Montreal has changed enormously since 2000. At the dawn of the new millennium, business people in the metropolis wondered about the relevance of Multimedia Cities and then of electronic commerce. The bursting of the stock market bubble in 2001 and the collapse of Nortel made technology radioactive in the eyes of many. It is in this context that the Quebec video game industry was born.
Twenty years later, half of the 20,000 or so multimedia workers in Canada are in Montreal or elsewhere in the province. It is not over: the entry of Amazon, Apple and Netflix into the industry is giving new life to growth. To continue to benefit from it, Quebec will have to adapt, warns David Fugère-Lamarre, co-founder and CEO of Montreal studio Illogika and secretary-treasurer of the Quebec Video Game Guild, which represents the entire ‘industry.
Jobs
Quebec is an international video game giant. It is one of the five most important poles of the industry in terms of the number of workers and companies. At the Canadian level, however, its position is contested by British Columbia and Ontario, which have recently seen significant investments in their own video game industries.
“Jobs are important, because people spend their money here afterwards,” recalls Mr. Fugère-Lamarre. “On the other hand, profits allow companies to invest here as well, but that depends on each of the publishers. As the owner of a Quebec SME, the current credit allows me both to employ more people and to invest more in our development. Without help, we could not compete with countries in Europe or Asia, where labor costs less. I think the credits could benefit from an improvement. What was created 20 years ago is great. We could evolve them into something that promotes the creation of value locally to ensure the future of the industry here. What we have is good, but we could also have better. “
Profits
The Canadian video game is in good health, even if it turns out to be much less profitable than its international rivals: Canadian publishers are expected to generate US $ 3.4 billion in profits in 2021 according to the Entertainment Software Association of Canada, compared to over $ 60 billion for their US counterparts. Video games in Canada suffer from the same shortcomings as other information technologies: the creation of intellectual property is too low there, or it is not marketed with the same success rate as elsewhere in the world. This is perhaps where Canadian and Quebec video games could find their second breath, believes Mr. Fugère-Lamarre.
“We must encourage Quebec businesses to take up more space. They are the ones who will generate value here and who will then invest in growth in Quebec. There have been discussions with governments in recent months about tax measures that could promote the sale of games created here. Even foreign publishers could benefit from it. It would make them a little less foreign and it would encourage them to invest more in us. “
The workers
Business people from other technological sectors envy the tax credit granted by Quebec to multimedia companies, which seems to facilitate hiring in this sector to the detriment of others. There are government assistance programs for almost all technological sectors established in Quebec, of course, but they are disparate, and more than one SME quickly loses its bearings. Can we imagine a harmonization of aid to industries in the digital sector that would be beneficial to all?
“Digital companies should be able to benefit from the same aid conditions”, thinks the CEO of Illogika. “It would be interesting to create focus groups around the issue, which would include people from across the digital economy. There are specifics from one case to another, but there are also a lot of things in common. There are jobs that can be similar across industries, although there are some very specific roles in game making. Video games are an industry of passion. Many young people come to work there for the “game” above all. Programming and developing applications for other fields, such as finance, doesn’t really appeal to them. “
Hollywood, QC
We have seen the demand for video games increase sharply during the pandemic. Tech giants Amazon, Apple, Netflix and even Microsoft believe that the future of gaming content consumption lies in part in subscription plans, which have already transformed music, TV and movies. This poses a challenge for established players in this market, but it is also an opportunity to cement Montreal’s central position in the industry, adds the co-founder of studio Illogika.
“Montreal’s ambition is still to become the Hollywood of video games. Why not ? We have the base: workers, companies, and even the Megamigs conference could become the annual flagship event of the global industry. We could devote several meeting places to discuss video games in its different facets: the artistic side, the fun side, the business side, etc. It would be a good time. If we look at how Spotify transformed music… We will have to take an interest in this model and the place of Quebec in video games. “