The Swedish video game industry's turnover grew to 34.6 billion kronor in 2023. This is stated in the industry organization Dataspelsbranschen's latest annual report Spelutvecklarindex. The percentage increase is written off at 6.4 percent. A significant slowdown compared to 2022 when the figure was 18 percent, or 2021 when it was 24 percent.
But in a world with economic crisis, war in Europe, and cutbacks among international game companies, Sweden is still holding its head high, according to Johanna Nylander:
We're good at making games here, that's the clearest thing. It has an effect. Players buy Swedish games.
More employees
In terms of money, Swedish game developers contribute 1.7 billion kronor in VAT revenue to the state treasury when buying video games, according to the report. The money coming into the industry is, among other things, converted into more employees, a key figure that is increasing again.
That's where Sweden differs from, for example, the UK or similar countries. In Sweden, there's a long-term approach to hiring someone. So, it's a very positive figure, I think, says Johanna Nylander.
Competition
Nylander herself believes that the ripple effects from cutbacks in larger international game companies have already reached Sweden.
That's why we only see a six percent increase, for example, instead of maybe a 25 percent increase. It's clear we've seen the headlines from the rest of the world and that individual companies have had a tough year, she says.
The absolute majority, 81 percent, of Swedish game companies have fewer than five employees. But Nylander doesn't believe that there's an unhealthy competition for players' time and money:
Even if you compete for players, it's not a direct competition, you often play other games too, she says.
Spelutvecklarindex is Dataspelsbranschen's annual report on the state of the video and computer game industry. This year's report reveals, among other things, that...
... the turnover in millions of kronor in Swedish companies was written off at 34,582 for 2023, an increase of six percent compared to the previous year.
... 9,089 is the number of employees in Sweden, an increase of eight percent compared to 2022. 23.7 percent of them are women.
... only three percent of all companies have more than 50 employees. Ubisoft has the most employees.
... King, which is behind Candy Crush, is at the top in terms of turnover. 7,636 million kronor for 2023/2024.
