Southern Sweden Expands Game Ties with Japan

A strong delegation from Southern Sweden travelled to Japan this September, participating in both Expo 2025 Osaka and Tokyo Game Show (TGS) 2025 to showcase the region’s creativity and deepen collaborations between Sweden and Japan.
The visit began at the Nordic Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, where Business Sweden hosted Play Nordics, an event highlighting the future of games, collaboration potential, and community-driven development. The program featured dialogues between leading studios such as Hazelight Studios and Sega, offering unique insights into cross-cultural innovation and the evolving global games landscape.
Invest in Skåne and Game Habitat joined the event to present Southern Sweden’s vibrant game development community and its strengths as a natural landing spot for Japanese studios looking to connect with the European market.

Following Osaka, the delegation headed to Tokyo Game Show (TGS), one of the world’s largest gaming events, and showcased all of the Swedish companies in a booth organised under the umbrella of Invest in Skåne, Game Habitat and Sweden Game Arena. The delegation included five studios from Southern Sweden: IO Interactive, Apog Labs, Carry Castle, Transcenders Media, and Llama Lane, alongside other leading Swedish developers. These companies also participated in events at Tokyo Innovation Base and Shibuya Startup Support, which was facilitated by the help of the Japan Business and Innovation Hub in Malmö.



“Whenever we present the Swedish games ecosystem abroad, people are struck by its density and innovative spirit. In Japan especially, the exchange feels natural — many Swedish studios have been deeply inspired by Japanese game culture, and that shared creative DNA forms a strong foundation for collaboration,” said Thomas Bressler, Regional Investment Promotion Manager at Invest in Skåne.
Through these activities, Southern Sweden reinforced its position as one of Europe’s most dynamic games regions and strengthened the bridge between Nordic and Japanese game development communities.

Source: Invest in Skåne