Future growth for the game industry comes from increasing inclusivity and tapping into new audiences. Esports competitions are a good example of the growing audience
Finnish Startup Community (FSC) is proud to collaborate with the Finnish Esports Federation and Finnish Athletics Federation to build the future of gaming.
FSC is the main sponsor of the first-ever esports competition between Finland and Sweden. The event symbolizes the evolution of the sports and gaming industry and we definitely want to support steps towards a new future.
The gaming industry is doing exceptionally well in Finland and it has become a significant part of the business sector with over 2.4 billion euros of turnover in 2020. The growth potential is huge.
The Future of gaming is inclusive
The future of the gaming industry is bright and inclusive, says Drussila Hollanda from Papukaya, a mobile game maker and a member of the Finnish Startup Community.
The majority of the growth is driven by new and more diverse audiences. As a concrete example, new mobile gamers are more likely to be middle-aged females than teenage boys and more likely to be parents than kids. This is the exact opposite of what you might expect if you are thinking about stereotypes.
The game industry should more actively tap into these new audiences by closing the cultural gap between the people who make the games and people who actually play them or are considering becoming a gamer. Finnish game makers are already tackling this mismatch by trying to hire people from diverse backgrounds. More diverse teams are more likely to produce games that attract new audiences and offer experiences for broader audiences. In the workplace, people from different backgrounds complement each other so that the results are also more likely to cater to new audiences and consumers.
New forms of entertainment are being built around video games
We are seeing a huge shift in the way games are consumed. New forms of entertainment are being built around the gaming industry and they are growing at an astonishing rate. Esports and streaming services are prime examples of growing sectors of entertainment around gaming. According to Newzoo’s Global Esports and Live Streaming Market report, the estimated size of the esports audience will grow to 532 million people in 2022, meaning an 8.7 percent increase compared to 2021.

The number of esports enthusiasts are still predominantly young males, but the percentage of women interested in esports has been increasing quite rapidly. This is a very positive sign since esports can truly be the most inclusive and equal form of sport. There is no reason why women, men and people with disabilities couldn’t compete within the same leagues.
Papukaya, a member of the Finnish Startup Community is changing the mobile game industry to be more inclusive.
Here is how they are going to do it
Mobile games are driving tremendous growth in the gaming market by bringing in new audiences.The modern mobile gamer is now more likely to be female (53%), adult (58% are above 25), a parent (90% of parents in the US play mobile games), amongst other example that break stereotypes. However, they don’t identify as “gamers” and think that only a few mobile games are actually designed for them.There’s a massive business opportunity in making mobile games for unserved markets.
Only 10% of the time people spend on mobile is on games. We believe the market will continue to grow and the key to that growth is catering to the unseen majority of players and continuing to bring new audiences into the fold. We’re not going for a niche – we’re going for the mainstream.