Nordic Game 2026 was full of smiles, but they hid a very tough reality | Opinion
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The indie conference https://www.gamesindustry.biz/events/nordic-game-2026">Nordic Game returned to Malmö this week, and although the event naturally has a big focus on Scandinavian developers, there was a multinational flavour to the event booths.
Germany, Ukraine, and Moldova were among the countries represented on the show floor, and in fact the Moldovan game https://store.steampowered.com/app/3091140/Lootbound/">Lootbound scooped https://www.gamesindustry.biz/arc-raiders-wins-nordic-game-of-the-year-at-the-nordic-game-awards">the People's Choice Award, which is voted for by conference attendees.
But my personal highlight was https://store.steampowered.com/app/2468200/DDoD/">DDoD, a roguelike shooter from Ukrainian developer The Future Entertainment Company.
I came for the giant mutant snails, but stayed for the tense, loot-based gameplay in a huge industrial wasteland, which felt like a tantalising cross between Stalker and Diablo.