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The vast majority of shareholders of Canadian communications equipment maker RuggedCom have tendered their stock to a takeover offer from Siemens Canada. Siemens will now move to buy the rest of the shares under the “compulsory acquisition” rules available to it. Siemens, which is paying about $400-million for RuggedCom, has promised to keep the Canadian company intact, while giving it access to the German company’s massive international operations.
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Wooshii, an online marketplace for video and animation, has chosen Halifax as its North American base of operation, citing the city's location, infrastructure and talent pool as deciding factors. The branch of the Manchester-based business will house a development team and an agency team, and manage the network of account managers throughout North America. Its newly appointed president, Paul Ryan, is a veteran of highly respected New Brunswick social media company Radian6, and its seed investors were two Albertans, Timo Ewalds, founder of social-media site Nexopia, and Mike Sikorsky, co-founder of such start-ups as Cambrian House and Robots and Pencils.
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The work of McGill University computer science professor Jérôme Waldispuhl is allowing video game players to advance science's understanding of the genetic basis of such illnesses as Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and cancer. The Web-based video game that Waldispuhl's team has designed, called Phylo, allows players to contribute to scientific research by arranging sequences of coloured blocks that represent DNA. These DNA sequences provide researchers with insight into genetically based diseases. Waldispuhl started about a year ago and has had more than 500,000 visits to the website and has provided a huge pool of about 350,000 solutions to help improve the alignment for 521 genes
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Eidos, the video game studio known for its Tomb Raider and Deus Ex franchises, is expanding its Montreal operations and creating 250 new jobs. Eidos Montreal said it will build a new development centre next year and create 150 jobs and expand its current operations, adding another 100 jobs. Eidos Montreal said 100 of the jobs will be to create a new video game as well as R&D on gaming platforms. The other 150 jobs will be part of the new Eidos studio in Montreal. The technology company is now part of Japan's Square Enix video game publisher.
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A Japanese e-commerce company has reached a deal to acquire Canadian e-reader and tablet maker Kobo in a USD$315-million deal that represents a huge vote of confidence in the technology company on the international stage. The acquisition by Rakuten provides a sizable windfall for Indigo Books & Music and a vindication of CEO Heather Reisman’s decision to invest in e-reader technology, creating Kobo and then spinning it off into a separate company. Tokyo-based Rakuten’s agreement to acquire 100% of Kobo’s total issued and outstanding shares will equal a more than 300% return on Indigo’s investment. Kobo will maintain its headquarters in Toronto. Its management team, including Mr. Serbinis, and Canadian employees will remain with the business.
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According to this article in Reuters, Quebec has become the preferred place of establishment for some of the biggest names in video games. According to the economic development agency Invest Quebec, 86 companies and 8,236 jobs have migrated to Quebec as a result of a government program under which 37.5% of a video game company's payroll is subsidized by the majority French-speaking province in the form of a refundable tax credit. THQ, the Southern-California based company that makes the popular "WWE Smackdown vs. Raw" video game, recently made Montreal its adopted home, has hired 145 employees for its new studio. The company says its next step is to hire 100 employees every year for the next five years until it reaches a staff of 500.
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L'entreprise japonaise Square Enix annonce qu’elle doublera la taille de son studio de jeu vidéo à Montréal, créant 350 nouveaux emplois chez Eidos Montréal, a appris La Presse. Square Enix négociait depuis le début de l'année avec les gouvernements du Québec, de l'Ontario et de la Colombie-Britannique pour installer un nouveau studio de 350 employés au pays. Selon les informations obtenues par La Presse, Eidos Montréal créera une première centaine d'emplois avant la fin de l'année 2012. Les 250 emplois restants seront créés avant 2015. En passant de 330 à 680 employés en 2015, Eidos Montréal deviendrait ainsi le numéro trois du jeu vidéo à Montréal derrière Ubisoft (2100 employés) et Electronic Arts (800 employés).
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With its first Montreal-designed game launched, Tokyo’s Square Enix has announced plans to more than double the size of its Montreal video game studio. La Presse reported the company will add 350 employees to its Montreal studio, which runs under the Eidos banner. There are currently 330 people working in the Montreal studio, which was established in 2007. According to La Presse, the studio will get 100 new employees by the end of 2012, and the rest of the hiring would be completed by 2015. With 680 employees, Eidos would become the city’s third largest studio behind Ubisoft and Electronic Arts.
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According to the Ontario Technology Corridor, despite various global economic challenges, the digital media and video game industries continue to thrive. Over the past two years, Canada's gaming industry has expanded 11% annually and is forecasted to grow 17% in each of the next two years. Executives from the Ontario Technology Corridor are attending GamesCom to demonstrate the province's "winning combination" of talent and tax credits. Canada is one of the world's top three game producing nations.
