A recap of Invest in Games & Invest in Change 2025

Last week, we welcomed everyone to the first-ever Invest in Change, organised by us, the Swedish Games Industry, together with Games For Change, and Play Create Green.

Thank you to our sponsors – Tencent Games, Video Games Europe, and AMF Fastigheter.

And a heartfelt thank you to all the stars on stage travelling from across Sweden, as well as from Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, and the USA, for sharing wisdom, perspectives, stories, and ideas. 

The day started with Ilaria Amodeo (IIDEA) passing the torch from the #ThePowerOfPlay event in Pesaro in October.

Then it was time for the first keynote speaker, Susanna Pollack (Games for Change), speaking about the great work of Games for Change. After her, Yusuf Muhawech (WWF Sweden Youth) entered the stage, and gave us an update on the state of the planet and a call to action. Last but not least, Sarah Smith (Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation) told the story of the Investing and Partnering with Youth for Peace (IPYP) initiative.

Then the spotlight shifted to Tiny Talks: ten quick, impactful insights in less than 5 minutes: Per Strömbäck (Swedish Games Industry), Victor Vuorijärvi (FCV) and Henry Morris Påltoft (Sverok) talking about the power of play, Micaela Jonsson (The Prince Couple’s Foundation) and Kristian Lundquist (Cable Nest & Gro Play) sharing stories of kids learning through games, Maximilian Bock (Tencent EMEA) and Mathias Gredal Nørvig (SYBO) speaking about the Playing for the Planet Green Game Jam, Anna Högberg Jenelius (Valiant Game Studio) debating monsters to save magic, Magana Gikandi (UN World Food Programme) telling about the World Food Programme trying to outplay hunger and Edin Jusovic (Floodlight Games) about the potential of journalists and game makers joining forces.

The day ended with a panel led by Susanna Pollack, who gave a recap and reflection on the topics discussed throughout the day: Andreas Jernberg (DreamHack), Sigrid Gruener (Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation), Ali Farha (Star Stable), and Elina Tyynelä (Neogames Finland).

During the breaks, attendees could play games from our showcase, including Valiant Game Studio, Gro Play, Green Leap Games, Apskeppet, SLU – Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, Noodleloop, Polar Panic and Neat Corp.

When Invest in Change ended, it was time to open the doors to the annual event Invest in Games, by us, the Swedish Game Industry Trade Association, and the international law firm Bird & Bird. Thank you to our sponsor, Max Matthiessen.

We offer the latest data and trends from the game industry and present the annual report ‘Swedish Games Industry: Game Developer Index’. We invite some knowledgeable guests to speak on some of the most interesting topics in today's game-investing world. 

This year’s edition started with an opening speech by the Swedish Minister for Culture, Parisa Liljestrand.

This was followed by a keynote from Shum Singh, Managing Director and Founder of Agnitio Capital, who shared insights into the investment market in the games industry.

Next came the moment for the Swedish Games Industry’s first-ever Ladder Award, presented by board member Linnéa Harrison (Neat Corp), and awarded to Saltlag Interactive and Ludvig Burud. To those of you who weren’t on site to hear the amazing thank-you speech, you really missed something. A huge congratulations!

Susanna Pollack returned to the stage to share updates on Games for Change and her vision for where the industry could be 20 years from now. We also heard from other industry voices about what the industry looked like in 2005 and where it will be over the next 20 years. 

Our Head of Analytics, Johanna Nylander, walked us through the key highlights from this year’s industry report, released that very morning. Read the report here in Swedish and in English.

The last panel of the day entered the stage: Dennis Fagerros (NASDAQ), Binni Erlingsson (Behold Ventures), Karolina Kjellberg (Bird & Bird), and Rob Edgar (Studio Capital Management), who discussed Games investment in the current geo-politics and macro-economy.

Last but not least, Invest in Game’s pitch competition, ‘Dagons Den – The Game Industry Version,’ took place on stage, featuring four promising game studios. Sitting in the dragon’s corner were Sofie Filt Læntver (1010), Taina Malen (PlayCap), Anton Albiin (Perfect Random), and Binni Erlingsson (Behold Ventures).

Pitching on stage were Ichigoichie AB with their game ‘Tactichord’, Elva Entertainment with their game ‘Home Sweet Gnome’, Kiwick Studios with their game ‘Rekindles Colonies’, and Noodleloop with their game ‘Bonsai '98’.

…and the winner was…Elva Entertainment with ‘Home Sweet Gnome’. Congratulations on winning a trip to an optional international conference.

Thank you to our speakers, sponsors and collaborators. Also, a big shout-out to all our participants and to the beautiful venue that hosted us, Biblioteket Live.

See you next year!