“Those people are my people”

Safety at game industry events in Finland

Abstract

Global game industry events pose safety concerns for women and gender-diverse attendees, but events organised within the Finnish game industry are experienced as safe, particularly by women attendees. This article examines how the sense of safety is produced at Finnish game industry events by using empirical material and situating the analysis within party studies. Four interlinked sources of safety are identified: individual safety precautions, social safety forming from close connections, institutional safety providing formal rules and processes, and cultural safety arising from shared community values. While individual safety precautions place responsibility on participants themselves, the latter three dimensions together form a community accountability model that explains how the sense of safety is collectively maintained. By foregrounding safety as a precondition for successful social connection, this article extends party studies by demonstrating how event design, organisers’ actions, and community practices can enable authenticity, belonging, and participation.