IGS Alumni

Our graduates have found jobs as game experts in the government, national institutes, game companies, NGOs, museums, education, and other places. The increase of the importance of games and play in society have created a need for expertise on these topics; our alumni can respond to this need. Many of them are pioneers, creating and shaping the positions they occupy. See also: the list of our completed Master’s and PhD theses.

Olli-Poika Parviainen

Olli-Poika Parviainen: “I have studied game design and worked with games before, but it was the IGS that gave me the necessary tools to understand the broader possibilities of games and technology in our society, and of course to use academic method in my everyday work. Improving the society and using new technologies to promote good have always been issues that are close to my heart. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why I became a member of parliament of Finland. My background in game studies and information sciences in general have been an important source of knowledge and inspiration. For example I am currently working in the parliament Committee for the Future, where themes such as digitalization or the possibilities of gamification are often discussed. With my educational background, I have the possibility to be in the frontline of these discussions.”

 

Karoliina Korppoo
Karoliina Korppoo

Karoliina Korppoo: “I work as a Game Designer which, in short, means I imagine what the finished game will look like, how it works, and how the player would most likely want to play the game. Furthermore, I need to be able to communicate all of this to the rest of the production team so we can build a finished product. Before my master’s degree studies I completed a Bachelor of Culture and Arts (Medianomi) degree. This provided me with a solid foundation of practical know-how, upon which I could build with the excellent, more theoretical and reflective education the university had to offer. To be honest, academic games research is a far cry from the practical work that goes on in the games industry, but it does provide you with the competence necessary to better understand games as systems and what motivates players to play games.”

Tuuli Saarinen
Tuuli Saarinen

Tuuli Saarinen: “I graduated officially in 2012, and am currently working as a User Experience Designer in the video games industry in Montreal, Canada. I work on a multiplatform game called World Series of Poker, developed by the company called Playtika. The degree I got from IGS master’s programme was instrumental in me getting into the games industry as a game designer and user experience designer. Thanks to the degree, I was able to get a solid understanding of the industry and game design, on both a theoretical and practical level. I even had actual games to show for it! I didn’t have to abandon academia either, despite joining the industry; just last year I got hired to work on a research project, specifically because of my dual approach to video games.”

Markus Montola
Markus Montola

Markus Montola was the first person to defend his doctoral dissertation on Game Studies after Information Studies and Interactive Media discipline was established. His award-winning dissertation On the Edge of the Magic Circle (2012) discusses role-playing and pervasive gaming and proposes a theoretical framework for studying ephemeral games. Since then Montola has worked as a game designer at Grey Area, Housemarque and Boomlagoon, working on games such as Shadow Cities. He works at a Reforged Studios as senior game designer.

kuva
Tero Huttunen

Tero Huttunen: “I am currently working as a special advisor for the Ministry of Education and Culture, at the Department for General Education and Early Childhood Care to be exact. The Ministry of Education and Culture is responsible for developing education, science, culture, sport youth policies in Finland. Nature of my work is mainly offer and bring expertise on digital culture and technology when there is legislative, education development or research preparations to be made. Work also includes different development projects, for example we are now piloting nationwide single-sign-on solution for pupils in basic education. From my point of view, degree and the expertise I got from my studies in Tampere was one of the main reasons I was selected to my current post. On the other hand, I see there is growing demand and shortage in the public sector for those who has deep expertise in digital culture or technology since our society is extending itself to the digital realms.”