If you’re not sure who Naughty Dog is, there’s a good chance that you’re probably looking at the wrong site.  They need no introduction in the gaming world, and have been behind some of the biggest franchises (Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter, Uncharted) of the last 10+ years.  I was pumped to see them add 2 jobs to the site yesterday, so make sure you check them out.  They’re looking for a Senior Character Rigger and a Tools Programmer to work in their Los Angeles studio.  This is a great chance to work on some truly genre-defining titles – have a look, or pass it on if you know someone who might be interested!

About a week ago, I saw someone tweet about a new game from a studio called Giant Sparrow.  The title of the game is “The Unfinished Swan.”  Check out the video:

The tech demo looks incredible, so I immediately fired off an e-mail to them.  As it turns out, they’re hiring, and they just posted an ad today!  They’re located in Los Angeles, and their bio says, “Giant Sparrow is a tiny video game company focused on creating surreal experiences people have never had before.”  Looking forward to seeing what they put out!

A while back, I did a post that attempted to paint a rough picture of which cities had the most game development going on.  The idea behind the list was that knowing where the studios are at = knowing where the jobs are at.  It’s been several months since I put that together, so I figured I’d do a follow-up post to see how much (if at all) things had changed.  Studios open and close (and occasionally relocate) all the time, so I think it’s worth examining again.

As a reminder, this isn’t a scientific research project meant to stand up to any intense critical analysis – I’m simply checking out the number of companies in each city on www.gamedevmap.com.  Last time, I just clicked on each city and looked at the total number of entries.  Each city seems to have several dead links or are missing a studio, so I’m doing a little internet digging of my own to figure out the city company count.  It’s tough to be totally accurate, but I’m trying to get a little closer.  Remember – each city includes surrounding suburbs.  I’ve also decided to do the top 22 cities (thanks to a tie for 20th) this time, just because I feel like it. 

Here’s the list:

20.  Pittsburgh – 6
20.  Orlando – 6
20.  Eugene – 6
19.  Phoenix – 7
18.  Denver – 8
17.  Minneapolis – 9
16.  Salt Lake City – 11
15.  Raleigh – 12
14.  Atlanta – 14
11.  Dallas – 17
11. Washington DC – 17
11.  Montreal – 17
10.  San Diego – 18
9.  Toronto – 24
8.  Chicago – 25
7.  New York City – 30
6.  Boston – 37
5.  Austin – 40
4.  Vancouver 45
3.  Seattle – 58
2.  San Francisco – 97
1.  Los Angeles – 99