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Frima Studio, a video game company based in Quebec City, has continually hired new talent in the past few years, according to The Montreal Gazette. The company has grown in eight years to more than 300 employees, and now pulls in development contracts from the world's top entertainment companies, including Disney, Warner Bros. and Nickelodeon.
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Publisher and developer of downloadable video games, Gameloft, has opened a digital gaming studio in Toronto which will create up to 205 jobs. With Ontario’s support, Gameloft’s new Toronto facility will help create digital games designed specifically for smartphones, iPhones, iPad, smartphones as well as social networks. Gameloft Canada, a subsidiary of France’s Gameloft S.A., has established partnerships with licensors including UNO, Ferrari, Shrek, CSI, Spiderman and Iron Man.
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California-based social gaming company Zynga Inc. has announced plans to establish a Canadian headquarters after adding Toronto-based mobile developer Five Mobile Inc. to their team. Five Mobile produces the Score-Mobile applications for Score Media Inc. and is behind the mobile applications for Cineplex Odeon Inc.
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A new video game incubator will open at George Brown College in Toronto to accelerate the growth and development of the city's digital media cluster. The President of George Brown College says the college is increasing its commitment to the digital media sector by housing its gaming development and design programs in a new learning environment set to open this September. The incubator will provide 10 offices, between 100 and 150 square feet, for start-ups and small companies. By including industry innovators alongside students, the college hopes to create a real-world environment that helps its learners better prepare for future employment and business growth.
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TIGA points to the report for the Entertainment Software Association of Canada, which revealed that Canada was successfully attracting investment and jobs away from the UK and that the Canadian games industry was enjoying significant growth fuelled in part by tax credits. The report, Canada's Entertainment Software Industry in 2011, showed that Canada itself has been notably successful in attracting investment and skilled personnel from jurisdictions like the United Kingdom. It also found that the Canadian games industry is expected to grow by 17% over the next two years.
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The Canadian video game industry employs approximately 16,000 artists, innovators, and designers, according to a new report from Secor Consulting, released by the Entertainment Software Association of Canada (ESAC). According to the report, over the past two years, despite the economic recession, the industry grew by 11% annually and is projected to grow more rapidly over the next two years at 17% per year. And with nearly 350 companies, Canada's video game industry is conservatively estimated to contribute $1.7 billion to Canada's economy and remains the third largest in the world, or in first place on a per capita basis based on the employment levels in other countries.
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The Huffington Post is the latest digital media company to use Canada as an "international testing ground" with the launch of its Canadian edition. The newly created company, Huffington Post Canada, began hiring in Toronto in April 2011. "I have been wanting to launch in Canada for a while," founder Arianna Huffington said. AOL recently bought The Huffington Post in a $315 million deal, which gave the unit the capital and an established base of Canadian staff to expand. Currently the AOL Canada team and the Huffington Post Canada team have merged, with about 24 staff running the sites.
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Canada's digital industries are mainly small businesses, most of which are less than eight years old, have eschewed government financing and expect revenue to increase in the next year, according to a Pixel to Product research study. The study shows that Canada's digital media industry is fuelled by the growth of the mobile application, digital marketing and social media industries. In addition, Canada has quickly evolved into a hotbed of technology innovation, and the report represents the most complete snapshot to date of the country's emerging digital economy. “We learned that the Canadian digital media economy is strong," Justin Kozuch, lead researcher on the study.
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Hollywood film financier and producer American United Entertainment said it will "embrace tax credits and other taxpayer subsidies in Ontario" with an investment of $40 million in future film, TV and digital media production. The company's CEO mentioned that they are open to the possibilities for American United Entertainment expansions in gaming, special effects and social media. Ontario earlier secured outside investment from Ubisoft, Electronic Arts and Capcom Entertainment as it looks to build out its digital production sector beyond traditional film and TV product.
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Microsoft Game Studios has announced the creation of a new studio in Vancouver, with the developer rumoured to be working on a new core title for Kinect. The company describes itself as, "dedicated to making games for 'core' gamers. Our mission is to push the limits of proven and unexplored game development and show the world what's possible on Microsoft's game consoles," referring to this studio.
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Ontario is fast becoming a major player in the interactive gaming world with incentives for companies to create their products in the province. In 2010, Ontario supported 341 digital media projects, leading to over $175 million in production and development activity. Digital media production contributes almost $1.5 billion annually to Ontario's economy and employs 16,000 people, up from 8,000 in 2000.
