How did mobile do at the Finnish Game Awards? | Pocket Gamer.biz

The results are in and the Finnish Game Awards 2023 just wrapped.

Despite mobile’s popularity and profitability, mobile’s key strength relies in accessibility, and as such the platform is often overlooked at gaming awards worldwide – but how did it do at the Finnish Game Awards? After all, Finland is the spiritual home of mobile gaming so surely there’s plenty of love coming mobile’s way?

The first of the so-called “main awards” was the all-important Small Screen Game of the Year award, presented by Suomen Pelikmehittajat board vice chair Joni Lappalainen and chair of the board Jussi Loukianen.

“Small screen is for mobile, and as everyone knows Finland has a huge and long history with mobile games,” said Lappalainen. “I think today’s nominees also share the same DNA and the same footprints.”

The six nominees were:

Word Buddies
Badland Party
Offroad Unchained
Nerf: Superblast
Angry Birds Journey
Pako Highway…

And…

Tree Men Games emerged victorious with Pako Highway, which combines elements of the racing and endless runner genres.

Separate but equal?

Many industry awards separate mobile gaming into its own category, out of contention for some of the ceremony’s big prizes. 

The Finnish games industry, however, has a greater reverence for mobile gaming, as evidenced by Game Music Collective’s performance of the Angry Birds Theme Tune. As such, two of the six nominees for Small Screen Game of the Year – Angry Birds Journey and Pako Highway – were in contention for the Finnish Game of the Year award, alongside Undead Horde 2: Necropolis, Voltage High Society and Skabma – Snowfall.

Once again, it was Pako Highway that emerged victorious, capping off a successful night by taking home the award’s biggest prize. Congrats from all at PG.biz!

What does this mean for the wider industry? Well, for the foreseeable future it’s unlikely that even mobile’s biggest studios can topple AAA giants such as Square Enix or Naughty Dog in mainstream categories, but Pako Highway’s success shows that it is possible for mobile can not only face PC and console, but emerge victorious.

Meet the winners of tonight’s awards and more when we head back to Helsinki for Pocket Gamer Connects in September.