Swedish games industry revenue increased 6.4% in 2023

The Swedish games industry's domestic revenue has grown 6.4% year-on-year in 2023, to SEK 34.6 billion ($3.17 billion), according to the latest report from trade body Dataspelsbranschen.

The Swedish games industry body noted in its latest Game Developer Index that revenue doubled over the last five years.

The number of games companies in Sweden has also increased by 8% last year, to 1,010, with 108 new games companies created in 2023.

The number of employees grew by the same rate and there were 9,089 people working in the Swedish industry in 2023. 75.8% of them were men, and 23.7% were women – while the industry in the country is made up by an overwhelming majority of men, the number of women increased 23.7% year-on-year.

The report highlighted that despite layoffs and studio closures, new hires increased just shy of 30% compared to 2022.

Looking at Swedish games companies, around 42% of them are solo endeavours, while 39% have fewer than five employees. Large companies with over 250 employees only represent 1% of the total.

Nine firms reported revenues over SEK 1 billion ($92 million) for the period, including King, Mojang, Paradox Interactive, and EA Dice.

"2023 ought to have been a really bad year for Swedish game companies," commented managing director Per Strömbäck. "But it turned out to be a new record year. Employment increased. So did revenue. And the number of women. The increases weren't as big as some previous years, but nonetheless: all time high. It wasn't all sunshine and soda popin' 2023, though."

He mentioned that investments decreased due to a variety of factors including low interests rate, inflation, redundancies, and studio closures.

"But investments have increased again in 2024," he continued. "The number of Swedish companies' employees abroad also decreased due to divestment of foreign subsidiaries (but total revenue increased).

"Why is it that Swedish game companies are going against the tide of the economic crisis? The best answer is that we make good games. And we make many different kinds of games that reach many different kinds of players. From simple puzzles to almost infinitely detailed strategy games. Children's games and games for adults. Big and small. Technologically groundbreaking or ingenious in their simplicity. Swedish game companies have all kinds. That's the best recipe for the future too."

We talked to Paradox CEO deputy CEO Mattias Lilja last month about how the Swedish developer has weathered delays, developer splits, and Life By You's cancellation.