This report includes background material on the games industry in Sweden and descriptions of the needs and challenges it faces today, as well as concrete proposals on how these can be addressed. Combined with a clear focus on games, Sweden can strengthen game development as an industry, as a culture and as an innovation catalyst for progress.

There are many areas that need improvement. Sweden is the only game nation in the EU without nationally organised support. This makes it difficult for micro and small companies in particular, which make up 97 % of all companies, to realise their potential. The success is real but is associated with a very small proportion of companies that have achieved international prosperity. What is needed is a national support system for the whole country – in the long term for all companies, but primarily to support the smallest and pre-commercial actors.

One key to why we still have such a strong games industry is the game clusters with ‘hubs’ regionally in different parts of the country, where Skövde, Malmö and four municipalities in collaboration in the north (Umeå, Luleå, Skellefteå, Boden) are the three largest. Their coaching, mentoring, culture building and, in Skövde’s case, incubator support, give start-ups a chance to grow. These clusters currently spend a lot of time applying for project funding, a patchwork that makes long-term planning difficult and where the lack of runway is constantly limiting. More can and should be done to provide these important actors with the right opportunities.

Perhaps most importantly, it is about legitimacy, about acceptance and about game literacy. There are many prejudices about the industry, and this is reflected in a lack of clarity at the national level. As long as the games industry is not a written, clear and explicit part of neither the support systems, the Cultural Collaboration Model (Swedish: ‘Kultursamverkansmodellen’) nor research, the necessary conditions will not emerge at the regional and local level. More knowledge is needed here, but also clear statements from the government and parliament. The games industry must be written into policy documents and become a recognised part of Sweden’s industries, as part of CCSI. Not implicitly and between the lines, but explicitly and plainly. Only then will research funding and regional initiatives become clear and more predictable.

Finally, some elaboration is needed on various structures around exports, incubation support, labour migration and training that would simplify not only the games industry but also the entire CCSI sector, with its unique business models and needs. The systems in Sweden today are designed for industries in raw materials, processing and manufacturing. The needs of the creative industries are not always reflected in structures or support systems in general.

The games industry in Sweden has a strong international position and, despite weak national support, has managed to put Sweden on the map. With the right conditions, the Swedish games industry could challenge France and Germany for the title of the EU’s leading game nation.