[NetMapel]

Canada Overtakes U.K. as Third Largest Game Maker

Canada has now topped the U.K. as the third largest videogame development community in the world. According to data from the Entertainment Software Association of Canada, roughly 14,000 people are currently employed at the over 247 game companies in Canada -- a number surpassed only by the U.S. and Japan.

GamePolitics sat down with president of the London Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) and member of the Ontario Technology Corridor (OTC) Peter White, who discussed the reasons behind the game industry boom in his part of the country.

"It's really been in the last 24 months that the government brought in some more aggressive tax incentives," White told GamePolitics, claiming that the digital media-focused government hasn't required a ton of persuasion. "We're able, actually, to go out and tell the government 'Look, you're thinking of doing this, this is why this works even better' and it just helps back up their strategies around that."

White preaches that Canada -- and Ontario in particular -- offers incentives for just about everyone involved in development. The tax breaks and relatively low cost of living make it an attractive destination for developers, along with the constant flow of fresh graduates from the local universities. On the flip side, area developers are often on-hand to support students with the sort of relevant info they'd need to land a job in the industry. And, of course, any boost in awareness and employment ultimately benefits Canada.

"Canadians like to think that people know where Ontario is," explained the LEDC president. "But when you go to Europe and Asia, people know Ottawa and Toronto, but generally they don't know the rest of the detail of the geography. Even in certain parts of the U.S.. So, we thought it was a great opportunity for us to promote the entire region."

So not exactly a Vancouver thing, but Canada as a whole seems to be doing well in games now. I think combined with the previous news piece I posted, this industry is looking just a slightly bit more positive now for people in Vancouver. Hopefully we can start catching up to Montreal in this, as SpikePhanta said.