The GameJobHunter Blog – Video Game Jobs

For the 5th in my series of local video game developer profiles, I’ve settled on Toronto.  I saw the news a few days ago that Ubisoft was opening a new studio in Toronto later this year that was going to eventually create 800 new jobs, so it seemed like a good time to shine the GJH spotlight on the city.  The Ontario goverment lured Ubisoft to Toronto with over $260 million in tax breaks, so it appears that they’re looking to be very aggressive in expanding game development in the area.

I haven’t featured a Canadian city up until now, so I figured it was time to end that drought.  It looks like the city features a respectable number of indie studios, which are just the kinds of companies we like to feature.    On to the Toronto list – as always, if I leave someone out or make an error, please let me know! (*Edit 08/01/09 – I found another awesome list on an IGDA forum, and I’m using that to update this list with more companies.  Check out:  http://www.gamecensus.ca/)

Game Studios

• Battlegoat Studios – Developer of a variety of military sim titles.
• Bedlam Games – Looks like a relatively new studio founded by industry vets.  I don’t see any info on their site about their titles, other than some interesting concept shots of a gladiator-type game.
• Capcom Mobile – Developer of several mobile titles based on the Capcom library of IP
• Capybara Games – Very cool looking indie studio.  Their site says they “began life in the local igda chapter” – nice!  I dig the visual style of this title they did for PSN:

• Cerebral Vortex Games – Developer of casual games, including a title based on Oak Island.  Nice.
• DreamCatcher – They’ve put out a big library of PC and handheld titles over the years.
• DrinkBox Studios - They’ve got a cool logo, for starters.    They’re working on an interesting looking title called “About a Blob”, and they all so do contract development for a variety of AAA studios.
• G4Box – Publisher of free-to-play MMOs
• Groove Games – They’re working on sports titles and a few other games for social networking sites and the iPhone.
• Ketsujin Studios – Developers of “Fighter Ace”, an aerial combat MMO title.
• Koei Canada – Koei has a studio in downtown Toronto.  Their site says they are working on 3 unannounced action titles.
• Longbow Digital Arts – Indie company with a storied history – the IGF’s grand prize for excellence was renamed in honor of one of Longbow’s founders – Seumas McNally.
• Magitech Corporation – Looks like they’ve developed several titles that have been published throughout Asia.
• Metanet Software – Indie developer behind award-winning titles “N” and “N+.”  Their site mentions they enjoy making tutorials about their development process – nice way of giving back to the community.
• Parlay Group – I can’t help but saying their name in a pirate voice, thanks to Pirates of the Caribbean.  Besides their catchy name, they’ve developed a nice portfolio of casual titles.
• Queasy Games – Jonathan Mak’s studio.  He created Everday Shooter for the PS3 and PC.
• Rockstar Toronto – Rockstar, you know.  These guys were behind the very cool action title “The Warriors.”
• Silicon Knights – Ambitious developer of Too Human and Eternal Darkness.  Actually located in St. Catharines, Ontario, but I figured I’d include them since they were close.
• Splashworks – Developer of flash-based web games.
• Ubisoft Toronto – Not sure when the studio will actually open, but I’ll update with a link when it does.
• Vast Studios – Developer of casual titles.
• Veil Entertainment - Development house that focuses on web-based MMOs

Other Organizations

• IGDA Toronto – Their site indicates that they’ve had meetings the last 2 months.  That’s a good sign
• The Hand Eye Society – These guys look very cool.  It’s a local collective of Toronto developers who look to help each other with creating and promoting their games.

I’d especially like to hear from any indie studios I might have missed – feel free to contact me and I’ll get you added.

Filed under: Local Profiles, Video Game Companies