10 facts about gaming in Sweden
Mojang, King and DICE – all Swedish. Here’s the success of gaming in Sweden summed up.
1. One billion players
It is estimated that around one in four people in the world has played a game made by Swedes. No wonder then, that gaming in Sweden is booming. The growth in the Swedish games industry over the last decade has been substantial, to say the least.
In 2021, the total revenue for Swedish companies amounted to more than EUR 5.8 billion, according to the Swedish Game Developer Index. In the year 2011, that sum amounted to a 'mere' EUR 256 million.
And the games industry is bigger than the big names such as Mojang, King and DICE.
2. From subculture to success
In the very early days of video games, successful international companies mainly came from Japan, the US and the UK. Then, in Sweden and a handful other countries, a subculture emerged in the early 1980s called the Demo scene. People used early home computers such as the Commodore 64 and Amiga to show off their programming skills through audio and video shows.
One example is Digital Illusions, now DICE. It was started by four friends from the Demo scene in 1992, when they released cult hit Pinball Dreams followed by the hugely successful Battlefield franchise.
10 biggest Swedish-registered gaming companies, by revenue (2021)
- King
- Mojang
- EA DICE
- Paradox Interactive
- Toca Boca
- G5 Entertainment
- Coffee Stain Publishing
- Avalanche Studios Group
- Ubisoft Entertainment Sweden
- Embracer Group
Source: Swedish Game Developer Index
3. Minecraft madness
It's been estimated that around 130-140 million people play Minecraft every month. In this popular sandbox game, which is developed by Mojang Studios, players build 3D worlds with different types of blocks and then explore and craft items in their new world.
Minecraft was created by Markus ‘Notch’ Persson and started out as a hobby project. The game was released in an early version in 2009 and became an immediate hit in the gaming community. The rapid success led to the foundation of Mojang. In 2014, Persson sold his enormously successful gaming company to Microsoft for USD 2.5 billion.
4. The gaming culture
Looking more closely at what made Sweden step up and become a major player, Per Strömbäck, spokesperson for trade organisation Swedish Games Industry (Dataspelsbranschen), says part of the explanation lies in Sweden’s affinity for the culture that surrounds games.
‘Game development doesn’t take place in a vacuum’, he says. ‘It is part of a broader context consisting of gamers, e-sport competitors, DreamHack-type festivals, YouTubers, and so on. And Swedes are at the top across that spectrum.’
Swedish YouTuber PewDiePie has more than 100 million subscribers. DreamHack – which once began as a little project among schoolmates in Swedish small-town Malung – is known as the host of the world's largest LAN parties. And within e-sports, Sweden has several players in the world elite.
5. Swedes are experienced computer users
Computer literacy also plays a great part. Computer use was widespread, in relative terms, already in the 1980s when Commodores arrived.
In 1998, home computer access received a further push through a government and union initiative that used subsidies and tax incentives to allow employees to affordably lease personal computers with an option to buy. This helped increase computer literacy among the public. It also got more people into computer games.
6. Early internet access, early gamers
Internet access is the backbone of our digital economies and societies – as well as a means to access to online games. Connectivity got an early start in Sweden, with ambitious government goals for broadband access across the country.
High-speed internet has most likely played an important role in Sweden's development as a nation of gamers and game developers.
7. Startup-friendly
In 2021, 93 new gaming companies were started in Sweden.
It probably helps that there are startup hubs and gaming clusters to help new businesses kick off. And it's not a wild guess that the success of early risk takers inspires the next generation. DICE, Mojang, King and other billion-dollar companies serve as an incentive.
The IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking – which rates 63 economies in their capacity and readiness to adopt and explore digital technologies as a key driver for economic transformation in business, government and wider society – ranked Sweden third in 2022.
8. Good test market
Operating in a small domestic market such as Sweden has its advantages. One is that developers start to focus on the entire western market much earlier than developers from more populated countries.
Another benefit is that it makes it much easier to ‘soft launch’ a product. That means a company can start by releasing a game in Sweden, get feedback and fix bugs, before going global.
The DreamHack festival has gathered record crowds over the years. In 2020 the organisation merged with ESL, the world’s largest e-sports company. Photo: Rodrigo Rivas Ruiz/imagebank.sweden.se
DICE is headquartered in Stockholm. Photo: Melker Dahlstrand/imagebank.sweden.se
In Legend of Solgard, players must save the world from the icy doom of Ragnarok. Developed by Snowprint Studios, launched by King. Image: King
The Minecraft creators of Mojang Studios are based in Stockholm. Photo: Melker Dahlstrand/imagebank.sweden.se
In 2021, 22.1 per cent of employees in Sweden's domestic games industry were women. Photo: Simon Paulin/imagebank.sweden.se
The DreamHack festival has gathered record crowds over the years. In 2020 the organisation merged with ESL, the world’s largest e-sports company. Photo: Rodrigo Rivas Ruiz/imagebank.sweden.se
DICE is headquartered in Stockholm. Photo: Melker Dahlstrand/imagebank.sweden.se
In Legend of Solgard, players must save the world from the icy doom of Ragnarok. Developed by Snowprint Studios, launched by King. Image: King
The Minecraft creators of Mojang Studios are based in Stockholm. Photo: Melker Dahlstrand/imagebank.sweden.se
In 2021, 22.1 per cent of employees in Sweden's domestic games industry were women. Photo: Simon Paulin/imagebank.sweden.se
The DreamHack festival has gathered record crowds over the years. In 2020 the organisation merged with ESL, the world’s largest e-sports company. Photo: Rodrigo Rivas Ruiz/imagebank.sweden.se
DICE is headquartered in Stockholm. Photo: Melker Dahlstrand/imagebank.sweden.se
In Legend of Solgard, players must save the world from the icy doom of Ragnarok. Developed by Snowprint Studios, launched by King. Image: King
The Minecraft creators of Mojang Studios are based in Stockholm. Photo: Melker Dahlstrand/imagebank.sweden.se
In 2021, 22.1 per cent of employees in Sweden's domestic games industry were women. Photo: Simon Paulin/imagebank.sweden.se
9. More game developers wanted
One vital factor behind the success of the Swedish games industry is a competent and creative workforce. The quick growth does makes recruitment a challenge, though, with Sweden being relatively small. Many Swedish game companies now employ talent in their offices based abroad.
10. Teamwork for the win
There’s a way to tell game developers are also gamers: they’re in it to win. But game development is a team sport. And Swedes are legends at collaboration.
Game production has evolved to more iterative methods. Instead of following a pre-decided blueprint, a detail of the game is developed, checked with the community, discussed, added to, and so on. It is based on feedback and collaboration and won’t work in a hierarchical environment.
