Canada Calling

Last week I was lucky enough to visit the Montreal International Games Show (MIGS) looking for startlingly great games for the most excellent publisher, Merge. 

Although I had heard a lot about the show and the Canadian games scene, I had never attended. The impression I had was of a games industry with some big names present and excellent public funding. This was all true, with companies like Ubisoft and Activision having hubs in the area, and excellent subsidies that enable developers to create amazing new games and also have the ability to feed themselves, the lucky beggars.

What was overwhelming though, was how well this all worked, not only to create some great companies but to generate and sustain a solid ecosystem of development excellence. From education, employment at international AAA studios, to start-ups and growth, the system works incredibly well. Yes, the government spends lots of money to keep this going but it pays off. MIGS was evidence of this, never before have I seen such a collection of consistently high quality games presented to Merge. The attention to detail, the innovative mechanics, the quality of the art and technology, and the sheer confidence that all of this delivers - I wish all developers had the advantages that delivered all this. 

We were taken around by the Quebec government on a bus (apparently not a ‘coach’) after MIGS to see development studios and hubs, like some diplomatic games hostages. But, like any good hostage with a Swedish affiliations, I grew to love my captors and the talent they paraded in front of us. We were well fed, treated like Princes, and even given some novelty socks. At last, I have found ‘my people’. Plus, they eat ‘chips and gravy’ or Poutine, as they call it. With this wonder food they have iterated on the chippie favourite and added cheese, onion and peppers (plus the chips don’t turn into a soggy mush) - typical, there was probably long term government funding to help do this too. 

Lessons? Well, the talent in Canada is no better than it is here but the ecosystem is. We should do what we can to help lobby for more support, to help fledgling developers thrive, and train our young talent so that they realise their potential. Easy for me to say, I know, but I’m leaving games to go off and open a Poutine stall on the Christmas markets - I’ll be back in January once I’ve contributed more patients to the UK’s brilliant healthcare system. We've still got that. Just.