Montreal Chapter 

Posted by RaynaAnderson on April 17, 2008 10:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

MIGS conference set for Nov 18 and 19

The Montreal International Game Summit (MIGS) is set to happen on Nov 18 and 19, 2008. Along with the usual industry events, there will also be free and public events at this year's 5th annual summit.

Also, the deadline for the call for speakers is only one week away!

Posted by RaynaAnderson on April 11, 2008 11:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Montreal game studios among the most successful in the world

Develop has ranked the top 100 studios based on their revenues, in the UK retail market that is. Ubisoft Montreal is at #3, A2M is #19 and EA Montreal is #75. Congrats!

Posted by RaynaAnderson on April 10, 2008 01:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Toronto Design + Technology Festival: 20% IGDA member discount

Promo bits...

FITC Toronto 2008 - The Design + Technology Festival
April 20 - April 22, 2008, Hilton Toronto, Canada

Break IT! Break your tools. Break your patterns. Break the norm. Break the standards.

Push the limits of art, design and technology at FITC Toronto, the flagship event of FITC (Flash in the Can).

FITC Toronto is where the world’s top designers and developers come together to share their insights and expertise across three subject areas: creative, technical and business. Sessions cover all aspects of the creative process, explore the latest developments in rich media technology, and provide insight into the ups and downs of running an Interactive business.

This is the 7th year for the three-day festival, which also includes a kick-ass Awards show, a speakers’ series devoted to experimental art and programming, a large scale interactive art exhibit as well as some very cool parties.

For more information, or to register, go to:
http://www.fitc.ca/toronto

IGDA members are being offered a 20% discount on pass registration. Please ping montreal[at]igda.org to request the discount code.

Posted by della on April 6, 2008 10:29 AM | Comments (0)

New Eidos project starts with a T

The moment that Eidos Montreal posted on their front page that they're recruiting for a AAA title that starts with T, speculation began on just what that game will be. It seems the world is paying very close attention to what's going on in this city!

Posted by RaynaAnderson on April 4, 2008 12:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

U.K. investigating Canadian gaming tax credits

The Vancouver Sun goes a bit sensational, saying that the U.K. is starting a trade war with Canada over the tax credits being offered to gaming companies, luring away them away from the U.K. The formal investigation will see if it is "compatible" with the WTO principles. Most gaming sites say it's pretty easy to understand why companies would make the jump. One U.K. blogger calls us Pesky Canadians and says it's about time someone investigated these incentives.

Posted by RaynaAnderson on April 2, 2008 03:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Montrealer interviews Tommy Tallarico & Jack Wall at Video Games Live

I know that many locals enjoyed Video Games Live, the gaming music-themed concert (which was so popular in Montreal that they added an extra night). To find out more about the event and the people behind it, check out the following article. Nicolas Brosseau had the opportunity to interview Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall when Video Games Live came to Montreal recently. The article is in French but you can listen to the original interview in English here.

Posted by RaynaAnderson on April 2, 2008 02:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Conference - New Frontiers in Gaming

Coming up on Tuesday, April 8th is a session onNew Frontiers in Gaming, part of the Interfaces Montréal Demo-Conferences.

From the site:
The emergence of new platforms brings greater power to the gaming industry in terms of both artistic impact and cultural scope. Like an interactive form of theatre, digital games are changing the space between the show and the audience, and redrawing the boundaries for interface design and multimedia content.

Date: Tuesday, April 8th
Time: 5:30pm - 9:30pm
Cost: $16.65
Location: SAT at 1195, Saint-Laurent

Posted by RaynaAnderson on March 28, 2008 11:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

'Montreal is not an efficient place to run a business' says CEO of a UK indie company

According to Mark Greenshields, CEO of independent developer Firebrand games and founder of the now-closed DC Studios, 'Montreal is not an efficient place to run a business.' He claims that the tax environment favours large studios and that Montreal has too few skilled people available. He hopes that the UK government will start supporting the local industry with tax credits so that people stop going abroad.

Posted by RaynaAnderson on March 17, 2008 02:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

IGDA and the CTF debate Bully on CBC

Over the weekend, IGDA's Jason Della Rocca and Mary-Lou Donnelly of the CTF debate the controversial game Bully, which the CTF aims to ban. The interview took place Sunday on the CBC and the video is now available online.

