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Sweden establishes research hub for game development

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Sweden has one of the world’s most competitive game industries, but the lack of industry-driven research threatens both innovation and the supply of skilled professionals. That’s why the Knowledge Foundation is investing in a new national research centre to strengthen collaboration between academia and the games industry.

Game Development Research Centre (GDRC) is now being established – a national centre for game development research designed to strengthen Sweden’s position in the global games industry. The initiative brings together actors from the games sector and four Swedish universities: the University of Skövde, Malmö University, Blekinge Institute of Technology and Karlstad University.

" We will now have the opportunity to establish game development as a research domain in its own right. And that’s about time, considering how interesting and successful our Swedish games industry is.
Per Backlund
Professor at the University of Skövde

Valuable for science and industry

The Swedish games industry is dominated by micro‑enterprises; almost 90 percent of companies have fewer than ten employees. Despite their size, these small studios often achieve significant commercial success. The GDRC aims to enable such successful micro‑enterprises to engage in long‑term research and gain access to cutting‑edge knowledge.

“Through GDRC, researchers and companies can collaborate from the very start of the research process. This enables the partners to identify research questions and produce results that are both directly useful for the companies involved and scientifically valuable,” says Per Backlund.

A pioneering project

The Knowledge Foundation is the main funder of the project. Although the foundation has extensive experience in financing collaborative projects between academia and industry, the GDRC investment is unprecedented.

" With this investment, we aim to enable the development of new collaboration models tailored to the unique conditions of the games industry. The initiative lays the foundation for long-term partnerships that are crucial for Sweden to maintain and strengthen its strong position in game development.
Eva Schelin
CEO of the Knowledge Foundation

The foundation is investing more than SEK 29 million in the GDRC – a decision preceded by a thorough review by an international panel of experts.

A national hub for game development research

The games industry is still young and has a unique structure. The traditional methods of collaboration used between universities and other Swedish export industries are ill-suited for the games industry. Through GDRC, however, more suitable methods for collaboration can be developed.

" With this project, we are establishing a national hub for Swedish game development research. We bring together researchers and game companies from across Sweden to strengthen the competitiveness of the Swedish games industry. The University of Skövde is taking a leading role in the project thanks to our strong local game development ecosystem. However, it is the funding from the Knowledge Foundation that makes this joint initiative possible.
Tehseen Aslam
Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Skövde
Fakta: Game Development Research Centre (GDRC)

Project time: Five years, 2026-2031

Main Funder: The Knowledge Foundation

Academic partners: University of Skövde, Malmö University, Blekinge Institute of Technology and Karlstad University

Industry and research partners: EA Digital Illusions, Divine Robot, Llama Lane, Cygames, F-Mad AB, Coffee Stain Studios, Okatima, Modl.ai, Stunlock Studios AB, Embracer Games Archive, GOALS, Ubisoft Sweden (Massive), Reactional Music Group, Game Habitat, Science Park Skövde, Healthygaming, RISE, Dataspelsbranschen