Collaborators in the Center of Excellence
Novia University of Applied Sciences
Novia UAS has worked with several projects to help the game industry in both Finland and Sweden.
Our strength is education and great networks with the other Nordic countries. Over the years Novia UAS has, through different projects, gained experience and knowledge in game development and business development within the creative industries. Novia UAS handles over 110 projects each year and is, therefore, an experienced collaborator, and used to co-operating with all kinds of actors.
Previous projects at Novia UAS have arranged successful events like QvarkCon, which gathered expertise from all over the world.
Novia UAS educations in the creative fields enable studies for Bachelor and Master’s degrees. Novia University of Applied Sciences is the largest Swedish-speaking UAS in Finland with over 4000 students.
Centria University of Applied Sciences
Centria University of Applied Sciences is a multidisciplinary, dynamic and international higher education institution located in the western part of Finland in Kokkola, Pietarsaari and Ylivieska. The goal of Centria’s research and development is to provide and create new knowledge, skills and technologies for the local businesses and industries.
Centria offers a wide range of educational possibilities from degree programmes to short, flexible solutions. The Game Lab at Centria (https://pelipala.centria.fi) has been providing game development training since 2007, and has strong experience in advancing game industry development and ready to use low-threshold startup concepts.
When it comes to the game industry, Centria focuses on coding and business development. Centria has boldly set out to try different technologies, such as VR and AR as a part of game development. Centria’s large contact network and co-operation with the local business sector contribute to the development of the game industry.
Åbo Akademi / Experience Lab
Experience Lab at Åbo Akademi University is an established usability and user experience lab with over 20 years of experience in user centered design and user testing. The lab holds state of the art technology for UX-design and audience research, carried out by certified usability analysts.
Experience Lab has worked with game companies on both sides of the Qvarken on user centered design and playtesting/gametesting – guiding the companies in various stages of game development. Experience Lab itself is also involved in several game development projects.
As part of a university, Experience lab brings knowledge of game testing, playability, and player experiences as well as an international network of game researchers and ongoing research into the project.
As a project organization, Experience Lab holds extensive insight into strategic project development and project communication.
Skellefteå Science City - Arctic Game Lab
In 2016 a regional investment in the gaming industry, Arctic Game Lab, was funded by the municipalities of Umeå, Skellefteå, Piteå, Luleå to strengthen the game industry in northern Sweden. Skellefteå Science City is tasked with driving this initiative.
Arctic Game Lab offers an opportunity to enter the game industry in many ways. We have years of industry know-how and a global network within the game industry. We offer business development, help to find investors, a visualization lab (motion capture) and a game community with events, conferences, pitch events, game jams and much more.
In this area there are now about 75 game companies and studios, about 500 professionals working in the industry, 14 game educations and 600 students.
We are creating a strong games community to enable individuals and companies to thrive and grow, and we are now northern Europe’s fastest growing game cluster.
Kramfors kommun
The municipality of Kramfors intends to invest in stimulating the establishment of more jobs in the private sector, by investing in some industry areas. First out is education and game industry. The game initiative has the working name High Coast Game Lab, where the goal is to create 200 jobs and as many training places in the industry within 5 years. To ensure efficient establishment of the High Coast Game Lab, we have chosen to participate in the Qvarken Game Lab project together with actors in Jakobstad, Vaasa and Skellefteå.
The Qvarken Game Lab project aims to create a competence center for the gaming industry in the region. For Kramfors, the focus will be on establishing educations, developing structures for gaming innovation and investigating the conditions for a gaming incubator with a Nordic intake.