Posted by RaynaAnderson on March 13, 2008 04:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Upcoming design lecture at the Université de Montréal

If the lack of recent IGDA meetings has left you yearning for some learning, a local lecture might be able to help you fill that void...

The École de design industriel is hosting a session called "Sketching user experiences: Getting the design right and the right design". The speaker will be Bill Buxton, a principal researcher at Microsoft and associate professor at the University of Toronto.

When: Tuesday, March 25th at 6pm
Where: Amphithéâtre Hydro-Québec, Pavillon de la Faculté de l'aménagement, Université de Québec, 2940 Côte-Sainte-Catherine Road

From the flyer (after the break):

Designing for the class of objects such as mobile phones or personal digital assistants, whose character, design and experience is as much a matter of software as hardware, poses a real challenge. How does one design the holistic experience? How does this relate to industrial design?

Now principal researcher at Microsoft and associate professor at the University of Toronto, Bill Buxton has been a regular consulting research scientist at Xerxc Parc and chief scientist at Alias/Wavefront and SGI. Through his career he has professed and put into action the belief that designs ignoring the social and cultural experiences that the engender are not worthy of that name.

Posted by RaynaAnderson on March 11, 2008 11:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

New Exec Director for the Montreal Game Summit

Alain Lachapelle has been promoted to Executive Director of the Montreal Game Summit, replacing outgoing director Jean-Pierre Faucher. The next summit will be held Nov 6-7, 2008 at the Palais des congrès.

Posted by RaynaAnderson on February 15, 2008 09:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Interview with the CEO of Ubisoft's Montreal Studio

Ubisoft Montreal's CEO, Yannis Mallat, is interviewed at DICE. He talks about wanting more emotional games, what the Montreal studio is working on for Nintendo and casual gaming.

Posted by RaynaAnderson on February 11, 2008 08:31 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

French, the new language of gaming

Bruce Everiss, a game industry veteran, claims that now is the time to learn French if you work in the gaming industry. Not only is France set to boom with the new cultural tax credits, but he mentions that Canada, Montreal in particular, is overtaking the UK in game development!

Posted by RaynaAnderson on February 6, 2008 08:44 AM

How we work - a look at the desks of gaming industry folks

What does your desk look like? You can take a look at the workspaces of some of Montreal's gaming industry folks in Kotaku's photo editorial called Work and Play: A Peek Inside the Lives of Gaming's Greatest.

Posted by RaynaAnderson on January 14, 2008 09:02 AM

Jason Della Rocca selected for Ambassador Award

At GDC 2008, the IGDA's executive director (and president of the Montreal chapter), Jason Della Rocca, will be honoured with the first-ever Ambassador Award for all of the work he does representing us to the media, advocating important issues, connecting all of the chapters worldwide and everything else that he does for us. Congratulations Jason!

Posted by RaynaAnderson on December 21, 2007 02:37 PM | Comments (0)

Eidos Studio Tour

If you missed their recent open house, you can get a look inside the new Montreal Eidos studio with a personal tour from the General Manager Stéphane D'Astous. With a 24-month production cycle and the latest instalment of the Deus Ex franchise, things are looking pretty sweet for the fast-growing team.

Posted by RaynaAnderson on December 21, 2007 02:31 PM | Comments (0)

Interview with IGF finalists Phil Fish and Renaud Bedard

While many know about Montreal becoming a great city for gaming companies, it's also getting recognition for the independent games being created here as well. Montrealers Phil Fish and Renaud Bedard spoke with Gamasutra about their game Fez. Find out what inspired them to create a 3 dimensional 2D game and the tools they used to achieve the effect. Best of luck at the awards presentation!

Posted by RaynaAnderson on December 21, 2007 02:00 PM | Comments (0)

Game Finance conference set for Toronto

GameON: Finance will tackle both project and corporate financing issues by engaging industry veterans in dialogue about the next generation of finance for the development of video games across all platforms.

The conference will run from January 17th to 18th, in Toronto. IGDA members receive a 20% discount on registration (membership will be verified).

GameON: Finance is produced by Interactive Ontario (io) with the support of the Ontario Media Development Corporation and Telefilm Canada.

