Video games in Canada

Canada has become a major leader in the emerging video game industry.[5][6] The first documented commercial Canadian video game is Les Têtards published by Logidisque in 1982.[7] However, Evolution and BC's Quest for Tires, both released in 1983, were the first video games developed in Canada that gained substantial commercial success.[8][9] 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.[10]

In the past decade more companies have been moving from the West coast East, to Ontario and Quebec where there is more government support for studios and the cost of living is lower.[11][12][13] 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 establish studios in Montreal, including Electronic Arts and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Montreal itself saw a growth in younger professions 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.[14] However, this draw to the eastern side of Canada has left Vancouver in British Columbia, also once similarly thriving with video game developers, seeing its impact on the industry wane.[15]

In 2015, approximately 19 million Canadians identified as gamers (54% of the Canadian population).[3] The average age of the Canadian gamer was 33 years. By gender, 52% were male and 48% were female.[3] Console game revenue fell 32% from 2013 to 2015 but still accounts for 35% of the overall revenue.[3] Consoles are preferred to portable gaming compared to other countries.[16] Mobile games saw an increase of 20% from 2013 to 2015 and account for 31% of total revenue earned.[3] Computer game sales fell marginally (3%) and compose 25% of the revenue.[3] The most popular game genres in Canada are, in order of popularity, action-adventures, family games, and shooters.[3]

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 physically and mentally. A recent study was done at McMaster University studying how playing video games improves the eyesight of those who suffer from vision problems.[17] Montreal, Quebec is a particularly popular subject of study due to the maturity of the gaming industry and its overall urban ecology.[18][19]

Ubisoft studios in Montreal, one of many game studios in the province of Quebec. The province is the largest producer of video games in Canada.

80% of all Canadian game studios are located in Quebec, British Columbia and Ontario.[3] Quebec is the largest producer of video games in Canada, housing 29.4% of all game studios (14 of which are large companies) and has annual expenditures of $1.14 billion.[3] British Columbia is the second largest, with 27.1% of companies residing in the province (4 of which are large companies) and spends $576 million annually.[3] The third largest video game producer is Ontario, which has 22.9% of all game studios (3 of which are large companies) and has annual expenditures of $264 million.[3]

• North American video game crash of 1983

• The Entertainment Software Association of Canada
• Tier Lists for Competitive Games of Canada