Canada's gaming industry contributed to an estimated $3.4 billion in revenue, and the numbers only seem to be increasing? The gaming audience is ever so picky, and hence the quality of games available simultaneously is on the go. The gaming industry is to Canada what pizza is to Italy and Silicon Valley is to technology.
Ubisoft
Ubisoft is a household name thanks to some really popular games like Assasins' Creed and Just Dance. Canada being a prolific gaming hub, the French company included Canada in the process of expanding worldwide. The company started out by publishing children's games, including Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers. Founded in 1997, the breakthrough at Ubisoft happened in 2002 when they released the game Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, which played around the elements of stealth. Aiming for the Teen Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), the developers kept the acts of violence to a minimum.
The development trail continued with other major games like Tom Clancy's, Prince of Persia, Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Watch Dogs. 2022 saw the entry of Ubisoft into mobile game development with Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six.
EA Canada
Following the warm welcome that Ubisoft got in Canada, many game publishers shifted their focus to Canada as the gaming hub. EA is one such company that has followed suit, naming its Canada studio EA Canada. With some of the most beloved game franchises like FIFA™, Battlefield™, Apex Legends™, The Sims™, Madden NFL™, Need for Speed™, Titanfall™, and Plants vs. Zombies™; EA Canada sure takes the top spot when it comes to game publishers in Canada.
With two games, WildHearts and Immortal Aveum, coming out in 2023, EA Games sure has quite the future in the gaming industry and isn’t going anywhere anytime soon?
ActiVision
COD players, assemble? ActiVision is another must-know game publisher based in Canada. With headquarters in Santa Monica, they work as the publishing company for its primary company, ActiVision Blizzard. Activision was one of the companies that recovered from the Rockstar Games video game market crash in the 2000s.
They also ventured into software development and henceforth changed their name to Mediagenic to fit into the corporate world. Their big shot has to be Call of Duty, whose success has known no bounds?
Sony Interactive Entertainment
The PlayStation is literally on every child’s wishlist, be it for a birthday or Christmas? SIE is one of the major bigwigs in the game publishing industry and has stepped up its game by releasing both video game consoles and video games. When Sony first launched the PlayStation in Japan in 1994, it was a far-fetched dream. A year later, they launched it worldwide, selling 100,000 units in the first week, making PlayStation their biggest cash cow! The PlayStation 2 is the best-selling home console among the rest and has a huge fan following, while the PlayStation 5 is the fastest-selling.
You can thank SIE for Marvel’s Spiderman, Major league Baseball, and God of War? Sony Interactive Entertainment has now also brought up a project called “The Pub Fund” where they encourage individual developers to publish their games on the PS4.
Rockstar Games Toronto
Rockstar Games Toronto is yet another widely-known game publisher based in Ontario. Although the parent company, Rockstar Games, is said to have been formed in 1998, its origins date from 1984. Formerly known as DMA Design, the company changed its name to Rockstar in 2002. This is the same company that brought the world the OG - GTA. GTA is one of the "it" games, according to Gen Z. Not to mention the “gaming renaissance” brought to you by the COVID-19 pandemic. This brought a whole new generation into gaming. Generation X (ages 42–57) claimed to have chosen Grand Theft Auto as their favorite game. Finally, something on which both Generations Z and X can agree? The most recent version from the GTA series has sold over 170 million copies, making it the second best-selling video game of all time! GTA first saw the light on the PlayStation in 1997. Rockstar also published GTA 3 on Xbox, increasing its audience even further. Their other games took place too - especially warriors and quarantine!
The popularity of Rockstar games knows no bounds, and they’ve also been honored with a BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award in the 2014 British Academy Games Awards. With the arrival of Rockstar in Ontario in 1998, the Canadian ecosystem has undoubtedly benefited.
Long Story Short
In a tiny place like Canada, there are more than 1,916 Canadian publishers, including some very popular names like Gameloft, Drinkbox, Little Guy, Magitech, and Sago Mini on Google Play? With the onset of so many game publishers in Canada, the video game industry has surely advanced. With the expansion of the video game industry in Canada, the Canadian economy has also benefited from it, with more jobs for everyone, meaning job security and economic independence. However, the strict working conditions of these popular gaming publishers by not batting an eyelid at the employee’s concerns could rub the wrong way for Canada’s economy.
