Sweden in general seems to have way more good game dev companies than most countries, especially most of similar size. I kinda wonder why.
I actually looked into this, part of the explanation is that in the 80s, Sweden entered a public/private partnership to subsidize the purchase of home computers, which otherwise would have been prohibitively expensive. This helped create a relatively wide local consumer base for software entertainment as well as have a jump start on computer literacy and software development.
This is the real explanation. Couple that with a push in the late 90s/early 2000s to roll out high-speed unmetered internet in the form of ADSL and later fiber.
Finland also has a disproportionate amount of highly successful games compared to the population. I guess one theory is that good social safety nets make it more feasible for people to take a risk starting an indie game studio that might not yield any money for years instead of working for a big corporation for a guaranteed paycheck.
Quebec also has a disproportionate amount of successful games for similar circumstances. Video game salaries are pretty well subsidized (although it was originally only meant to encourage Ubisoft to open a studio then other companies joined or got created so they kept it). The current government is threatening that though. That's on top of socialized healthcare, low electricity cost, and the Canadian Media Fund but those all apply to the rest of Canada as well.
Quick list on top of my head: Indies: Outlast, Dead by Daylight, The Messenger, Spiritfarer, Ultimate Chicken Horse, Fez... AAA: Deus Ex, R6 Siege, For Honor, some of the better Assassin's Creed and Farcry, Batman Arkham Origins
Valheim and Satisfactory are masterclass. GOAT simulator is good for 6 year olds. Raft was kind of dull be entertaining with multiplayer. V Rising I didn’t really care for, but haven’t played since it was first available on Steam
- Valheim was great, if limited.
- Satisfactory doesn't have a game loop that matches it's own name (same thing over and over).
- Goat Simulator is still good for even this 40yr/old man.
- Raft is fun to watch other people play (Let's Game It Out on youtube)
- V Rising didn't interest me enough to purchase in the first place.
Valheim was amazing. But it's faltered so badly in the past 2 years that I'm just sad. Very sad.
V rising is different from when it first came out in terms of how some mechanics work like tracking bosses
Powers and spells are way different on how you unlock them tho and for the better
It’s been a while but I remember I was annoyed with something to do with having to find blood. I know that’s really stupid considering it’s a vampire game. Also the top down view i have a hard time with these days since I played so much Diablo 1+2 back in the day
My first ever international business trip (in the late 90s) was to Skovde, and that was for software development reasons. So the town has a long history for it.
It's a nice place too with very nice people.
That's incredible that they evolved.
A lot of American cities that were becoming software dev hubs in the 90s ended up crashing or worse, fintech.
I didn't really get the point of Goat Simulator. But the other games easily hooked me for 50 to 100+ hours. And they are all excellent coop games.
It wasn't for me, either, but I'm fairly certain the point of Goat Simulator is that there isn't one.
the point of goat simulator was that it was a three-week goof project the Sanctum devs had fun with to celebrate good sales before they got to work on the sequel.
then it funded the development of Satisfactory.
Goat Simulator is basically a scavenger hunt with wacky physics. I usually don't like checklist games, but if you play this one like that, it's actually pretty fun.
It’s also pretty fun to just wander around and see stuff, at least for a few hours. Especially in split screen!
I loved Goat Simulator for its absurdity and silliness. It had a lot of content and stuff to explore as well, embedding cultural references and humor.
I love the idea of a silly game like Goat Simulator being embedded in the street.
I honestly thought it was just an asset flip that turned out to be kind of funny and so was tolerated I didn't realize that it was made by the same people that made Satisfactory.
It's a silly asset dump that has incredible depth!
