Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby, Surrey, and Vancouver. The 170-hectare (420-acre) main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and comprises more than 30,000 students and 160,000 alumni. The university was created in an effort to expand higher education across Canada.
E3 was an annual trade event for the video game industry organized and presented by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). It was held principally in Los Angeles from 1995 to 2019, with its final iteration held virtually in 2021. The event hosted developers, publishers, hardware manufacturers, and other industry professionals who used the occasion to introduce and advertise upcoming games, hardware, and merchandise to the press. During its existence, E3 was the world's largest and most prestigious annual gaming expo.
O'Reilly Media, Inc. is an American learning company established by Tim O'Reilly provides technical and professional skills development courses via an online learning platform. O’Reilly also publishes books about programming and other technical content. Its distinctive brand features a woodcut of an animal on many of its book covers. The company was known as a popular tech conference organizer for more than 20 years before closing the live conferences arm of its business.
The video game industry is the tertiary and quaternary sectors of the entertainment industry that specialize in the development, marketing, distribution, monetization and consumer feedback of video games. The industry encompasses dozens of job disciplines and thousands of jobs worldwide.
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival, and a variety of tutorials, lectures, and roundtables by industry professionals on game-related topics covering programming, design, audio, production, business and management, and visual arts.
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) is the trade association of the video game industry in the United States. It was formed in April 1994 as the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) and renamed on July 21, 2003. It is based in Washington, D.C. Most of the top publishers in the gaming world are members of the ESA.
Tokyo Game Show, commonly known as TGS, is a video game trade fair and convention held annually in September in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. The main focus of the show is on Japanese games, but some international video game developers use it to showcase upcoming releases/related hardware. The duration of the event is four days. The first two days of Tokyo Game Show are open only to industry attendees (business) and the general public can attend during the final two days.
A trade show, also known as trade fair, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and customers, study activities of competitors, and examine recent market trends and opportunities.
Anime Evolution is the general name for a number of anime conventions held in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was organized by AE Convention Corp. until 2010 and by the Vancouver Anime Convention Society since 2012. It was traditionally held in August until 2012 before moving to June and then later July. The event was an annual three-day convention, and over time added two single day events, Harumatsuri and Akimatsuri. The summer event, called AE Summer, was shortened to a single day event in 2017. The 2019 Anime Evolution event: Harumatsuri saw a return to a multi-day format and a Burnaby venue.
Fan Expo Canada is an annual speculative fiction fan convention held in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded as the Canadian National Comic Book Expo in 1995 by Hobby Star Marketing Inc. It includes distinctly branded sections, including GX and SFX, and formerly CNAnime. It is a four-day event typically held the weekend before Labour Day during the summer at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC).
Vancouver's economy is one of the most vibrant in Canada. The British Columbian city is Canada's official gateway to the Pacific Rim, a major port, and the main western terminus of transcontinental highway and rail routes. Vancouver has successfully transitioned from a predominantly resource-based economy to a diverse knowledge-based one, and in recent years has been the fastest growing economy in Canada. According to the Conference Board of Canada, in 2017 Vancouver's GDP was CA$137 billion, with a GDP growth rate of 4.5%, meaning that Vancouver represents approximately 7.5% of Canada's overall economy. Major economic sectors include trade, film and TV, technology, tourism, natural resources, and construction.
Otakuthon is a Canadian anime convention promoting Japanese animation (anime), Japanese graphic novels (manga), related gaming and Japanese pop-culture. It is held annually for 3 days in downtown Montreal during a weekend in August. It is a non-profit, fan-run anime convention that was initiated by Concordia University's anime club, named Otaku Anime of Concordia University. The name "Otakuthon" is a portmanteau of the Japanese word "otaku" and "marathon". Otakuthon strives to be a bilingual event, having programming, the masquerade and the program book in both official languages. The first edition of Otakuthon was held in 2006 in mid-June, but later moved to early-mid August / late July from 2007 onward. The current edition, Otakuthon 2024, is being held on August 2-4, 2024 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal.
The Montreal International Games Summit (MIGS), also known as Le Sommet International du jeu de Montréal (SIJM), is a conference on video games. The first summit was held in 2004 and it usually takes place in November at Le Palais des Congrès de Montreal in Canada. Its mission is to expand the exposure of the video game community in Quebec, and to improve the Quebec video game industry. MIGS is currently the leading professional gaming summit of the East Coast. The overall aim of MIGS is to promote, train, network, and hire potential developers in the gaming industry. Professionals attending the summit partake in lectures and presentations largely oriented around how to improve specific aspects of the industry, such as art, VFX, and design. Currently, MIGS has partnered with many of the leading electronic and game development companies in Canada, including Ubisoft and Warner Bros. Games. The Montreal International Gaming Summit is networked similarly to the Electronic Entertainment Expo, using the same application to facilitate interaction between industry players and associates. In 2008 MIGS became an event that was open to the public. 2013 marked the tenth annual Montreal International Gaming Summit.
GCA Games Convention Asia is a major video game exhibition in the Asia-Pacific region. It consists of a public exhibition and a conference where the various players in the video game industry network and interact with each other, while showcasing their latest products and services to the public. Games Convention Asia serves as an entryway for companies trying to enter the Asian interactive entertainment market.
Game Design Expo is an annual event in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for video game industry professionals and enthusiasts, hosted by Vancouver Film School's Game Design program. The inaugural event in 2007 was the first of its kind in Vancouver. Game Design Expo has presented such industry speakers as Ron Gilbert and Eric Zimmerman, and designers and producers from companies like Bungie, Activision, Electronic Arts, BioWare, and Mythic Entertainment.
Canada's video game industry consists of approximately 32,300 employees across 937 companies. In 2021, the industry generated an estimated US$3.4 billion in revenue, having grown by 20% since 2019. Video game development is beginning to rival the film and television production industry as a major contributor to the Canadian economy. The industry this year in 2023 projects to make in U.S. Dollars about 5.77 Billon Dollars.
VRTO was founded in 2015 by Keram Malicki-Sánchez as a Meetup group dedicated to virtual reality in Toronto. In June 2016, VRTO launched the VRTO Virtual & Augmented Reality World Conference & Expo, a professional event focused on exploring arts, culture, and science through immersive technologies.
Richard Ludlow is an American video game audio director, sound designer, music producer, and voice director, best known for his work on Disney Infinity, King's Quest, Ring of Elysium and Arena of Valor. He is the founder and co-owner of Hexany Audio. Ludlow was named on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list of 2019 under the Games category.
Enthusiast Gaming is a Canadian digital media company specializing in video game journalism. Founded in 2014 by entrepreneur Menashe Kestenbaum, the company owned the websites Destructoid and Escapist Magazine from 2014 to September 2022, as well the gaming convention Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo (EGLX). The company went public on the TSX Venture Exchange in October 2018. In January 2020, the company's listing moved to the Toronto Stock Exchange. The company was also trading on the Nasdaq from April 2021 to October 2023. Enthusiast Gaming owns a number of websites and runs an annual convention in Toronto.
