The Large and Small of the Canadian Video Game Industry

Matthew Jackson has been working in video games ever since he graduated from Montreal’s National Animation and Design Centre (Centre NAD), but he admits that it’s his passion for video games that has made him successful in the business – a quality he believes is an absolute requirement for anybody working in a collaborative and creative environment like video games.

Like a lot of people working in the video game industry, Matthew got his start working on various projects for some of the larger video game producers with offices in Quebec such as EA and Behaviour Interactive – companies which boast hundreds, even thousands of employees – and has built an impressive resume along the way. Lately, Matthew has been working on his smallest project to date as the lead game designer for a small developer called Tuque Games who are currently working toward the launch of their flagship project, World War Machine – a post-human action RPG revolving around the perpetual war between surviving machines.

Although he admits that it’s the smallest game he’s ever worked on, his ambitions for what the project is capable of achieving are lofty. Tuque Games, which is made up of a core staff of about 20 people and a small handful of freelancers, doesn’t have the same resources or budget strength that larger video game producers might, but Matthew admits that those factors don’t necessarily yield a better experience for their audience – the gamer.

“I heard a famous filmmaker once say about films,” Matthew ponders,  “that when making a big budget film there’s a tendency for it to settle toward mediocrity to the point where it’s just as hard to make a really bad movie as it is to make a really good one – there’s always enough good ideas balancing out the bad ones. With a smaller project like World War Machine there exists the possibility of breaking free of that mediocrity and achieving something really great.”

Since starting work on World War Machine Matthew has noticed other differences between working for a smaller company versus one of the big studios: “Well, I imagine it’s the same with any small business,” he says “and it’s one of things I enjoy most about working on a smaller project, that I’m not locked into just one aspect of the game design process and have to actually view the whole project now from many different angles and contribute in many other areas. I also now have the ability, and with that I also have the responsibility, to make what I think is the most fun game possible.”

Working on a game like World War Machine has also brought with it its own set of challenges. One such challenge has been funding. In the early stages of development, World War Machine was part of the Square Enix Collective’s curated crowd sourcing campaign. By offering would-be gamers a quick insight into what the game would be all about and allowing them to vote on whether or not the idea seemed worth funding, World War Machine received a 90% ‘yes’ meaning that of the people that voted for the game, 90% claimed that they would fund it. Unfortunately, through Indiegogo, Tuque Games was unable to raise the $50,000 they were seeking.

He further points out: “Square Enix Collective itself has evolved and now has agreements with other crowdfunding websites, so other games have now gone through the same process as we did and have achieved their crowd funding goals through KickStarter which just happens to be the more popular crowd funding site.  The main goal of the crowd funding campaign was more about marketing and getting the name out there, so us not achieving that funding goal wasn’t the end of the world.”

Some of these challenges, however, have been offset by certain other factors that Tuque Games is able to benefit from. One such benefit was a funding program achieved through the Canadian Media Fund which “fosters, develops, finances and promotes the production of Canadian content and applications for all audiovisual  media platforms”. Matthew also points out the benefits that operating in Quebec has had whereby companies can get a provincial tax credit to pay part of employees’ salaries for video game related enterprises.

Although there is no fixed release date for World War Machine, Tuque Games is in the final phases of production and hopes to launch sometime in 2015.

For more information about World War Machine visit:

http://worldwarmachine.com/

For more information about the Square Enix Collective and crowd sourcing please visit:

http://collective.square-enix.com/

https://www.indiegogo.com/

https://www.kickstarter.com/canada

And, finally, to learn more about the Canadian Media Fund go to:

http://www.cmf-fmc.ca/

Will a PQ Minority Government affect the Economy?

 

There’s a new Premier in Quebec and she’s ready to roll up her sleeves and get to work improving the economy with her party’s plans. The Parti-Quebecois (PQ) squeaked by with victory that landed Pauline Marois in the proverbial magnifying glass. However, that narrow victory (54 seats out of 125) isn’t enough to hold sway. In order for truly sweeping changes, the PQ will have to build a strong coalition among the centrists and right-leaning party members. In many ways, that’s good news because it means a level of stability.

McGill economics professor William Watson put the election results in context during an interview for the Huffington Post. "It's not a bad election result (for business)," Watson said. "I think the program will have to be modified somewhat. I think there will be a push towards the left, but not as far as the program threatened." That’s going to be good news for the small business community who weren’t embracing those policies in the first place.

Marois ran on a platform of promising to pay for services by creating two new income tax brackets that taxed income over $130 000 and $250 000. She also wants to boost royalties and taxes on the various mining firms operating in the region. However, the bigger issue on everyone’s mind is a referendum on breaking away from Canada and becoming a separatist country. The last time the PQ was in control (1980 and 1995) they put forth referendums on the ballot but both times they failed. While that issue might be on the dock in the future, Marois states she wants to focus on the economy.

There is a sense among economists that this PQ victory could put a damper on direct new investment but there is no reason to think that established businesses will suddenly pack up and move off. Part of the reason is that minority governments like this don’t tend to last long. That allows for a “wait and see” type approach among investors. Most experts think that the election results won’t have an impact on housing prices as they are likely to remain flat.

The same is predicted for the Canadian dollar. Thanks to Quebec’s pension fund manager, Caisse de depot and the Bank of Canada there isn’t a chance the Canadian dollar won’t be propped up if it starts to drift downwards. Hours after the election the loonie value didn’t budge from its $1.0142 US. That’s a good sign of confidence.

As the reality of a slowly recovering economy settles in for Marois, some of her platform promises might have to be adjusted or jettisoned all together. Michel Poitevin, an economics professor at the University of Montreal, also commented to the Huffington Post about Marois’ platform promises. “Higher top-tier taxes, for instance, might prompt the early retirement of some of the province's most productive workers,” he warned. “Any party that would have been elected would have had to make tough decisions. I guess for the PQ, maybe it's going to be harder internally because of all the promises that they made."

Canadian Auto Industry Driving Growth

Cars are a vital part of the Canadian culture, not to mention the economy. The recent recession had a devastating impact on automobile manufacturers and sales in North America. However, with the economy on the rebound, sunnier days are in sight for the Canadian auto industry.

British Columbia and Alberta, the country's westernmost provinces and both with resource – dependent economies, were hit extremely hard when commodity prices took a nosedive during the recession. However, with the demand for natural resources rapidly returning, the economy in the west is improving and car sales will follow suit. Industry experts predict that new car sales in British Columbia will rise by 5% in 2010 and by 10% in Alberta. This is a major recovery following a dismal 2009 ending in sales declines of 15% in B.C. and 21% in Alberta.

Growing consumer confidence in the nation's economy, coupled with global recovery, is expected to fuel positive sales figures across the nation. Projections for the current year anticipate auto sales to climb to 1.53 million units, 10% higher than sales figures for 2009.

Another province expected to contribute to the rise in sales figures is Saskatchewan. Although the province holds the record for the oldest vehicle fleet in the country – average age exceeding 11 years – auto sales are still 12% above the average. In general, growth in the province has exceeded the national average for the last three years.

On the other end of the scale, Quebec is expected to show only a moderate increase in auto sales of no more than 3%. The province currently has more new vehicles per capita than any other province.

Whether the contributing factor is a recovering economy, a relaxation of credit restrictions, or even purchases for the upcoming Winter Olympics, the fact is that Canadians love their new cars and, having weathered the global storm, it's time to go shopping.

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