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. [1] Video game development is beginning to rival the film and television production industry as a major contributor to the Canadian economy. [2] The industry this year in 2023 projects to make in U.S. Dollars about 5.77 Billon Dollars.
The first documented commercial Canadian video game release was Les Têtards published by Logidisque in 1982. [3] However, Evolution and BC's Quest for Tires , both were released in 1983, and also were the first video games developed in Canada that gained substantial commercial success. [4] [5] Chris Gray and Peter Liepa, from Toronto and Ottawa respectively, together created Boulder Dash in 1983 which was later acquired and published by First Star Software. [6]
In the past decade, more companies are moving from the West Coast to Ontario and Quebec, where there is more government support for studios and the cost of living is lower. [7] [8] [9] For example, Ubisoft opened Ubisoft Montreal in 1997 with government incentives. The studio has since grown to be one of the largest single-location studios by employee count and led other video game developers to launch studios in Montreal, including Electronic Arts and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Montreal itself saw a growth in younger professionals coming to the city, not only in video game programming but other technology fields. Ubisoft has since expanded out to other Canadian cities, including Ubisoft's Montreal sister studios Ubisoft Quebec and Ubisoft Saguenay. [10] However, this draw to the eastern side of Canada has left Vancouver, also once similarly thriving with video game developers, seeing its impact on the industry wane. [11]
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In 2015, approximately 19 million Canadians identified as gamers (54% of the Canadian population). [12] The average Canadian gamer was 33 years old, and slightly more likely to be male. The gender split was measured to be 52% male to 48% female. [12] Console game revenue fell 32% from 2013 to 2015 but still accounts for 35% of the revenue produced by Canada's video games industry. [12] Canadians tend to prefer consoles over portable gaming. [13] Mobile games saw an increase in revenue of 20% from 2013 to 2015, and accounted for 31% of the total revenue earned by Canada's video games industry. [12] Computer game sales fell marginally (3%) and compose 25% of the industry's revenue. [12] The most popular game genres in Canada are, in order of most to least popular, action-adventures, family games, and shooters. [12]
There has recently been a substantial amount of interest in the emergence of video game development as an industry in Canada and its impact on the economy, the creative industries, the role studios play in specific city ecosystems and how video games affect people physically and mentally. A recent study was done at McMaster University studying how playing video games improves the eyesight of those who suffer from problems pertaining to eyesight. [14] Montreal, Quebec, is a particularly popular subject of study due to the maturity of the gaming industry and its overall urban ecology. [15] [16]
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80% of all Canadian game studios are located in Quebec, British Columbia and Ontario. [17] Ontario is the largest producer of video games in Canada, housing 31.8% of all game studios (10 of which are large companies) and has annual expenditures of $818.4 million. [17] Quebec is the second largest, with 31.1% of companies residing in the province (22 of which are large companies) and spends $2.3 billion annually. [17] The third largest video game producer is British Columbia, which has 17.2% of all game studios (19 of which are large companies) and has annual expenditures of $1 billion. [17]
Many Canadian post-secondary institutions offer industry relevant courses in areas such as computer programming, animation/concept art, and game design. Many of the top programs are offered in either Vancouver, British Columbia or Toronto, Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area. [18] Industry employees earn an average of $78,600 annually [1] and the average age of an employee in this industry is 32 years old. [1] According to the Entertainment Software Association of Canada in their 2015 report the skills that are most lacking in current recruitment pools are programming, art and animation, game design and data analysis. [12] As of 2016 [update] it is anticipated that approximately 1,377 new jobs will be filled in the next 12–24 months, with approximately 40% being intermediate or senior level creative positions and approximately 60% being intermediate or senior level technical jobs. [12]
Canada is home to some of the biggest studios in the industry. Edmonton, Alberta, hosts BioWare and Prince Edward Island is home to Other Ocean Interactive. [19] EA Canada, located in Burnaby, British Columbia, is a major contributor to the industry with popular, global franchises such as FIFA and Need for Speed and has 4 other studios in Canada (Charlottetown, Edmonton, Kitchener and Montreal). [20] Rockstar Vancouver was a sizeable contributor to the Vancouver gaming scene, as well as another Rockstar studio in Toronto. Montreal's Ubisoft studio is getting a large amount of attention worldwide as the lead studio for the Far Cry series and for their contributions to the Assassin's Creed franchise. [21] As a major studio they are attracting other video game developers and studios to Montreal further defining it as the gaming capital of Canada, as well as the other major game studio, Warner Brothers Interactive. [22] [23] Ubisoft Toronto is also a large contributor to the global success of the Far Cry franchises as well as Splinter Cell Blacklist. [24]
As of 2015, the entertainment software industry is growing at unprecedented rates and shows no signs of slowing down. More opportunities are being created to learn the skills relevant to the industry and as more job opportunities are being created allowing this industry to experience a healthy boom. [25] [15] Many strong game development studios choosing to locate to Canada help to not only strengthen the industry but promote its longevity. Large scale gaming events such as the Canadian Videogame Awards, Fan Expo Canada and Comic-Con help to promote the industry and encourage its growth. [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32]
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one of the largest third-party video game publishers in the world and was the top United States publisher in 2016.
