribe Skyfox Interactive AB Dennaton Games
Landell Games AB
Sutur AB Devkittens AB
Laxbeam AB
Tyresö Caspian Interactive Elden Pixels AB
Lurkware AB
Sista Potatis AB Silkworm Epic Games Sweden AB
Lutra Interactive AB
Spelagon AB Friendbase AB
Martin Magni AB
Pixols Tyresö Fully Multiplayer AB
Miltonic Games AB
Greenblade Studios AB
overflow Aktiebolag
Upplands Väsby VÄSTRA GÖTALAND 14 Hello There
Pixleon AB
Dinomite Games AB Hiber AB
Power Challenge AB
Fredaikis AB Ale Humla Games AB
Simplygon Studios
RobTop Games AB Wishful Whale AB Insert Coin AB
Therese Kristoffer Publishing AB
int3 software AB
VISIARC Inclusive Design AB
Upplands-Bro Alingsås ius innovation AB
Worldshapers AB
Bambino Games AB Alega & Qiiwi Learning AB just some games AB
Zero Index AB
Freshly Squeezed AB Qiiwi Games AB Kirikoro Studios AB
Holm Computing
Lavapotion AB
SetShape Studio
Vallentuna Bollebygd MindArk
Solid Core
Pixeldiet Entertainment AB Rockheart Studios AB Neckbolt AB
Sparris Studio
Outbreak Studios AB
Wavebots
Värmdö Borås Pax6 Games AB
Good Night Brave Warrior AB Gigantic Duck AB Playcentric Studios AB
Motala
IMGNRY International AB
Campcreation AB
Massive Shapes AB Falköping
Code Club AB
Spelkultur i Sverige AB Cosmic Picnic Continues on the next page
G A ME DEV EL O PER I N DEX 2021 29Continued from previous page Itatake AB Tanum Alvesta
nornware AB Tenstar Wadonk AB
Pathos Interactive AB
Räven Aktiebolag Trollhättan Tingsryd
Retroid Interactive AB Munkedal ActiveQuiz Europe AB Spelkollektivet Sweden AB
River End Games AB Coilworks AB Easy Trigger AB
Skill2Win Studios AB Växjö
SkyGoblin AB Skövde Vänersborg Mabozo AB
SteelRaven7 AB Angry Demon Studio AB Virtuverse AB Universal Learning Games ULG AB
Thunderful Group Babloon Studios AB Wildcore AB
Thunderful: Image & Form Brimstone Games AB
Thunderful: Zoink Designlayout EGU AB
REGION JÖNKÖPING 15
Winteractive AB DoubleMoose Games AB
REGION KALMAR 18
Wishfully Studios AB Flamebait AB
Jönköping
YCJY Games AB FRAME BREAK AB
Brandywise AB Kalmar
Zcooly AB Green Tile Digital AB
Cuddle Monster AB CJ Pedagog Handelsbolag
Faravid Interactive Iron Gate AB
PrettyByte AB
Skygoblin Knackelibang Productions AB
Radical Sunset AB Nybro
Warcry Interactive Let it roll AB
Deadly Serious Media Sweden AB
Ludosity AB
Tranås JMBM AB
Götene Nattland Interactive AB
Head Coach Games AB
VaragtP Studios AB Nørdlight Games AB
Palindrome Interactive AB
Kungälv Pieces Interactive AB GOTLAND 19
Dreamon Studios AB Piktiv AB HALLAND 16
PocApp Studios AB Eat Create Sleep AB
Lidköping Redbeet Interactive AB Halmstad Jumpgate AB
Black Tundra Productions AB Sandspire Interactive AB Erik Svedäng AB Pixel Ferrets AB
Pixel Pointer Studios AB Sonigon AB Storm Potion AB
Stunlock Studios AB Kungsbacka Tableflip Entertainment AB
Mark Subfrost Interactive AB Nifly Apps AB BetterBuilt Studio
EXTRALIVES AB Sunscale Studios AB Oganon interactive AB Bloodberry Games
Thunderful: Skövde Snojken AB Power of Two Games Handelsbolag
Mellerud Whirlybird Games AB
Vovoid Media Technologies AB Small friend games
KRONOBERG 17 BLEKINGE 20
Mölndal Stenungsund
E Games Invest Nordic AB Ace Maddox AB Älmhult Karlshamn
Heyman Atelje & Verkstad AB Inntq AB Dreamwalker Studios AB
Angry Demon – Gory Cuddly Carnage
30 G AME D EV ELOP ER MAP – SWEDENSwedish game companies
Levall Games AB Illusion Labs AB
Mana Brigade AB IO Interactive AB
Noumenon Games AB Learning Loop Sweden AB
Prasius Entertainment AB
Pretty Ugly AB
LERIPA AB
Longhand Electric AB around the globe
Redgrim AB Luau AB
Something We Made AB Mediocre AB Several game companies have expanded inter-
Thunderful: The Station Multiscription AB
Okay Games nevsram AB nationally. In Game Developer Index 2020, there
Nordic Game Resources AB were 39 Swedish-owned game studios around
Karlskrona Nordic Game Ventures i Malmö AB
Blackdrop Interactive AB Not My Jeans AB
the world. In 2020, that figure grew to 126, and
Loophole Interactive AB On the Outskirts AB the number of Swedish companies with sub
Macaroni Studios AB Oskar Stålberg AB
sidiaries abroad has more than doubled.
