Oulu, a city in north of Finland that calls itself 'Capital of Northern Scandinavia', arranged their inaugural Midnight Pitch Fest in August of this year. I had the honor of serving as one of the pitch judges and participate in a panel titled "Games business atm & future - trends, funding, distribution, platforms, content". The organizers were thrilled to have me, I don't think I've ever had more grateful clients - the even gave me the title of "Games Über Guru"!

The first event was a success and games were well represented in the line-up. Out of the 5 categories, 2 were won by companies making games. Alpakka Media won the Start-up batch. They create variety of products, including games, around their own kid's IP "Pearl's World" or Hertan Maailma" in Finnish. Seed batch 2 was won by Havina Productions who are making language learning games. Overall, the game start-up scene in Oulu is buzzing, with 31 game companies in the city at the time of the event. Probably a few more by now.

A reporter working for the Finnish Foreign Ministry's website wrote an article about the event. You can find it here.

Here are some pictures from the event...