Sweden named Europe's premier development hub in GDC Europe survey

Sweden, home to game developers behind Minecraft and the Battlefield series among others, has been named Europe's premier game development hub, according to the latest results of the second annual European State of the Industry survey released from organizers of the GDC Europe today.

The survey also shows that both Germany and the U.K. are expected to overtake Sweden as the region's top hub within the next five years.

This is likely the result of government tax breaks in both countries, with 47 percent of respondents stating the U.K. offers the best tax breaks for local game development, with Finland, France, Germany and the Netherlands tied for a distant second with 9.5 percent of the votes each.

The U.K. is still seen as inferior to Canada with regards to tax incentive programs, however, according to comments from survey takers. Canada is still viewed as a model for drawing industry talent both domestically and from abroad.

The GDC Europe developer survey is based on responses from over 400 European game industry professionals who have attended previous HDC events or will be attending GDC Europe 2014.