The fifteenth edition of Nordic Game, 23-25 May in Malmö, Sweden yet again shared its dedicated focus on the entire Nordic games industry with over 2000 industry peers.
This year was also a successful testament to the fact that Nordic Game has truly evolved from a humble regional conference to a global industry event, as our vision of a strong, united games community and the values so many of us share – openness, innovation and diversity – has resonated with games industry professionals around the world, including many new faces welcomed into our extended family this May.
Here are some of the many NG18 highlights:
Speakers galore
A record-breaking 178 speakers took six stages at NG18, and it was fantastic to see them share their knowledge and entertain the crowds – from brilliant talks by prominent industry profiles such as Angie Smets, Siobhan Reddy and Robin Hunicke, to loads of in-depth sessions delving into current trends and topics such as blockchain, physics-based gaming, esports, studio culture, AR and diversity – the NG18 program had something for all tastes and needs.
A selection of talks from the Unreal Theatre stage were also video-recorded and will be available on the Nordic Game YouTube channel here within the next week.
Business, business, business
Besides the many business-focused talks, Publisher Market and private gatherings at NG18, MeetToMatch – the most effective way to do business in the games industry – was once again a tremendous success story, with a whopping 3000+ meetings held – cementing Nordic Game’s reputation as one of the world’s absolute hotspots for games business. Sponsored by TELUS International, it felt like a heaven for business-minded NG18 participants.
NGDC reaches new heights
Working hard to spread our vision of a strong, united games community across Europe (and soon around the globe), the Nordic Game Discovery Contest, concluding its second season, showed the games of the sixteen NGDC finalists as well as crowned this year’s winner. In the end, Romanian studio Breadcrumb Interactive won out, with their folklore RPG Yaga named NGDC Season II Game of the Year. Read more about the contest, grand finals and winners at NG18 here. And a big thank you this season’s NGDC sponsors – Nordisk Film Games, Appodeal, Nordic Game Ventures and Steam.
Games (and their developers) in focus
Creativity, fun and lots of games are always a central part of the Nordic Game experience, and this year was no exception.
On the main expo floor, a string of new titles from the many country delegations at NG18 were presented, and NG18’s special Yonderplay exhibition showed nine of the latest, most daring and experimental Nordic game projects. On Friday, the popular Discovery Day Showcase also broke records with over 60 games on display.
For many of the publishers and investors who had been sitting in back-to-back meetings for the first two conference days, it was very pleasant to finally get to enjoy some of the most interesting games from the region and abroad, and meet their creators.
See you again next year!
The dates for the 2019 edition of Nordic Game will be revealed very soon, but until then the organisers would like to thank all of the many speakers and participants at NG18.
A warm and heartfelt thank you as well to our kind sponsors and partners. Without them, there would be no NG. Make sure to show your appreciation as well by visiting the NG18 sponsor page here and partner page here.
Lastly (for now), re-live NG18 in pictures – right here. See you next year!
About the Nordic Game conference
Nordic Game is the leading games conference in Europe, and 2018 is its fifteenth year. Gathering over 2,000 games industry professionals in Malmö annually, Nordic Game is the one and only “home turf” meeting place for the highly successful game developers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
Learn more about annual Nordic Game conference in Malmö, Sweden at conf.nordicgame.com and get all the latest Nordic Game, NGDC and Nordic games industry news at nordicgame.com.
