setting up game studio in helsinki from scratch


Setting up a game studio in Finland

Cyril BarrowVP operations - Rovio

FromHardware...

WhoisCyrilBarrow?

to...FreetoPlay....

20years,leadingpeople,productsandprocesses.

Helsinki

Jan2014

March2014

Feb2015

May2014

Companyestablished

1stemployee• GM

Fullteamhired(Producer&ADhired)

Teamof17:• 1GM• 3Design• 6Engineers• 2Admin• 3art• Producer• AD

Movedintotheofficewith3employees:• GM• Eng• Techofficemanager

Helsinki


The office


- Office for 25 people: 7 500€ / Month

- Hot seat in Helsinki: 500 € / pers / Month

- Office contract negotiations was hard and slow.

- We got an amazing office.

- Proper internet set up was slow. We ran on 4G for 2 months

- Lots of second hand office shops around.


The recruitment


Relocations needed:- Russian living in Czech Republic- Ukraine- Canada- Turkey

Other nationalities in the team:- China- UK- France- Bulgaria- India

- Efficient and fast visa application- Game industry head hunter -> low yield (high competition)- Hires came from Network, LinkedIn scooting and ads.- Artists were the ardest to find - Attrition: 4 people (20%) during year 1- Applicants expect to be paid for doing recruitment tests (growing trend)


Expected perks in finland:

- Free mobile phone- Phone bill paid by company- Lunch vouchers- Sport vouchers- Home internet- Free drinks/snacks at the office- Game room- Cool office- 9-17 office hours- stock options- Bonus

- Growing trend: Recreational creative freedom


The services


- Law firm

- Auditor

- Accounting

- Pay roll + taxes

- Office cleaning

Employment tax:

24% on estimated yearly salaries.


The game(s)


- There was a very high hope put on the Helsinki studio

- The team had to gain the trust of HQ + project manager

- The team had to discover (guess) and adapt to the company’s production frame

Recommendations:

- set expectations early

- acknowledge roles and responsibilities

- schedule milestones and reviews

- give freedom between milestones

- don’t assume all game studios work the same way


What did we learn?


Fully staffed run rate (17 people) : 100k€/Month1st year cost: 850k€

Don’t assume your GM will also be theproduct ownerproducerHR manager

Get a native office assistant and office tech.

Tekes money not that easily available.R&D loanMarketing grantYoung innovative company support


What went well


- Office setup

- Law firm, accounting, Payroll set up

- Advertising jobs is efficient (networking is better)

- We were integrated to the game community quickly (IGDA)

- Our office assistant was helping the families to settle in Finland

- We opened our office to the families


What was difficult


- Office contract negotiations

- Taylor made financial reporting

- Internet set up

- Find artists, art director and free to play specialist.

- Understand the company’s culture

- Understand the company’s production framework

- Align roles and responsibilities

- Stand the pressure of expectations

Thank you.

setting up game studio in helsinki from scratch

Technology