Per Strömbäck takes interest in the field of digital content, both in his previous career as game developer and -publisher, and more recently as the editor of Netopia – a web magazine and forum on the digital society. Published author and editor of two anthologies on digital culture and society.
Per Strömbäck has a background in game development as well as in publishing, since he joined the games industry in 1996. Per was a partner at Swedish indie developer Monsterland which released Rock Manager in fourteen countries 2001 (perhaps predicting the wave of music games a few years later), before moving on to Nordic publisher PAN Vision where he was the head of publishing. Since 2005, Per has been involved in the game industry’s trade bodies as the managing director of Spelplan – Association of Swedish Game Developers and the spokesperson for the industry-wide Dataspelsbranschen (Swedish Games Industry) body. 2007-09 Per Strömbäckserved as member of the board of ISFE – Interactive Software Federation Europe. Per Strömbäck worked as program manager for the 2006 Nordic Game Conference and has been involved in numerous trade missions to international conferences and shows in collaboration with the Nordic Game Program and the other Nordic trade organisations. Since 2015, Per is the chair of the Nordic Game Institute foundation. He lectures frequently at universities and industry events and has written reports on the industry for several Swedish government agencies. Per Strömbäck is the editor of the anthology Gratis? Beyond Money in the Digital Culture Economy (Volante, 2009), co-editor of the anthology The Myth of The Internet (Volante, 2012) and the editor of Swedish web magazine and think-tank Netopia – Forum for Digital Society. He appears regularly on panels, seminars and in the media in Sweden and Brussels. Per was a monthly columnist on games in Sweden’s major games publication Level in 2010-11. Per Strömbäck was a board member of the Swedish Film Institute and a member of the advisory board for the Swedish National Archives 2010-2016. He also serves on the board of the Swedish Advertising Ombudsman. Per’s book The Dream of Alexandria (Timbro 2013) took a closer look at the mixed blessing of unlimited distribution. His new book 21 Digital Myths – Reality Distortion Antidote (8tto 2016) is his debut as an author in English. Per has given speeches in French Senate, British House of Commons, Sweden’s Riksdag, at European Commission and numerous industry events. Before he joined the games industry, Per worked in the music industry in the 1990s with labels, tours, festivals and briefly as an artist manager. Per Strömbäck divides his time between Stockholm and Brussels. He has reached level 186 in Candy Crush Saga.