2025 brings to a close an iconic piece of Finland's local gaming industry, as Pelaaja revealed that they have published their final issue.
The beloved magazine, which has been covering both international and domestic games since 2002, concluded this week with issue #268. The closure followed a buyout by magazine giant Fokus Media. In their press release, the company stated that all subscribers will be automatically transferred to Pelit magazine, a publication also under their umbrella. Its original publisher, H-Town Oy has announced that they "will focus on publishing gaming-related content online on its Pelaaja.fi website" though our impression from public discussions is that it's with a greatly reduced team.
For their final issue, the Pelajaa team celebrated their bustling Finnish games industry, with spotlights on companies Housemarque, Bugbear Entertainment and Channel37. There was also coverage for new and upcoming titles including Without a Dawn and Finnish Summer Cottage Simulator, alongside shoutouts to upcoming demos such as Nitro Games' Autogun Heroes: Supercharged.
Remedy naturally made an appearance too, in a special preview for FBC: Firebreak written by familiar name and friend, Janne Pyykkönen. For the article, Janne attended the virtual press event held ahead of the Future Games Springs Showcase. They spoke to Mike Kayatta (Game Director), Thomas Puha (Communications Director) Julius Fondem (Community Manager) alongside seeing gameplay footage for the Paper Chase job.
Pelaaja's April 2025 Issue #268 is now available in newsagents in Finland, and available digitally online.
Source: Pelaaja
.png)
