P.E.I. Tries To Keep Dev Studio With Incentives

As developer Longtail Studios considers a move to a new Halifax studio, the provincial government of Prince Edward Island is ready to do all it can to keep the studio and its 23 staffers in their current Charlottetown home. P.E.I. hopes to entice Longtail, founded in 2003 by Ubisoft co-founder Gerard Guillemot, to stay by offering a new incentives package, according to new reports. It has an existing incentives agreement with the P.E.I. provincial government and receives subsidies on wages and rent at the Atlantic Technology Centre, but its government deal expires this November. Longtail Studios also has an office in Quebec City, and has its headquarters in New York City. "I am concerned with the possible loss of these positions on P.E.I.," Innovation Minister Allan Campbell recently told CBC News. "Why Nova Scotia in particular has targeted this particular company, I'm not sure about that." The provinces of Canada have prioritized attracting interactive entertainment companies in recent years, offering competitive subsidies and tax incentives to encourage developers to set up shop. Just recently, for example, Ubisoft opened a new Toronto facility with a ten-year, $226 million investment from the government.