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.
Hollywood North is a colloquialism used to describe film production industries and/or film locations north of its namesake, Hollywood, California. The term has been applied principally to the film industry in Canada, specifically to the cities of Toronto and Vancouver.
Ubisoft Entertainment SA is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, For Honor, Just Dance, Prince of Persia, Rabbids, Rayman, Tom Clancy's, and Watch Dogs.
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.
The economy of Toronto is the largest contributor to the Canadian economy, at 20% of the national GDP, and an important economic hub of the world. Toronto is a commercial, distribution, financial and industrial centre. It is Canada's banking and stock exchange centre and is the country's primary wholesale and distribution point. Ontario's wealth of raw materials and hydroelectric power have made Toronto a primary centre of industry. The metropolitan area of Greater Toronto produces more than half of Canada's manufactured goods. The economy of Toronto has had a GDP growth rate of 2.4 percent annually since 2009, outpacing the national average. Toronto's population was 3.025 million people as of 2022, while the population of the Toronto census metropolitan area was 6.47 million during the same year.
The relationship between women and video games has received extensive academic and media attention. Since the 1990s, female gamers have commonly been regarded as a minority. However, industry surveys have shown that over time, the gender ratio has become closer to equal. Beginning mainly in the 2010s, women have been found to make up around half of all gamers. The gender ratio differs significantly between game genres, and women are highly underrepresented in genres such as first-person shooters and grand strategy games. Sexism in video gaming, including sexual harassment, as well as underrepresentation of women as characters in games, is an increasing topic of discussion in video game culture.
The Pearson Cup was an annual midseason Major League Baseball rivalry between former Canadian rivals, the Toronto Blue Jays and Montreal Expos. Named after former Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, it was originally created to raise money for minor league baseball in Canada. In later years, it was incorporated into the interleague baseball schedule.
Behaviour Interactive Inc. is a Canadian video game developer based in Montreal. The studio is best known for Dead by Daylight.
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 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.
The economy of Montreal is the second largest of all cities in Canada and the first in Quebec. Montreal is a centre of commerce, industry, technology, culture, finance, and world affairs. In 2015, Metropolitan Montreal was responsible for $193 Billion CDN of Quebec's $370 Billion CDN GDP.
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.
Ubisoft Quebec is a Canadian video game developer and a studio of Ubisoft based in Quebec City. The studio was established in June 2005 and is best known for its work in the Assassin's Creed franchise.
Video gaming in France is one of the largest markets in Europe. The French government gives special tax breaks to video game companies. In 2014, the French diplomatic service released a report which calculates the profit generated by the French video game industry at €2.7 billion. It states that there are 300 video game companies in France. It estimates the number of jobs directly related to the video game industry at 5,000. It estimates the number of indirect jobs created by the video game industry at 10,000. The report found that in 2013, around 8 out of 10 people had played a video game in the last 12 months. In 2018, the number of players was estimated at 32.8 million. In France video games have equal status as an artform, alongside more traditional formats like painting and theatre. In 2016, the French Minister of State for Digital Affairs, Axelle Lemaire, held talks with various French video game industry figureheads to find solutions to the problem of misogyny in video games. She mooted solutions like removing tax credits for publishers who publish games with misogynistic content, and creating a label which would identify video games with positive representations of women.
Motive Studio is a Canadian video game developer and studio of Electronic Arts (EA) based in Montreal.
Tryon "Tarrnie" M. Williams is a Canadian businessman. He is the founder of Canada's first publicly traded software company, Sydney Development Corporation formed in 1978. From 1987 to 1991 he was President and CEO of Distinctive Software Inc. of Vancouver. After the acquisition of that company by Electronic Arts Inc., he became President and CEO of Electronic Arts (Canada) Inc.
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