“The game students will build a life here”

Attracting long-distance immigrants. Social inclusion. The housing issue. Broadening the labor market. Active work with gender equality. The activities at Boden Game Camp touch on many of Norrbotten's major challenges - and are an example to be inspired by.

It's late afternoon, almost evening – but the premises are still full of people. People from Los Angeles and Montreal, Rio de Janeiro and New Delhi, Singapore and Sydney have moved to Boden to train in the growing gaming industry.

What Boden has done is to build a talent factory in just a few years, starting with a high school education with a national intake. Now there is an international environment here with students and companies under the same roof and a community of like-minded people.

Want to retain talent

So far, they have managed to get 150 people to settle down and stay in the town for a while. A good number of them are from other countries.

– It is very important for us that the students who come here become Bodensäre, build a life here so that we can retain these young talents, says business developer Mattias Bergqvist, who gave the tour for the Competence Council, which gathered in Sävast for the first meeting of the year.

Game development students at Boden Game Camp. Photo: Mats Engfors / Fotographic.

The Competence Council brings together representatives from all over Norrbotten who work with education and the labor market in various ways. This time they met at Boden Business Park in Sävast and were treated to a tour of Boden Game Camp's Fabriken location.

The factory consists of three floors where students and entrepreneurs come together in a unique ecosystem for the computer games industry. There are students studying games education and several game development studios.

– A big advantage of studying at Boden Game Camp is that, unlike many other places, we try to help with student accommodation, community, leisure time and close relationships with the industry, says Mattias Bergqvist.

Great need for expertise

In just a few years, Boden Game Camp has managed to create a cluster for the gaming industry. Today, they have 300 students, 7 courses and 15 companies established in Boden. The gaming industry is crying out for expertise, the computer games industry believes that there may be a shortage of 25 game developers in Sweden in ten years.

Boden Game Camp is committed to increasing gender equality in the industry. In the most recent admissions to the upper secondary education programs, there were 50/50 girls and boys. In 2018, they organized Valkyrie Jam for the first time, a ten-day game jam for experienced female and non-binary game developers. The following year, it received great international attention. Female game developers from all over the world gathered and some of the largest companies were represented there.

The high school class that began in the fall of 2022 has a completely even gender distribution. Photo: Boden Municipality.

Boden Game Camp shows that it is possible to create international migration with a strong offering. It shows the power and potential that exists in the cultural and creative industries. It also shows that the connection to the city, the social network that is required, does not have to be a prerequisite for moving – it can grow on site if the conditions are right.

Text: Matilda Wikberg and Sara Stylbäck Vesa

Want to know more? Listen to episode 3 of our podcast Let's talk: This is how an international gaming success was created in Boden.
The episode is from October 2020.

For even more information about the betting, contact:
Mattias Bergqvist, Business Development Manager
mattias.bergqvist@bodenbusinesspark.se
bodengamecamp.com

FACTS: Competence Council

Within the framework of the North Sweden Green Deal, the reference group, the Skills Council, is taking a closer look at how the skills supply issue can be untangled.

The skills council brings together representatives from all over Norrbotten who work with education and the labor market in various ways. The main participants are adult education organizers, the employment service, trade organizations and employers in the public sector. They meet a few times each year to jointly identify problem areas and seek solutions.

The North Sweden Green Deal is an initiative to realize a sustainable societal transition, in the wake of the new industrial establishments.

The project is run by Region Norrbotten and Region Västerbotten together with a number of other actors. It is financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).