The video game sector has experienced significant growth in recent years. We take stock of some fundamental issues, this time regarding the proliferation of studios outside Montreal — and in Quebec in particular.
The Game Awards are to video games what the Oscars are to cinema. At the beginning of December, the supreme award in the independent game category (indie) of the year went to Sea of Stars, from Quebec studio Sabotage. The creation, which attracted four million players four months after its launch, takes place in a retro universe.
Sabotage is from Quebec, but also and above all of Quebec, further proof that the globally recognized dynamism of the Quebec video game sector is not only found in Montreal (or, more precisely, within the base of the big U defined by the orange line of the metro). The Old Capital has also benefited from the boom in independent studios in recent years. It now has around forty and, in fact, there are more creative companies in this digital sub-sector in Quebec City than in the megalopolis of New York.
“When we go to trade fairs around the world, faces light up when we introduce ourselves and say we come from Quebec,” explains Thierry Boulanger, co-founder, CEO and creative director of Sabotage — and to all these titles largely responsible for the success of Sea of Stars.
“I’m not saying that it’s only Quebec that creates this reaction, but when you come from here, it gives a character. It has become a mark of notoriety and respect, a bit like when a Hollywood actor introduces himself and the interlocutor naturally thinks that he is probably a good actor. »
Quebec in the skin
As is a strong constant in the video game world, pure sugar Quebecer Thierry Boulanger entered this world by embracing a passion developed very, very young – in the 1990s in his case. “I was three years old the first time I held a game controller, and the connection was instantaneous,” he says. The young Thierry Boulanger obtained a diploma in programming at the Bart college in his city in 2008, then worked for years for the Frima studio in the capital before co-founding Sabotage in 2015.
Martin Brouard also worked for Frima and also participated in the founding of Sabotage, before creating another studio, called Imugi, in November 2021, with his partner, Jongwoo Kim, creative director, and Quinn Kybartas, doctor of computer science .
For this trio either, there was never any question of setting up the studio anywhere other than Quebec, especially since teleworking allows you to work anywhere. Of Imugi’s seven employees and three major contractors, only two work from Montreal, including Mme Kybartas. Jongwoo Kim, originally from Vancouver and who lived in Montreal for years, has now moved to Quebec, to work with Martin Brouard.
Fifty and old in the sector, Mr. Brouard makes a comparison with the world of cinema. “It’s rare that you get to rub shoulders with the big stars of cinema,” recalls the man who also founded the 3 Americas Film Festival. “They are world-famous stars, but difficult to approach. In video games, you can meet the stars and chat with them at professional events. I met Jongwoo Kim at one of these industry events. He told me about his idea for a new game, it clicked and we decided to team up. »
They named their studio Imugi, after a creature from Korean mythology. Their first creation, still under construction, will take place during the French Revolution. Details, including the game title, will be revealed in March; the commercial launch should take place in 2025.
Under state perfusion
This long period of research and development is facilitated by government assistance.
Like Sabotage, Imugi and many other small companies in the sector were helped to get started by the Canada Media Fund (CMF). This year, the CMF invested $23.6 million in the prototyping and production of 53 interactive digital media projects. Quebec has supported the sector through tax measures for 25 years. They cover up to 37.5% of game publishers’ salary expenses, up to a maximum of $100,000 per worker. “It’s a support system that’s quite unique in the world and envied everywhere,” summarizes Mr. Brouard.
The state perfusion mainly serves Montreal, still the national epicenter. In 2021, barely 6% of the sector’s economic benefits came from the Quebec regions, according to a study by the Video Game Guild, which brings together the sector’s driving forces.
The pandemic, however, has stimulated regionalization by showing the possibility, and even the advantages, of teleworking for these works which are performed and conceived everywhere. There are now creative centers in Sherbrooke, Gatineau and Saguenay. A lab-school pilot project was born this year in Gaspésie around the Squid Squad studio and the Cégep de Matane.
Outside of Montreal, there is therefore a little more salvation. In fact, Quebec was present from the beginnings of national industry, at the end of the last century. Behavior, the largest of the independent studios, was established there in 1992. Its first console game had worked quite well, then a second, financed by a publisher, sold more than a million copies. The creative company swelled, multiplied its number of employees by five, and had to move to Montreal to attract talent.
“I had 60 employees in Quebec, and I made 54 moving offers,” explains to Duty the founder of the studio, Rémi Racine, in his premises at Mile-Ex. “I attracted 42. There are only two left from the original batch. It’s quite ironic, because now Quebec is booming in the sector. »
MM. Brouard and Boulanger observe that in addition, the community of their city helps each other as best as possible. “Everyone supports each other,” says the Imugi co-founder. “We lend each other employees, we give each other advice. We meet a lot, we talk, we give each other tips. There is a spirit of camaraderie which makes it even more fun to work in this industry — and to work in Quebec in particular. »