Shatterplay Studio AB Plausible Concept AB
Suffocated AB ProCloud Media Invest AB
Svavelstickan AB Richard Meredith AB In total, there are studios across 38 countries in five
Robertson Nordic Partners AB
Ronneby Rubycone AB continents. 21 companies are located in the US, and
Activout AB Section 9 Interactive AB 84 studios are located in Europe, of which 20 are
Nodbrim Interactive AB Senri AB
Sharkmob AB
based in Germany. Sweden is the largest source of
She Was Such a Good Horse AB investment for German companies in recent years.
Simogo AB
SKÅNE 21 The company with largest business outside of Swe-
Southend Interactive AB
Star Vault AB den in 2020 was Embracer Group, which through
Ängelholm
Stjärnstoft Studios AB its various branches has 69 studios in more than 40
PMAbit AB
SWEDISH GAME DEVELOPMENT AB
Tales & Dice AB countries. Embracer is closely followed by Stillfront
Burlöv
Spiddekauga Games AB
Tarsier Studios with 25 studios in 16 countries. Other companies
The Sleeping Machine AB
Transmuted Games AB
with a subsidaries abroad are G5, Paradox, Goodbye
Eslöv
Digital kittens AB
Tuxedo Labs AB Kansas, MAG Interactive, EG7, Starbreeze, Sozap,
Ubisoft Entertainment Sweden AB
Pastille AB Thunderful, Zordix, Jumpgate and Qiiwi. Included in
VisionPunk AB
Triassic Games AB
VoDoo Studios the map are also Avalanche New York & Liverpool,
Vreski AB Sharkmob London and Dice LA, studios with a for-
Helsingborg
webbfarbror AB
Localize Direct AB eign corporate parent company.
WhyKev AB
Monsuta AB
Pixelbite AB
Dancing Devils In total, Swedish-owned game companies
Fused Lizard Handelsbolag
Gameflame
employed 7,177 people outside of Sweden. 24% of
Kävlinge
Dengu AB
Newnorth Technology these were women.
Nutty Games
The increase of studios and employees on site in
Peakpoint Consulting
Kristianstad
Pixel Shade Sweden is largely driven by organic growth, while
JE Software Aktiebolag
Transcenders the growth abroad is largely acquisition-driven,
Landskrona although several of the individual studios outside of
Simrishamn
KFH Graphics AB
Urban Binary AB
JLJ Productions AB Sweden also increased in size.
Skurup
The locations of where Swedish corporations
Lund
Abcde Entertainment AB
Spelmakare Jens Nilsson AB expand abroad largely depends on where there
Illwinter Game Design AB exist game studios that have performed well in the
Staffanstorp
Junno Labs AB
Straw hat games AB past. In some cases, there are economic reasons for
Malmö the establishment. For example, Canada has a long
Svedala
Apoapsis Studios AB history of generous tax rules for creative companies,
Binary Peak AB
Art in Heart AB
ayeWARE AB and several other geographic regions use financial
Tomelilla
Coherence Sweden AB
Pixilated Production AB
incentives to attract investments from foreign com-
Cross Reality International AB
DeadToast Entertainment AB
panies. To some extent, location may also be decid-
Vellinge
Divine Robot AB ed on cultural connections, for example, employees
Impact Unified AB
Dunderbit AB
Primary Hive AB or founders with backgrounds in specific countries.
Echo Entertainment AB
Ernst & Borg Arkitektur AB The vast majority of Swedish-owned studios around
Frictional Games AB the world are in countries with pay grades compara-
Frogsong Studios AB
Icehelm AB ble to, or higher, than Sweden.
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