This site offers information and analysis about the video and computer game industry in Canada, a small, but vibrant maple-leaf shaped node in the worldwide culture of interactive play.

Video and computer games are today a major cultural, technological and economic force- not mention being a lot of fun. Canada is home to some globally renowned game companies; Canadians are amongst the most enthusiastic and best-equipped game players in the world; and there is a small but growing group of Canadian game researchers, writers and reviewers.

Once the site is fully completed, you’ll find here a summary of key facts about the interactive game industry in Canada; a searchable “who’s who” database of companies; some scholarly articles about the Canadian industry; a longer report; current news; and discussion of how to analyze the content of digital games; links to other sites of interest

This site is the project of a group of researchers in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies, at the University of Western Ontario. Much of the research posted here was funded by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
We’re putting our results on-line because we think they may be of interest to academics, industry participants and digital game players generally.

All of us involved in this project play and enjoy games. We also recognize that, in Canada and elsewhere, there are many controversies about the state of the games industry: debates about violent game content, about the situation of women in the industry, about concentration of ownership, about piracy and intellectual property rights. In fact, the number of arguments and conflicts about interactive gaming are one of the things that make it worth studying!. This site discusses such issues as they appear in a Canadian context. You may not agree with some of the things we have to say, but we think that lively debate, as well as recognition and enthusiasm, will make Canada a centre of creative gaming culture.

The information here is available as a public service. Feel free to use it, and pass it on, but please include an acknowledgement of where you got it. And please give us to views on this site—we look forward to hearing from you.