Gaming company landscape in Sweden
In 2021, the highest-grossing video game company in Sweden was Candy Crush creator King, generating about 5.5 billion Swedish kronor in revenue during the measured period. There were 785 video game development companies in Sweden in 2021, compared to only 586 Swedish game dev companies two years prior. In terms of regional distribution, Sweden’s capital Stockholm accounts for the biggest share of video game companies in the country. During the past decade, the number of employees in the video game development market in Sweden increased steadily. As of the most recent date, 7,944 people were working for gaming companies in the Scandinavian country, and an additional 11,158 game devs were employees in Swedish companies abroad.Embracer Group – a grip on the industry through strategic acquisitions
The Embracer Group is one of the most prominent gaming companies from Sweden and with an annual net revenue of 17.4 billion Swedish kronor it is also one of the biggest gaming companies worldwide. The Embracer Group is particularly known for its steady clip of acquisition of game development studios worldwide – as of September 2022, the Embracer Group owned a total of 192 game development studios.Notable gaming subsidiaries owned by Embracer include HQ Nordic, parts of PLAION (previously Koch Media), Amplifier Game Invest, Gearbox Entertainment, Saber Interactive, Coffee Stain, Crystal Dynamics – Eidos Montréal, and many more. This wide scope of operations and acquisitions has led to an extensive group catalog of over 827 owned franchises - top games owned or published by Embracer Group companies include titles such as Valheim, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, Star Trek Online, Neverwinter Online, Goat Simulator, Dead Island, and the Tomb Raider series.
Stillfront Group – F2P browser and mobile gaming
The Stillfront Group is a Stockholm-based gaming company specializing in free-to-play titles with casual and mash-up games making up almost half of the company’s game portfolio. Stillfront’s annual revenue amounted to nearly 5.5 billion Swedish kronor in 2021 and the majority of the company’s gaming revenues are generated via subscriptions and virtual goods. The company focuses on games with a long lifecycle. Stillfront’s strongest markets are Germany and the United States, and most of the company’s owned mobile and browser game studios are located outside of Sweden.Paradox Interactive – strategy gaming specialist
Paradox Interactive is a Swedish video game company that includes first-party development studios and as well as publishing operations for games from other developers. In 2021, the annual net revenue generated by Paradox Interactive came to 1.45 billion Swedish kronor. PC gaming is Paradox’s strongest revenue segment, accounting for more than 80 percent of the total.Paradox Interactive specialized in strategy and management games such as the Age of Wonders, Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron, and Crusader Kings franchises, and has also developed other notable titles such as Stellaris or Prison Architect. The company also owns the World of Darkness catalog which includes the Vampire: The Masquerade tabletop game brand as well as the associated video game rights.