From relatively large and established companies such as Rovio and Supercell to small teams of indie developers, there is a remarkable creative ferment in this corner of Europe. In 2015, Finnish mobile game companies together constituted a €2.4bn business, according to the trade association NeoGames.

As the home of titles such as Angry Birds and Clash of Clans, Finland is where many ambitious game developers – not just Finns – go to make their mark in the industry. Where I work, at Rovio, nearly 40 different nationalities are represented within our workforce alone.

There are many reasons for Finland’s unique position in the sector. Local wags have joked that with such long, dark winters, ex-Nokia engineers had nothing better to do with their time than shut themselves in and make games. Others point to the high quality of education in Finland, or to social arrangements (the “Nordic model”) that make entrepreneurship less risky and a more realistic option for more people. No doubt there’s some truth in these observations.

But whatever the case, a crucial part of the magic is the openness of Finland itself. While Rovio recruits from all over the world, the lion’s share of those nearly 40 different nationalities are in fact European. Thanks to Finland’s membership of the European Union, Rovio and all Finnish companies are able to very easily, with a minimum of bureaucratic hassle, draw upon on a high-quality pool of talent from all across Europe. In our offices, Finns work in high-performance teams side by side with Poles, Germans, French, Swedes, Estonians and Britons, to name a few. Finland’s openness to Europe has led to the cosmopolitan clustering of artists, coders, engineers and other game professionals that we see in the bars and clubs of Helsinki today. Rovio is undoubtedly richer for it.

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So as the CEO of an entertainment company delivering globally competitive products, to me Europe means business. Europe means talent. Europe means that a company based in a small country such as Finland has a fighting chance of assembling a world-class team that is able to compete head-to-head against the largest companies anywhere.

Of the many European countries whose citizens contribute directly to the success of Rovio, not least is the UK. In our head office, in Espoo, just outside Helsinki, we employ around a dozen British nationals. We also have a diverse team working out of a small satellite office in London. And we benefit from cross-pollination with the UK’s own fertile gaming scene: our most recent game (Angry Birds Action!) was developed in close collaboration with the fantastic Dundee-based studio Tag Games. The UK is very much a part of the everyday fabric of our business, and it is a frequent stop on my travels.

What would happen, then, if the UK were to vote to leave the European family? From my point of view, at least, it would create a challenging and disorienting situation. We would be obliged to review our business arrangements regarding the UK, a worrying and potentially costly prospect. And if the law were to suddenly force us to restrict British talent from future hiring considerations, that would be a sad loss both for Britain and for Finland. That’s my opinion as a businesswoman, anyway.

As a Finn, as a person, I would also be saddened that, despite being surrounded by the technology and the means to reduce barriers between peoples like never before, yet another wall would seem to be going up, when in this century, in these thrilling times, they should be going down.

Britain, no matter which way you vote, I hope you find a way to prevent such walls from separating us. In Finland’s experience – and I think in yours too – being part of a bigger team has allowed us to raise our game.