Community Is the New Capital

On the first day of the CDG-Booster Accelerator kick-off in Tartu, Estonia, Stefan Lampinen, the acclaimed founder of Game Advisor Ltd, delivered a thought-provoking keynote that invited founders to look at funding in games with fresh eyes. Instead of treating money as something handed down from distant institutions, he explored how power is shifting toward communities, creators and players themselves.

He compared his early work at Nokia, where a small “fellowship unit” made all the decisions and handled communication, with today’s more complicated situation. Tools and technologies developed in gaming have spread into other industries, such as systems to keep people engaged and virtual currencies. This change has made things feel “choppy” for new studios: the old guides and even common venture capital phrases don’t fully fit the current situation.

Stefan said the real skill today is learning to work within ongoing feedback cycles. It’s less about following a perfect five-year plan and more about noticing, adjusting, and improving while the game is active. In this world, funding and support from communities, e.g., players, fans, small supporters, and online followers, can sometimes offer a more flexible option than traditional investors, especially when paired with the use of easily available, inexpensive technologies.

One story from a couple of years ago showed this clearly. On a drive to the airport, a Swedish game developer managed a TikTok account so well that his videos reached Japanese viewers, even though he didn’t speak Japanese! Automatic translations, platform tools, and a clear understanding of what the audience wanted did most of the work.

For CDG-Boosters target companies, Stefan’s message was challenging, yet hopeful: the opportunity exists, especially in community-driven models, but it takes courage to leave the safety of old ways and learn to work with these new cycles.