How Canada is helping video gaming enjoy a record-breaking year

Will global revenues from video gaming expected to tip the $100 billion mark in 2017, it seems that this is a relatively new industry that’s really taken the world by storm.

And Canada is having an increasingly large role to play in helping the gaming industry become a world-beater, as there are many innovative developments in software development, games publishing and online casino endeavours.

Canada has always had a healthy video game development scene. With Electronic Arts investing in Vancouver in 1991, and the arrival of Ubisoft in Montreal in 1997, Canada’s high-tech infrastructure has the clear capacity to attract some of the biggest names in the gaming world.

But even Quebec City has made its presence felt on the global gaming scene. Successful software companies like Parabole have enjoyed video game success with their Kona episodic interactive game, and Beenox have had a big part to play in the success of titles like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered.

It’s all part of how Quebec has become an incredibly fertile ground for game development with no less than 139 game studios currently operating in province. But even further afield in Ontario, there’s been a growing start-up scene that’s helping to produce many inspiring independent developers.

The online domain has played a big factor in the Canadian indie gaming scene with Toronto’s Capybara games delivering mobile classics like Critter Crunch, whilst Lucky Nugget Casino have helped fun online casino games become much more accessible for players across the whole of the nation.

Thanks to relatively loose immigration policies, Canada is attracting many talented individuals from overseas to work within the fertile gaming industry. With no less than 472 gaming companies operating within Canada, there’s a clear need for talented individuals to help produce the next blockbuster hit.

And part of the reason why many young people are entering the industry can be seen as a result of forward-thinking educational programmes like the Game Design course at Sheridan College in Ontario.

This is helping many young people gain the skills they need to progress in this rapidly evolving industry. And whether they use these skills to join the likes of Nintendo, Rockstar and Microsoft who all have offices in Canada, or even just pursue their own online casino venture, it’s all part of helping Canada become a key player in the world gaming scene.