Posted by della on December 10, 2007 03:53 PM | Comments (0)

Silicon Knights' Dyack: Quebec Game Company Subsidies "Insane"

Talking as part of an in-depth studio tour posted on Gamasutra, Ontario-based Silicon Knights founder Denis Dyack has been discussing the state of Canadian game development, suggesting subsidies from the Quebec government to companies such as Ubisoft, EA, and Eidos are "insane" and probably unsustainable:

"The subsidies in Quebec are, well, insane. Essentially that's the only reason the studios are so big there."

Full story via Gamasutra.

Posted by della on November 20, 2007 04:34 PM | Comments (0)

Montreal Children's Hospital now part of Child's Play Charity

Penny-Arcade's Child's Play announced recently that it is opening its annual charity drive. The fundraiser has expanded to include hospitals in over 25 US states and five countries across the globe - including the Montreal Children's Hospital for the first time.

Since 2003, over 100,000 gamers worldwide have banded together through Child's Play, a community based charity grown and nurtured from the game culture and industry. Over two million dollars in donations of toys, games, books and cash for sick kids in children's hospitals across North America and the world have been collected since the charity's inception.

Special thanks to Elspeth Tory (Ubisoft) for originally coming up with the idea to get a Montreal hospital on the map, and for making the connection happen.

Posted by della on November 6, 2007 09:50 AM | Comments (0)

Montreal workforce grows 177 per cent in two years

Ripped from Develop mag: The latest figures from Invest Quebec have revealed that the population of the local games development workforce is close to 5,000.

Ubisoft Montreal is the biggest employer, with 1,609 employees. Second biggest is independent A2M, which has 438 employees, with EA Montreal behind it at 380.

Posted by della on November 2, 2007 12:32 PM | Comments (0)

MIGS Registration Now Live

Quick note to let everyone know that the Montreal International Game Summit is now taking online registrations. Early-bird rates are in effect until November 1st, and IGDA members receive a $30 discount.

MIGS also just announced the new Business Lounge and matchmaking service...

Posted by della on October 2, 2007 12:59 PM | Comments (0)

On the Road to GDC 2008

"On the Road to GDC" is a market preparedness program, free of charge, offered to up to 20 Canadian game developers, in preparation of the Game Developers Conference and/or the Game Connection, held in San Francisco, February 18-22, 2008.

Telefilm will be hosting one of their workshops in Montreal on November 26. Full details and application form available in English and French.

Posted by della on October 2, 2007 12:55 PM | Comments (0)

//ADAPT Conference brings 2D/3D masters to Montreal

2500 attendees are expected to gather in Montreal for the industry's second annual creative conference to learn and be inspired. Taking place September 24th to the 28th the event focuses on teaching advanced digital art production techniques for film, visual effects and video game development.

For more details check out the //ADAPT website: adaptmontreal.com/a2007

Posted by della on September 18, 2007 02:45 PM | Comments (0)

Kokoromi announces GAMMA 256, Call for Entries

Game/art collective Kokoromi has announced GAMMA 256, their latest game creation challenge.

Developers have until November 1st to create a game with the smallest and/or most irregular aspect ratio you can dream up. And then on November 28th, they're throwing a giant party for the games during the Montreal International Game Summit.

Check out the full details and rules.

Posted by della on August 27, 2007 02:48 PM | Comments (0)

COLLADA Summit in Montreal

Members of the Khronos COLLADA workgroup wish to invite the entire 3D community to a special, first-time COLLADA Summit on Friday September 21st at the SAT. For more information see:

http://www.khronos.org/news/events/detail/montreal_collada_summit/

Posted by della on August 21, 2007 03:20 PM | Comments (0)

The NAD Centre is looking for a 3DS Max teacher

The NAD Centre (National Animation Design Centre) is looking for somone who is a specialist in video games and fascinated by the 3D animation industry to serve as a 3DS Max teacher. This is for a full time position within the Design and Digital Art for Video Games program. This program is taught both French and English. See the NAD Center site for more details regarding the tasks and requirements of the role: English / French.

Posted by della on July 6, 2007 12:59 PM | Comments (0)

Supporting Anna's Walk To Fight Breast Cancer

A note from Anna Sjöström of Babel Media:

I'll be participating in The Weekend to End Breast Cancer this August.

My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006 and has received extraordinary treatment back home in London, leading to a full recovery. However, most of us know people who are not so lucky.

To help allow for more research, I'll walk 60km over the course of one weekend. Proceeds benefit Segal Cancer Centre at the Jewish General Hospital, and a McGill University teaching hospital.

