Study: Quebec Video Game Industry Sixth Largest In The World?

The Quebec game industry employs over 6,200 people -- that's according to a study from Canadian-based consulting firm SECOR-Taktik on behalf of industry network and Montreal International Game Summit organizer Alliance Numérique. Of those, some 2,000 are spread across technology providers, creative services, production, and support services. With approximately 4,400 developers, the Canadian province ranks sixth compared to other regions employing video game developers around the world, according to survey results. Japan has the most staff in video game development with 20,000, followed by California with 11,500, South Korea with 9,000, United Kingdom with 8,300, and Washington with 5,000. Quebec's biggest video game companies include Artificial Mind and Movement, EA Montreal, Frima Studio, Eidos Montreal, Ubisoft Montreal, and Ubisoft Quebec. When considering the number of developers per thousand of inhabitants, Alliance Numérique's board president André d'Orsonnens says that Quebec ranks third globally, outdone by only Washington and British Columbia. "The regions Quebec competes with most have also put in place industry support measures to attract companies as well as human and financial resources," says d'Orsonnens. "We must keep a watch on the evolution of these measures and implement [similar ones to] compete with them, to ensure the continued growth of our industry," adds d'Orsonnens. Alliance Numérique's general manager Pierre Proulx adds that Quebec's game industry will need to enact three measures to continue growth: promoting the industry to attract younger developers, putting into place new financial incentives to make more original content creation possible, and offering advisory services and leadership to younger studios. To reach these objectives, Alliance Numerique believes that video game companies must collaborate with different levels of government and financial institutions, an integration that the network says it will helping generate and maintain in the coming months.