Montreal's video game industry alive and well at global summit
Montreal's video game industry is thriving, if the annual game convention underway is any indication.
Dozens of production houses, vendors and gamers descended on the Palais des Congrès for the International Game Summit.
Many of them are local companies, which are looking for new talent and hoping to grow.
Montreal-based Ludia has been around since 2007, and employs 300 people at their office in Old Montreal. They make mobile game versions of movies like Jurassic World and How to Train Your Dragon.
They're looking to hire another hundred by next year.
"Within gaming, mobile gaming has known the biggest growth over the last few years and I believe that it's going to grow even more," Kim Parkinson, human resources manager for Ludia.
Tax credits briefly interrupted
Other local companies at the summit echoed that the local industry is alive and well.
Tax credits from the provincial government have helped the industry grow to what it is today, attracting large players to Montreal, and helping young businesses flourish.
The Couillard government slashed those tax credits in the 2014 budget, causing some uproar. Local companies, as they have done in the past, threatened to leave for neighbouring provinces.
Quebec reinstated the credits this year, which pleased young, independent studios like Minority Media.
"Nowadays you have a lot more independent developers that are coming together and finding new ways to innovate," said Rommel Romero of Montreal's Minority Media.
Economy minister Jacques Daoust is set to make an announcement at the Summit on Monday.
