The Ottawa region has long nurtured a great technology sector. E-commerce juggernaut Shopify is just the latest in a long line of high-tech success stories in the nation’s capital.
But what you may not know is that the city’s tech-savvy profile includes a significant number of independent video game developers nestled in the downtown core.
“Indies” are self-sufficient studios that fund, design, build and release their own video games. Their development teams typically consist of anywhere between two and 30 workers, and usually make smaller-scale games than the “Triple-A” blockbusters developed or published by larger companies like Ubisoft or Electronic Arts.
Indies have flooded Ottawa in the last decade, with the majority producing mobile phone games –– a lucrative niche market.
But does the nation’s capital have the potential to become the site of a game development gold-rush? Yes. Ottawa has a strong support network of developers and other tech experts, but evolving is going to require the city to level up.
Ottawa has a lot going for it already. Among the numerous successful studios here, a few have produced or helped develop popular titles.
Steel Crate Games created the jittery Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, a party game in which players try to defuse bombs. Breakwall created Starwhal, a neon-lit fighting game in which players control narwhals in space. Snowed In Studios helped Eidos make Deus Ex: Human Revolution, a science-fiction shooting game. And Magmic has made mobile phone versions of the classic board games Scattergories, Phase 10 and Blokus for iOS, Android, Blackberry and others.
There are also many intuitive amateur game makers in the city. They have formed Dirty Rectangles –– a group of designers and artists that hold monthly meetings to explore the artistic expression of games. In the same vein, the Ottawa International Game Conference has been running for five years and attracts industry experts from around the world to discuss trends and mingle with local developers.
There are well-regarded game design programs at Carleton University and Algonquin College, with a digital design program also available at the University of Ottawa. With these schools churning out budding creators on a yearly basis, they are bound to be hungry to innovate and propel the local industry forward.
Even for those not interested in development, Ottawa has many opportunities to enjoy the gaming culture through The Blurry Pixel video café on Queen Steet, the newly-opened Level One pub near U of O and the House of Targ’s classic arcade machines in Old Ottawa South. Recently, the city has also been riding the virtual reality wave with Colony VR, a gaming boutique in Little Italy.
What Ottawa needs right now is a power up.
This could be the year Ottawa is recognized as a great place for these developers to settle in.
As part of the Canada 150 celebration, Ottawa is hosting the 2017 Canadian Video Game Awards, which will take place at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum. In addition to the awards, the event will also feature a videogame competition, with finalists’ games being projected on various building facades downtown.
These sorts of spectacles are sure to entice committed gamers and potential new players alike, and could help kickstart a new, more ambitious phase in the local industry’s development.
Indie studios have taken root and the strong sense of community among developers is integral, but the local industry would explode if a big-name developer were to arrive.
Montreal is bursting with Triple-A companies, making that city an international hub for games. With Ottawa’s scene quickly gaining steam, it is possible that a bigger company could soon set up shop. Larger game companies thrive with competition, and if one big player arrived, others might follow.