Its general manager, Patrick Bach, remembers how the four founders knew each other during that time, making demos for the Amiga, and how that pushed them to work on their first game, Pinball Dreams after signing a contract with a British publisher. One group that followed this path was The Silent, which later became Digital Illusions, now DICE. In the ‘80s, these gatherings were also chances to build companies, because they allowed developers to meet each other and get attention from entertainment companies. The demo scene gatherings were similar to the one taking place today at the museum, with teams showing and explaining how they have experimented with new concepts. Like suddenly making your iPhone transfer stuff 10 extra speed than what the manufacturer says,” Burman says. “How can make his computer show 256 colors when the specifications say it can only show 16?” The demo scene was a place to show 3D computer graphics combined with nearly impossible technical achievements. “How can make his computer show 256 colors when the specifications say it can only show 16?” They benefitted from the fact that the Atari, Amiga and early computers didn’t have much graphical power and any small tweak could make a difference. In the eighties and nineties, enthusiasts gathered to show off advanced computer graphics and how they pushed the boundaries of their computers to do unexpected things through small programs. He didn’t hesitate, and soon he was convincing old friends from the triple-A industry to join him in making casual games (he ended up resigning in March 2016).īut Burman’s career started in the demo scene. After some time at Electronic Arts he received a call from Rovio to start a new studio in Stockholm. He is one of the co-founders of Stugan, and this afternoon he has been walking around the exhibition of Stugan projects, explaining to visitors the idea behind the program. Oskar Burman has been making games for more than 20 years, since the early days of game development in Sweden.
Apart from big games like Mirror’s Edge and the Battlefield and Just Cause series, the panorama is also packed with casual games like Candy Crush and indie games like Minecraft, Hotline Miami and Year Walk. It grew from 106 game studios in 2010 to more than 213 in 2014, and the number of employees nearly doubled in the same period. One out of every 10 people in the world has played a Swedish game, according to a report published by the Swedish Game Association, and the country has experienced a boom in game development in recent years. After the years it took to make Swedish games a commercial success, the industry is at its peak, and game developers and entrepreneurs are trying to give back what they have learned and help newcomers break into the industry. From the moment Stugan was born, developers, entrepreneurs and authorities helped by offering funding, contacts and housing.
Stugan could be seen as an eccentricity, but in Sweden it’s a natural outcome of what’s happening in the local industry: Studios are lending a hand to organize events, provide mentorship and give talks and that highlight their common problems.
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