Swedish games boss warns 'retroactive' citizenship reforms 'not good for industry'

"This is unfortunately another rule that hasn't really been considered in terms of all the people who have come here to work and stay. It's one of the points that make us as a country less attractive for workforce migration, which is super important for our industry, because we are a global industry and we need people from all over to be able to create great games."

"The new citizenship rules which are set to come into force on Sweden's National Day, June 6th, include a longer residency requirement (eight years rather than the current five, as the default) and proof of Swedish language and civics knowledge. Crucially, for the almost 100,000 people waiting for their citizenship applications to be processed, the current proposal would apply the new rules to all applications from June 6th even those who applied before that date."

"The citizenship changes are part of a series of immigration reforms that have been carried out without transitional rules. The sudden repeal of Sweden's track change law, which allowed former asylum seekers to stay on a work permit, and hiked work permit salary threshold have already seen swathes of immigrants being forced to leave the country."

Sweden is implementing citizenship reforms effective June 6th that increase residency requirements from five to eight years and mandate Swedish language and civics knowledge. The new rules will apply retroactively to approximately 100,000 pending applications, regardless of application date. These reforms are part of broader immigration changes including the repeal of the track change law for asylum seekers and increased work permit salary thresholds. The Swedish Games Industry Association warns these changes without transitional provisions will make Sweden less attractive for international workforce migration, which is critical for the global games industry that requires diverse talent from around the world.

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