Overview of the Canadian Video Game Industry: Canada is the site of a thriving interactive game industry. It is home to some world-renowned game development companies; several multinational game makers operate Canadian studios; Montreal and Vancouver are internationally recognized as hubs of game industry; and Canadians are avid consumers of new media, including video and computer games. Below is an overview of the Canadian digital play industry—some select factoids, a few highlights, and some brief analysis. More detailed reports and extended analysis will be made available on this site on an ongoing basis.
The global market for interactive games software and hardware is about $30 billion. Canada accounts for approximately 3%, or $1 billion, of these sales. Canada possesses one of the world’s strongest technical infrastructures for gaming: 40% of all households own a video game console; 60% own a personal computer and broadband penetration, so crucial to the enjoyment of on-line gaming, is second only to Korea Canadian $1 billion purchases of games software and hardware is only slightly behind the sales of recorded music in Canada, estimated at $1.2 billion for 2000. Canadian games are published and sold internationally, and games sold in Canada are produced internationally. Canadian game developers reckon no more than 5% of their sales are domestic. Most games bought in Canada are made in the US, Europe or Japan; and most games made in Canada are sold in the US or Europe. The best
selling games and genres in Canada over the past five years tend to be
same titles and genres that topped the US and European charts. But, yes,
hockey games are more popular here..
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