TING VI: Connecting Game Studios with Talent

TING VI at Futuregames Stockholm

Over the course of four days, 34 game studios participated in around 800 “speed dating” meetings with our students, both onsite and online. The onsite sessions were held at our sites in Stockholm and Malmö, giving studios a chance to discover potential interns from our pool of game dev talent. At the Stockholm event, students and studios shared their insights with us.

“Futuregames gives you access to the industry”

Elli Tsamouli, international Game Designer student, shared the experience right after a meeting:

– I love it! It’s definitely stressful before you go in and start your first interviews. My first one was a bit shaky, but once you get through it, it feels great. You really get into a rhythm, and after that, everything just goes smoothly. I think the more interviews you do, the better it gets. TING is a fantastic opportunity for people to experience their first interviews without the intense application process. Futuregames gives you access to the industry—there are so many events to attend and people to talk to. It really helps you build those connections.

“I want to learn everything about everything!”

Moa Larsson is a Futuregames Game Programmer student whose dream is to become a sound programmer—but along the way, she wants to learn as much as possible.

– Before we began requesting meetings for TING, I probably had about ten companies in mind where I thought, “Okay, I’d like to apply there.” But along the way, that number has doubled. I’m a total sucker for best practices and learning how companies do things. I’m really looking for a place where people are willing to teach and okay with me asking a lot of questions. I want to learn everything about everything! While I have a special love for sound programming, I’m also open to more general roles. I’ve enjoyed the entire program and every subject, even if sound is where I really excel.

– It’s been fantastic, says Hugo Berglund, Animator & VFX student. I really like that the companies get time to look at our work beforehand. That makes me feel incredibly secure. It also makes the short meeting time feel less rushed. I feel confident knowing that the studios have had a few weeks to prepare. The whole setup is really well thought out. And then there’s also this two-way approach, where we can request meetings and they can request meetings. I think that’s absolutely brilliant.

“Success stories with internships from Futuregames”

– I think it’s worked really well today, says Kajfa Tam, Head of Art at Chief Rebel. The students have been very talented, as they usually are. It’s always a good way to start the day talking to skilled and driven people. They are well-prepared and motivated. I really appreciate that we, as a company, had the chance to present ourselves first. It means the students already know what we do, so we can jump straight into focusing on them.

Chief Rebel didn’t necessarily come to TING to find an intern for a specific role. Rather, as Kajfa expresses it, “to find the gems.”

– We’ve had success stories with internships from Futuregames, and that’s largely thanks to the opportunity we have as an industry to come here and really get to know the students. It’s great to meet them in person and get a sense of their potential. We’re not necessarily looking for specific roles when we come here. It’s rare for us to say, “We need a character artist” or  “We’re looking for an animator”. Instead, we’re here to get to know the students, to see how their drive and ambition align with our goals and vision. That way, we can choose the people we believe will fit us best.

“The Futuregames interns have the knowledge”

– It’s been super nice, it’s a great environment to meet the students, and with other companies, says Eleonora Matrella, VFX Recruiter at Important Looking Pirates. And it is not only the networking side of things, but it’s a nice vibe in general. The students are excited and prepared and very open to learning new things, I can see that.

What are you previous experiences with Futuregames interns?

– They have the knowledge. They come with eagerness and hunger to learn more. And I really like that they get to work on Futuregames game projects. So, to actually be able to explore what it is to work collaboratively with other people. To not only have the hard skill set, but also be able to navigate, you know, a collaborative environment.

Wrong Organ: a Futuregames achievement

Wrong Organ, the studio behind the dark indie horror success Mouthwashing is a true Futuregames success story—a studio founded by a group of former students. Now, Narrative Designer & Art Lead Johanna Kasurinen and Martin Halldin return to their alma mater to discover fresh talent and connect with the next generation of creative minds.

– We’re looking for VFX artists, animators, and level designers primarily, Johanna says. At the last TING, we attended for the first time as a company. We brought on two interns—one in art and one in level design. We ended up hiring the artist, which was really great! Now we’re back, hoping to strike gold again. It’s great to come and meet people. We get to see the portfolios, which is obviously very important, but what’s really nice is to get this kind of vibe check in such a short, contained amount of time. Especially for a small team like ours, culture fit is crucial. We really need to get a quick sense of, “Okay, are the vibes there?”.

– Some of the students, of course, know our background and that’s part of what makes us a bit unique compared to other companies, Martin says. We’ve been through the same experience ourselves. When they talk about their game project experiences, we can genuinely say, “Yeah, we know exactly what you mean.” It’s great to relate to them on that level because we’ve gone through the same thing.

Patric Nordmark is the Production & Design Director at TTK Games. The studio came to TING looking primarily for an animator, a game designer with a more tech-focused approach, and a level designer.

– My biggest impression? I really like the clear distinction within game design at Futuregames. You’ve got both level design and tech design, and it’s very clear when talking to the students where their passion lies and why they’ve chosen their specific path. I’m really impressed by the overall skill level. We haven’t met anyone where we felt they couldn’t handle an internship with us. So, it’s not about their abilities—it’s more about finding the right person with the right motivation, interest, and personality.

“Futuregames interns have been very succesful”

Aleksandra Grozdanović, HR Generalist and Recruiter at Fatshark, is a regular at TING and shares her positive experiences:

– We have had a lot of Futuregames students as interns, and they have all been very successful. Most of them are actually still working at Fatshark, so yeah, I would say the success rate is pretty high!