The Swedish game development industry is a global front-runner, and with the right support, the industry will continue to thrive. However, continued success is in part determined by a few key issues that remain to be addressed. Game Habitat is one of many organizations working hard to address these issues.

On Thursday, 29 January, Game Habitat will participate on stage in the Swedish Parliament together with several games industry partners to talk about the future for the games industry. The event can be viewed live or after the fact on the Parliament’s website.

Game Habitat is a member organization dedicated to creating the best environment for game development in South Sweden, where our members reside. The work we do entails a lot, some very concrete work on a local level, and some work on a much larger scale that can feel less tangible.

The appearance in the parliament is part of the less tangible work we do, but seldom talk about. So we thought we’d share an update on four issues that we’ve been working on over the last few years, which we believe are crucial to the continued success for the Swedish games industry.

In this work, we’re far from the only actors. The Swedish Games Industry, RISE, Dataspelscentrum, Sverok, and other Swedish game clusters are among the organizations that also have been working hard for many years to make progress on these and other issues.

The problem in a nutshell

This is how we see it:

Malmö is one of the world’s leading game development hubs. It’s home to thousands of game developers and hundreds of game companies, resulting in one of the highest concentrations of game developers and game companies in the world. With additional strong clusters around the country, Sweden is generally viewed as a global front-runner in the game development industry.

However, for Malmö and Sweden to maintain this position, the support structure around the games industry needs improvement. This is especially true as the games industry globally has been thrown into turmoil, and when the industry finds its feet again in the new landscape, new actors and new front-runners could emerge.

When the game development industry was just getting started, Malmö and Sweden were quick to establish a strong global presence. However, as the industry matures, other regions and countries are catching up. This usually coincides with significant regional and/or national government support. As other regions and countries get behind their game development industries, Sweden must do the same to ensure the continued success of its game development industry. Failing to provide increased support would risk the Swedish game development industry’s position as a global leader, thereby losing domestic opportunities for innovation, cultural impact, and job creation.

In our region, in South Sweden, the games industry nowadays enjoys strong support from Region Skåne and the City of Malmö. On a global scale, however, it’s not enough as there are needs for national solutions that one local region simply can’t solve itself.

What needs to happen

Game Habitat has focused on four key issues that we believe are crucial to South Sweden’s game development industry, as well as the Swedish games industry as a whole. Together with various partners across Sweden, we’ve been working on these issues for many years. We are pleased to report progress in several areas.

What we’ve been advocating for, in essence, is for games to be treated equally to other cultural and innovative products, as this would grant games access to the same support systems as other art forms and innovative companies enjoy. This sentiment is now taking root. If seen through, it would greatly assist Malmö’s and Sweden’s game development industry in maintaining its position as a global front-runner.

Here’s a summary of the four issues, and a few highlights in regards to what has happened in the various areas recently:

Recognize games as a cultural expression

Recognizing games as cultural expressions of their own would unlock games’ full cultural potential, as well as their high innovative and economic potential. Such recognition would grant Swedish game companies access to support, create new job opportunities, increase the domestic talent pool, and foster a more diverse base of game creators and products.

Read more

• RISE, in its report PowerUP: Spelbranschen – en svensk basnäring (page 46), provides concrete suggestions on how games can be recognized as a cultural expression.
• The European Council prioritized games as it approved conclusions on enhancing the cultural and creative dimension of the European video games sector.
• Video Games Europe, in their manifesto More Than a Game (page 7) urges EU and its member states to embrace the games industry’s unique combination of technology and creative works.
• Opinion piece in Dagens Industri by Sweden’s Minister for Culture, Parisa Liljestrand (M), Benjamin Dousa (M), Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Kristina Axén Olin (M), member of parliament, and Peter Ollén (M), member of parliament, in which they recognize the games industry as a new Swedish base industry.

Create a national strategy for the games industry

Sweden needs more national coordination and will to improve the conditions for the game development industry. Sweden needs a long-term vision and strategy for games, operated by the government and relevant government agencies, to address nationwide issues such as the need for support systems, lack of diversity, and opportunities for nation branding.

Read more

• RISE, in its report PowerUP: Spelbranschen – en svensk basnäring (page 54), provides concrete suggestions on how a national strategy for games can be adopted.
• Lars Mejern Larsson (S), member of parliament, in a question urged Sweden’s Minister for Culture, Parisa Liljestrand (M), to “take initiative to create a national strategy for the games industry with the aim of strengthening Sweden's position as a leading game development country and recognizing the importance of games as a cultural expression and economic driver.”
• The Swedish government adopted a new strategy for cultural and creative industries, and government agencies have been assigned tasks related to the strategy.
• The Swedish Parliament's Committee on Cultural Affairs organized a Parliament hearing as a first official step towards a cultural policy for games.
• The Swedish Parliament's Committee on Cultural Affairs released a report on games and board games with proposals to strengthen and expand the games industry.
• When the Swedish Parliament's Committee on Cultural Affairs released their report on games and board games, all eight parliament parties jointly wrote an opinion piece to state that they’re all in agreement on improving the conditions for Sweden’s games industry.

Establish a Swedish games institute

Sweden needs to establish a national games institute to support, promote, and preserve Swedish games and the Swedish game development industry. An institute would also work to increase game literacy, develop game education, and coordinate national efforts to strengthen the game development industry. The institute would benefit from being located in Malmö, as conditions in the region are optimal for its success.

Read more:

• A games institute has been established and is currently exploring long-term funding and mandate.
• RISE in their report PowerUP: Spelbranschen – en svensk basnäring (page 55) provides concrete suggestions on how the institute could function and with what mandate.
• Region Skåne, in its report Ett nationellt spelinstitut - i Skåne, explores the reasons to establish the institute in Skåne.

Grant game companies access to support systems

Swedish game companies need access to existing public support systems and funding. Game development-specific support systems also need to be developed. Increased support would yield new game companies, job opportunities, commercial successes, and innovations. With access to support systems, the diversity of founders, game companies and games would also increase, and it would help Swedish game companies compete in the increasingly competitive global market. The support system for game companies is also underdeveloped specifically in South Sweden. In this region, a game incubator and a fund for early-stage funding for game development would unlock continued success for the regional ecosystem.

Read more:

• RISE in its report PowerUP: Spelbranschen – en svensk basnäring (page 22) provides concrete suggestions on how a national support system for games can be put in place by opening up existing systems and creating new ones.
• Opinion piece in Dagens Industri by Game Habitat, Science Park Skövde, and Swedish Games Industry on the need for support for new game companies.
• Game Habitat, Gameport, Sweden Game Arena, The Great Journey, and Arctic Game together launched a project to create a national game company incubation process, and a national acceleration program.
• Game Habitat launched the support program Haven, and business guidance, in close collaboration with Minc and other support system actors. The support is currently being developed further.
• In an effort to gain further access to support systems, Game Habitat will co-locate with Minc and Media Evolution.