Gaming = Business | Team Nordic Arctic at Umeå Game Conference
The gaming industry is now nearly twice the size of the music- and film industry combined. That fact alone underscores why Team Nordic Arctic brought a extensive delegation to explore new markets in Umeå 26-29th of january
Kristian
- 29.january 2025
This week ProTromsø and BusinessOulu travelled to Umeå together with a business delegation for matchmaking, networking, potential partnerships and professional development. Almost 350 participants from Malaysia, Japan, China, the UK, the US and all accross Europe took part in the third year of Umeå Game Conference. 25 whom was part of the Team Nordic Arctic delegation.
The Norwegian delegation with project manager Kristian Daljord, ProTromsø.
The organisers, Andreas Waleij and Mateusz Osinski, aimed to create an intimate setting, with a heavy focus on networking. This was done through the meeting bookingsystem «MeetToMatch». Hundreds of meetings were booked, with potential deals reaching up to €2 million euros. For ProTromsø it is crucial to support early-stage developers – which is also why we fully funded our youngest participants to be able to travel to Umeå.
Day one kicked off with «Networking & Pizza» where developers showcased their games in a relaxed, but high-impact setting. Norwegian team SolBound led by Sindre Dalvik and Sivert Bottolfsen, presented their game, and later directly to Epic Games, establishing contact with one of the worlds largest publishers.
Day two featured a high-energy pitching competition, where the audience voted live for their favorite concept. The winner walked away with €10 000 euros in development funding. Highlights included «Vifth Floor» from Indonesia and the Icelandic team behind «Gang and Frogs». In the evening ProTromsø & BusinessOulu held the Team Nordic Arctic icebreaking dinner.
The third day consisted of seminars, workshops and the official conference dinner. Lecturer at UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Ernie Roby, highlighted a session on digital marketing as especially useful.
The team from Playful Rebels Viktor Enoksen and Jonas Aarum, held a packed schedule of meetings throughout the conference and succeeded in expanding their professional network across the Nordics. This is crucial, especially in an industry as small and interconnected as Norway’s.
Gaming is a rapidly growing sector in Sweden and Finland, and Team Nordic Arctic have been active in facilitating knowledge and experience sharing between our Nordic neighbors for the development in the industry in Northern Norway.
Miksapix led by Mikkel J. Sara is a prime example. His team’s game is blending Sami storytelling with modern game design to fill a gap in the industry. Mikkel J. Sara also provided great mentorship for our newcomers whilst also booking meetings for himself. The follow-up meetings are already booked. «UGC is a great arena for raising capital, and most importantly bring this back to North-Norway. It’s essentially a way to create jobs and develop urban communities in the northernmost regions of our longspread country» he says.
The Norwegian Film Institute (NFI), Norway’s leading support actor for the gaming industry was prominently present, alongside Invest in Skåne as a main sponsor for this event.
The program for UGC can be found here.
The Team Nordic Arctic is a project funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Arktis 2030. The goal of the project, led by ProTromsø, is to strengthen the North Nordic region through business collaborations. The project aims to enhance the cooperation between Norway, Sweden and Finland in the Arctic by applying Norwegian know-how on Arctic society, business, and knowledge.
The overall goal of the project is enhanced Nordic cooperation in the High North in difficult times. We aim to strengthen the Arctic communities in the Nordic countries through sustainable business development, recruitment of youth talents and the inclusion of indigenous people and minorities. One of the main work packages includes Arctic Business Matchmaking in each of the three partnering countries, held in Oulu, Finland, Umeå, Sweden and Tromsø, Norway.
If you wish to hear more about participating in the project or in the B2B matchmakings, please contact project manager Julie-Helene D. Sørensen at julie@protromso.com
