Poll: Could Canada become the Hollywood of the games industry?

[JackyG]

Just a thought, but as someone who's spent some time out there (currently living in the UK) It seems like the perfect environment. It's the Tax breaks as well that interest me as someone looking to open a studio one day. I was already tempted to move there to begin with; stunning country.

People seem more interested in setting up shop there, especially with the EU's moronic plans for their games industries, they may flock to Canada like the filmmakers flocked to Hollywood!

How do you see it?

 

[zombieshark6666]

I think it's one of the big 3, actually. I'll have to look into that.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

My brother certainly thinks so. He's gone up there to try and get a job at a gaming company after the one he worked for in Australia went bust.

 

[Hashime]

It could if the government gets its head straight on IP laws. Right now the bill they are proposing, bill C-11, could cause problems for any new start-ups wanting to come in.

 

[irishdude]

after am finished with college thats where iam heading to mainly due to the fact the the game industry is getting really big over there

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

God, you have no idea how much I would love it if it became like that up here. I might even get some work in the media coverage of the industry if it became big enough.

One can dream.

 

[Helscreama]

Not Canada, Ireland definitely!

 

[Vault101]

My brother certainly thinks so. He's gone up there to try and get a job at a gaming company after the one he worked for in Australia went bust.

well if its anywhere its not Australia

thats not a bad thing, I like the Idea that not ALL my entertainment has to come from America, even if it is the next closest thing

 

[saluraropicrusa]

Montreal alone has Ubisoft, EA, Bioware, Eidos Interactive, and more. Quebec is right up there among the three places with the highest number of game companies (I know Japan is one, can't remember the other). So, yes, I think it's definitely possible.

 

[Blunderboy]

You mean a bloated, outdated system full of people screwing each other over?
I'd rather the games industry doesn?t have one of those.
There really is very little reason for a centralised location for an industry in this day and age.

 

[Grygor]

There's a fundamental difference between the film and games industries: in film, a crew is assembled for a specific project - making a film - and once that film is made, they're pretty much disbanded; while in the games industry, each company has a generally stable group of employees (excluding voice actors and, often, soundtrack composers) that are moved from project to project as needed.

Furthermore, the film industry started out when long-distance travel and communication was slow and expensive, so there was an enormous benefit from having the entire pool of potential employees in one general location - that place being Hollywood because it kept the studios as far away from Thomas Edison's patent lawyers in New Jersey as possible without leaving the country. From this origin, Hollywood remains the focal point of the US film industry largely due to inertia.

There's really very little reason for the gaming industry to develop as single focal point, and the industry is now old enough that it's not likely to develop one.

 

[Zen Toombs]

I don't have enough information to say either way, but gun-to-my-head I'd say "Well that sounds quite reasonable.

[small]nowpleasegetthatgunoutofmyface[/small]"

 

[boag]

Just a thought, but as someone who's spent a lot of time out there (currently living in the UK) It seems like the perfect environment. It's the Tax breaks as well that interest me as someone looking to open a studio one day. I was already tempted to move there to begin with; stunning country.

People seem more interested in setting up shop there, especially with the EU's moronic plans for their games industries, they may flock to Canada like the filmmakers flocked to Hollywood!

How do you see it?

Jesus, I hope not, Hollywood is a terrible terrible place.

 

[Otaku World Order]

God, you have no idea how much I would love it if it became like that up here. I might even get some work in the media coverage of the industry if it became big enough.

One can dream.

Same here. I'd love it if people thought of this country as the Hollywood of Games, rather then juat as the US's kid brother.

 

[woodaba]

Not Canada, Ireland definitely!

Ireland? Really? What bug-name quality studios are based in our emerald isle? Also, considering our economy is completely butt-fucked its not likely to happen any time soon.

 

[Wolfram23]

I don't know, but we've got a few big studios. Actually I was extremely shocked to see a link to one of the Dragon Age 2 developer interview videos. Turns out a girl I went to school with is some sort of creative manager or something like that, and she was being interviewed about DA2. Robyn Theberge.

I remember in grade 6 she was the biggest girl and had an arm wrestle with one of the bigger guys, and they were so evenly matched it was scary lol.

I suppose I should mention I live in Edmonton, where BioWare is.

 

[Smiley Face]

It's not the most accurate analogy, since Hollywood is a single part of a city and Canada is the second largest country on the planet. Montreal's already got plenty of studios, and there's some stuff in Alberta I think, and I'd imagine there's stuff around the Vancouver and Toronto areas, just because of their size.

That would be pretty wicked, though. Who knows, some interesting ones might pop up in Toronto - hopefully Rob Ford won't put them off.

 

[PunkyMcGee]

Toronto and Montreal are used as "New York" a lot already. it's much cheaper to close of an area of those cities. (as far as movies go).

the entertainment industry is shifting (movies, music, games, etc.). and Publishers are fighting for it not to. they need to adapt and change. wherever it winds up probably not differ to much.

 

[gigastar]

especially with the EU's moronic plans for their games industries

Wasnt the French tax break on games simply due to expire with no plans for or against it being renewed? Or was there something more that i missed that is not ACTA?

And Canada could become the core of the gaming industry just like Hollywood is the core of the film industry...

Wait, thats a terrible thing to say.