57 The cross-border cooperation within the project has been very smooth, says Tobias. – Each company was connected with a “twin company” on the other side. They were given small tasks to do together. It was fun. The project has made a real difference in several ways. Thanks to the network, several new game companies have started in the region. And Tobias believes that the future is bright for the Kvarken game industry. – We have lots of potential in this region. We currently have another project underway called Qvarken Game Lab. There we will create a competence center, and we are looking at how to collaborate in an even larger area. A prerequisite for getting the industry to accelerate even more is to get game development programmes and courses on the Finnish side. – Västerbotten has accelerated there, with their game education in Skellefteå. That is really a good thing, he says. Getting to meet and socialise with the gaming companies has been the highlight of Qvarken Game Industry for Tobias. – We have learned a lot together! The level of knowledge has been raised in both Västerbotten and Ostrobothnia. Did you know… September Games is a good example of an up-and-coming game company from the region, and one of the participants in the Qvarken Game Industry project. Located in Vaasa, Finland, the company is run by Henrik Hermans. “I am a lifelong gamer, and a few years back I picked up the skills to start putting together my own games. In 2015 I released my first free game on itch.io, the original version of the game Stilt Fella. Over the next few years, I released a few more titles. As much as I love making games just for the fun of it, the plan was always to try to make a living out of it eventually. In early 2019 I set my plans in motion, and a few months later, September Games was born”, says Henrik. The visitors at QvarkCon testing games from developers in the Qvarken Game Industry project.
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