Stockholm tech and gaming tour

Stockholm is not just Sweden's capital, it is also one of Europe's most productive clusters for information technology, including video games.

Sweden has been a forerunner in electronics and computing since the 1960s. Sweden was non-aligned during the Cold War, and developed military and other strategic technology independently; airplane and arms manufacturer SAAB was a main sponsor of Swedish computer technology. Cooperation between the telecom provider Televerket and the telephone manufacturer Ericsson allowed early expansion of mobile phone networks. Sweden became an important player in digital piracy, with the launch of The Pirate Bay in 2003, though the founders were sentenced to prison in 2010. Successful Swedish tech startups include Spotify, Skype, Klarna, and King Digital.

The Swedish technology miracle has been attributed to many other factors; including the long dark winters, the free college education, and the 1997 to 2002 tax-deductibility of home computers.

• 59.34722218.0727781 Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). While KTH was founded in 1827, the main campus was built during the 1910s. The metro station's art illustrates the history of physics and astronomy, with references to Newtonian mechanics and Swedish mechanical engineer Christopher Polhem (1661-1751). Since the Middle Ages, Sweden's economy has been based on mining and metalworking, and the oldest education programs at KTH are for mining, chemistry and mechanical engineering, which led Sweden through the 19th century Industrial Revolution. In the 20th century, KTH became a forerunner in computing (described later). The motto is Vetenskap och konst ("science and art"), where "art" should be interpreted as "skill", applied and practical engineering.  
• 59.342818.07352 Villagatan 13. This address has been the home of many Swedish celebrities, two of them remembered as Citizen Kane-like tragic heroes who built industrial empires at the cost of their personal well-being. The first was Ivar Kreuger (1880-1932), who made a fortune from matchsticks, founded Sweden's motion picture industry in the 1920s, and lost his fortunes in the 1930s depression. Jan Stenbeck (1942-2002) lived here; the heir of Kinnevik, a holding company with most of its assets in the forestry and metal industries; since centuries the backbone of Swedish economy. Following legal conflicts with other family members, Stenbeck re-structured Kinnevik for investment in emerging markets. He founded dozens of project, many fo them failing. Among the successors were Tele2, the first competitor to state-owned telecom operator Televerket, and the Modern Times Group, challenging the TV and radio monopolies with satellite broadcasting and commercial channels. He is remembered as a pioneer of the Swedish tech industry.  

• 59.342518.0619283 Ericsson factories. LM Ericsson's factories from the 1890s to 1939. The company was founded in the 1870s, making switchboards and telephones. In the 1980s they made a line of desktop computers, and pioneered development computer and mobile phone networks. In year 2000, they were one of Sweden's most valuable companies, but they were hit hard by the 2000s tech crisis. In 2001, Ericsson transferred the mobile phone production to Sony, but they remain a world-leading developer of mobile phone networks.  
• 59.33972218.0554 Old KTH Campus (Gamla tekniska högskolan, Stockholm), Drottninggatan 95. The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) had its earlier premises here, built in 1860. As the new KTH campus opened in the 1910s, the institute kept these buildings. Sweden's two first computers were built here; BARK in 1950 and BESK in 1953, which was at that time the world's fastest computer. KTH opened its first professor's chair in scientific computing in 1963, and has a master program in computer sciences in 1983. In the late 1980s, KTH was of the first European universities to be connected to the Internet. Today, the buildings are used by the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, and for residences.  
• 59.33722218.06255 Thulehuset, Sveavägen 46. This office building has had a variety of tenants, and is as of the 2020s the main office of Klarna, a Swedish payment handler and one of Stockholm's unicorn companies. Formerly the office of King Digital Entertainment. In this street corner, Prime Minister Olof Palme was assassinated in 1986; see Stockholm labour tour for context.  
• 59.33709518.0640776 Thule Data Center. A server hall opened in 2012 in a section of the Johannes bunker (the world's first nuclear-proof bomb shelter) branding itself as the most energy efficient in Sweden. Owned by Bahnhof, an Internet service provider famous in the hacker community for their stand for privacy and free information.  
• 59.33482218.0696037 Rovio Stockholm, Jakobsbergsgatan 22. A Finnish game studio famous for Angry Birds. Finland's tech sector mainly stems from telecom company Nokia, which was world-leading in the early 2000s. See also Finnish Stockholm tour.  
• 59.3334518.066098 King Digital Entertainment, Malmskillnadsgatan 19. A game studio most famous for Candy Crush Saga.  
• 59.33308318.0642499 Avicii Experience, Sergelgatan 2. An interactive exhibition dedicated to the Swedish music producer and DJ Tim Bergling, better known as Avicii, who made world success up to his untimely death in 2018. The rise of Swedish electronic music in the early 2000s is attributed to the country's high rate of Internet connection and home computer ownership. See also Stockholm pop tour.  
• 59.33100518.0679810 Spotify headquarters, Regeringsgatan 19. Spotify, founded in 2008, is the world's largest music streaming service as of 2024. Limited access to the public.  
• 59.32055618.05305611 Münchenbryggeriet. A brewery built in the 1890s, today used as a conference centre with offices for tech companies, among them Mojang, the maker of Minecraft.  
• 59.31340218.06026112 Digital Illusions CE (DICE), Södermalmsallén 36. A game studio owned by Electronic Arts.  
• 59.3115518.0591113 Paradox Interactive, Magnus Ladulåsgatan 4. A studio and publisher for strategy games including Europa Universalis and Hearts of Iron.  
• 59.31238618.08549714 Pionen. A data center in a bunker. Limited access to the public.  

• 59.33138918.01472215 Thorildsplan metro station. One of many stations of Stockholm Metro renowned for its art, with motifs from low-resolution video games.  
• 59.332518.1187116 Museum of Science and Technology (Tekniska Museet), Museivägen 7. An impressive collection of tech memorabilia, including one of the server racks from a 2008 police raid against the Pirate Bay.  
• 59.40217.94717 Kista Science Tower.  
• Stockholm environmentalist tour for the city's contribution to sustainable technology, and the dilemmas of ecology