IGDA Finland Hub Highlight: Kajaani
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Burning straw goats and the booming games industry are some of the things Kajaani is known for, but how did this seemingly middle-of-nowhere hub become what it is today? Let’s find out!
In this first part of our hub highlight we dive into IGDA Kajaani, to find out who are they and why you should definitely visit their hub. We asked Kajaanis hub lead Tuomas Vartiainen to tell us a bit about their hub.
How did your hub get started and how old is it?
The IGDA Kajaani hub was founded in 2015, and it originally replaced an event called Industry Beer, where locals from the gamedev community gathered in Rock House Kulma, but now has grown into a much larger portion of the Kajaani gamedev culture.
What makes your hub special?
Our location comes with a fairly unique ecosystem with game companies and study opportunities. Kajaani is also just located very out of the way, despite that numerous people gather here to develop games within a healthy and good community. We always come up with new things to make our events more interesting and allow everyone to get involved.
What are some of the events, achievements, or other causes your hub is proud of?
For one of our more recent game jams, we collaborated with our local library to hold a game jam where children can take part in the development process by drawing in-game characters for the jammers to use. Yle News also ended up writing a couple of articles about the game jam.
What have been some of the struggles your hub has faced? Or anything you would wish to have?
Covid was the toughest struggle. Our hub was among the first to move online only, and we offered online seminars and meet-ups but of course people missed face-to-face meet-ups.
Our team of volunteers started out very small (3-4 people), so when people could not volunteer it had a large impact. Thankfully our volunteer team has grown a lot after Covid.
It has also been difficult to create a permanent feeling culture as students often have to move away after graduation due to the limited work market.
Where can people follow or find your hub?
You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Discord, they are all updated actively with our upcoming events!
Currently, Kajaani has 19 volunteers, and game companies such as Critical Force & Black Smoke Studios are located in Kajaani.