As a condition of participation, I must raise at least $2,000. So, yes, this is a plea for your financial support. If you or your company would like to support me with a fully tax-deductible contribution, you can sponsor online or download a sponsorship form on my website: www.endcancer.ca/goto/annasjostrom

I'll be at the next IGDA Chapter meeting on June 12th to talk more about this important event. Thank you in advance for any support!

Posted by della on June 4, 2007 02:15 PM | Comments (0)

Virtools Seminar: Prototyping and Rapid Production

Virtools is pleased to invite developers for a seminar in Montreal, June 8th from 9:00 am. You will discover all the recent innovation in Virtools Game technology, such as the Virtools solution for Nintendo Wii.

Full agenda info and registration details available at the Virtools site.

Posted by della on May 30, 2007 01:52 PM | Comments (0)

Ubiquity Develop Cover Story

The May issue of UK game industry magazine, Develop, features Ubisoft Montreal as their "Ubiquity" cover story.

CEO Yannis Mallat is grilled on their growth plan ("We aren't doing it for the sake of it," he insists) and then Patrice Desilettes and Jade Raymond, creative director and producer of the studio's ambitious next-gen game Assassin's Creed, talk game design and technology (they call the game an action-adventure with sports game sensibilities).

A free PDF download of Develop issue 72 is at their site.

Posted by della on May 9, 2007 10:59 AM | Comments (0)

"Acting for Animators" Workshop with Ed Hooks

The NATIONAL ANIMATION AND DESIGN CENTRE (NAD Centre) is pleased to offer on June 11, 2007 a workshop with Ed Hooks on acting theory, specifically, designed for the needs of animators who work in the 3D animation industry. This one-day lecture will take place in Montreal at their office and will offer 40 seats for professionals who want to apply acting theory to their creative pipeline. The primary focus of "Acting for Animators" is to explore the connections between thinking, emotion and physical action as it relates to performance animation. The cost of the training is $195 which includes the references and a meal. A NAD Centre Certificate will be given at the end of the training.

Posted by della on May 9, 2007 10:57 AM | Comments (0)

Cegep de Matane Looking for Teachers

Are you a specialist in video games? Cegep de Matane is looking for people like you...

In Matane, enjoy outdoor leisure activities and teach in the program "Level Design" from the May 21st. Note, the program is taught in French only. In Montreal's Campus Ubisoft, teach in different domains like Animation 3D, Modeling and Level Design.

For more details on teaching at the Cegep de Matane, download their pdf.

Posted by della on April 26, 2007 01:50 PM | Comments (0)

Duncan in Montreal

3vis and Autodesk are pleased to invite Montreal developers for a special presentation by Duncan Brinsmead, a principal scientist with Autodesk. He is the creator of Maya Paint Effects, Maya Hair, Maya Toon, and also worked extensively on Maya Fluids and Maya nCloth.

When: Thursday, April 26, 2007, from 6:00p.m. to 9:00p.m.
Where: Studio Juste pour Rire, 2111 boul. St-Laurent

For more details: www.3vis.com/DUNCAN
REGISTRATION (free entrance): www.3vis.com/RSVP

Posted by della on April 19, 2007 01:27 PM | Comments (0)

Vortex 2007: The Game Competition

Vortex 2007: The Game Competition is a Canadian competition and lecture series that just announced its details:

"Vortex has always been about looking to the future while supporting emerging talent in Canada and Vortex 2007: The Game Competition, from March 15 – July 19, 2007, is no different! This year’s focus is on the evolving world of video game trends, development and production across a variety of platforms. Through invaluable seminars, coaching, and the Vortex Prize competition, new game industry entrepreneurs will develop business skills and networking opportunities."

Posted by della on March 22, 2007 05:31 PM | Comments (0)

Conference: AI/GI/CRV/IS 2007

AI/GI/CRV/IS 2007 is the combined conference for Artificial Intelligence 2007, the 20th Canadian Artificial Intelligence Conference; Graphics Interface 2007, 33rd Graphics Interface Conference; Computer and Robot Vision 2007, the 4th Canadian Conference on Computer and Robot Vision; and Intelligent Systems 2007, 17th Annual Canadian Conference on Intelligent Systems. A single registration will permit attendees to attend any talk in the four Conferences, which will be scheduled in parallel tracks. The Conference will also include an awards banquet, workshops, tours to local research labs and a posters/demonstration exhibition.

