On the heels of a United States-based studio not winning the year-end Game of the Year award since 2020 with The Last of Us Part 2 comes another interesting statistic when it comes to global game development — Sweden will finish 2025 as the global leader in Steam revenue, accounting for 20 percent of all gross revenue.
In a new report from Alinea Analytics, which details 2025 in gaming, including bestsellers, revenue and biggest Indie titles, the company revealed that Sweden, a country of roughly 10 million people, is quickly and quietly dominating the gaming industry at large.
Of that 20 percent market share, Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, accounts for a whopping 16 percent. However, it was R.E.P.O., a game developed in nearby Uppsala, that was the big winner.
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R.E.P.O. reportedly represents 3 percent of all games sold on Steam in 2025. The games don’t stop there, as many of the standout titles from this year come from the region.
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Abyssus and RV There Yet, the latter of which was one of the best-selling Indie games on Steam, were developed in Skövde. Meanwhile, in Gothenburg, The Midnight Walk, Keep Driving and Lost in Random: The Eternal Die, among other titles, were developed.
Uppsala was home to R.E.P.O. and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle — Indy received its PS5 port in early 2025, then its massive expansion, The Order of Giants, was released in the second half.
Finally, in Stockholm, where revenue was at its highest, the likes of Arc Raiders, Battlefield 6, Split Fiction and Peak all had development in the capital.
Embark Studios, which was made by former DICE employees, made Arc Raiders, while those still at DICE helped on Battlefield 6, alongside the newly formed Battlefield Studios. Elsewhere, Josef Fares’ Hazelight Studios has long been a fixture of Swedish game development.
Given that Arc Raiders and Battlefield 6, in particular, are live-service titles, there’s a good chance that they will continue to prop up revenue in the region. That’s not factoring in Arrowhead Studios and Helldivers 2, which continues to receive regular updates, plus Ubisoft’s Massive studio, which all but assuredly has another entry in The Division franchise ready to go.
In all, it’s a rather massive accomplishment, one that sees little sign of stopping anytime soon.
- Released
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October 30, 2025
- ESRB
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Teen / Violence, Blood
- Developer(s)
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Embark Studios
- Publisher(s)
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Embark Studios
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