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Press release:
4.5.2023.
The Finnish game industry had the traditional Finnish Game Awards gala on May 4th (2023) where the gala awarded Tree Men Games’ “PAKO Highway” twice.

Finnish Game Developer Studios Association (Suomen pelinkehittäjät ry) and Neogames Finland, the Hub of the Finnish Game Industry, organized traditional Finnish Game Awards gala tonight at The Old Student House in Helsinki. Total of 11 Finnish games were nominated in several different award categories.

The biggest winner of the evening was Tree Men Games with their game PAKO Highway winning both the Game of the Year 2022 and the Mobile Game of the Year 2022 awards.

In the high-octane PAKO Highway driving game, cars zoom by and make sharp passes of other vehicles. The ultimate king of the road also tunes his cars to perfection. The car radio plays sleek electronic beats as the routes take players on a thrilling ride through sprawling cities at night and sunny beach drives. Tree Men Games is a 10-year-old indie studio founded by three developers at Aalto University Media Lab.

The Big Screen Game of the Year 2022 is Undead Horde 2: Necropolis by 10tons. In the game, the city of the undead is in ruins, and the player must rebuild it to a new glory with the help of undead warriors. Cartoon-like graphics bring reconstruction and battles to life.

The action game combines elements of a role-playing and strategy games. It is a sequel to the studio’s Undead Horde game from 2019, that has been published as both console and mobile versions. 10tons is an indie studio that has already reached the mature age of 20 years and employs around 10 people. The team develops and publishes its games entirely by itself.

The Creative Achievement of the Year 2022 is the adventure game Skábma – Snowfall by Red Stage Entertainment. It is inspired by Sámi people’s stories and culture. The young reindeer herder Áilu’s journey to becoming a seer and healer is also voice-acted in the Northern Sámi language. The enchantingly beautiful visual world is full of elements from Lapland’s nature. The eight-employee Red Stage Entertainment has carefully created its games while respecting the traditions of the indigenous people.

“The Finnish game industry is now being celebrated for the tenth time by the Finnish Game Developer Studios Association. Many things have changed during the years, but the game industry community is still strong. It gives confidence that the Finnish game industry will continue to grow and strengthen in the coming years, as it has been up to now”, says Jussi Loukiainen, chairman of the board of the Finnish Game Developer Studios Association.

Other award winners at the gala were One Trick Entertainment (Rookie of the Year 2022), Critical Force game studio founder Veli-Pekka Piirainen (Power Player of the Year 2022), Ren Soharab (IGDA Volunteer of the Year 2022) and Olli Juhola (Finnish Game Jam’s Jampion of the Year 2022).

The gala celebrations can be viewed at https://youtu.be/3Bfvq7EF8Rs.

The 2023 game gala was sponsored at the platinum level by Metacore, at the gold level by Next Games – A Netflix Studio, Rovio Entertainment and Supercell, and at the silver level by Colossal Order, Epic Games, Fingersoft, Housemarque, HypeHype, Lightheart Entertainment, Metaplay, Small Giant Games and Ubisoft RedLynx.

The Hub of the Finnish Game Industry Neogames will publish a comprehensive Finnish Game Industry Report 2022 in mid-May. The report covers years 2021-2022.