AI/GI/CRV/IS 2007 will run from May 27th to the 30th at the Marriott Montreal Chateau Champlain. Full details are online at www.aigicrvis.ca.

Posted by della on March 21, 2007 10:51 AM | Comments (0)

Ubisoft Montreal to become world's biggest studio

Ubisoft Montreal is aiming to have over 3,000 staff under its roof by 2013 following a deal with the Canadian government - a move which would make it the world's largest games development studio.

Full story via Develop...

Posted by della on February 9, 2007 04:36 PM | Comments (0)

8 BIT, a documentary about art and videogames

Posted by della on February 5, 2007 03:03 PM | Comments (0)

Telefilm: On the road to GDC...

In preparation for the 2007 edition of the Game Developers Conference and the Game Connection, Telefilm Canada, through the Canada New Media Fund and in collaboration with Alliance numériQC, TechPEI, OMDC and New Media BC, has invited emerging to mid-career developers to a counseling and coaching program, free of charge.

The Montreal session runs on January 29th. Full details are at the Telefilm site.

Posted by della on January 10, 2007 04:20 PM | Comments (0)

Ubi/EA Profiled at Gamasutra

Gamasutra recently ran two feature articles on interviews with Montreal top studio execs:

• The French-Canadian Connection: A Q&A With Yannis Mallat, Ubisoft Montreal
• Army of Alain - Inside EA Montreal

Posted by della on January 2, 2007 10:42 AM | Comments (0)

Montreal Game Summit Coverage...

Here's some online coverage of the 3rd annual Montreal International Game Summit:

- Gamasutra coverage overview
- Joystiq coverage
- Michael Mateas live-blogging: Day-1 and Day-2
- event summary and photos at Reality Panic

Please send along other coverage to montreal at igda dot org, and we'll update the above listing.

Posted by della on November 13, 2006 06:29 PM | Comments (0)

Extensive Gazette Coverage

As a lead up to the Montreal Game Summit this week, the Gazette is doing an extensive series of stories/coverage on the Montreal game development scene.

They've got interviews with folks from all the major studios, with stories covering each step of a game's dev cycle.

Posted by della on November 6, 2006 11:46 AM | Comments (0)

CANstruction Montréal

The fine folks from CANstruction Montréal want to see game developers getting involved in their upcoming charity effort:

"We invite you to participate in the first ever Montreal Canstruction competition which will be held from January 25 to 30 at the Centre des sciences de Montréal.

Architects, engineers, designers, builders and students in these fields compete with originality and skill to build giant structures made entirely out of canned food. After being exhibited to the public, these creations are dismantled and the cans of food are donated to the Moisson Montréal Food Bank to help relieve hunger."

Word is that game studios from Vancouver did really well last year...

Posted by della on October 9, 2006 03:53 PM | Comments (0)

Kokoromi announces GAMMA 01 : Audio Feed!

The Kokoromi collective, a small group of like minded game makers inclined towards the more artistic and experimental side of gaming is looking for participants for its GAMMA event.

GAMMA is both the closing party for the Montreal International Game Summit as well as the opening party for the Arcadia Festival. It's also an excuse to make beautiful games together.

GAMMA is looking for creative game developers to join them in making small, simple and artistic games that will use the live music feed from the DJ at the party to generate both gameplay and visuals. The games will be displayed (and played) on giant screens at the party to be held at SAT on Thursday, November 9th.

Posted by della on September 19, 2006 05:24 PM | Comments (0)

Alliance numériQC au Tokyo Game Show

Pour la première fois, le Canada et Alliance numériQC se rendront au Japon pour participer au Tokyo Game Show les 22, 23 et 24 septembre. Le Pavillon du Canada, organisé par l'ambassade du Canada au Japon, accueillera 13 entreprises canadiennes dont 6 provenant du Québec.

De plus, les entreprises pourront bénéficier d'une autre activité pour soutenir leurs efforts sur le marché asiatique. Un séminaire sera présenté à l’ambassade le mercredi 20 septembre durant lequel les entreprises pourront se faire connaître auprès d'un auditoire d'affaires en provenance du Japon, de Taiwan, de Singapour et de la Corée du Sud. Plus de 200 participants d'affaires y sont attendus. Le séminaire sera suivi d'une réception.

Posted by della on September 13, 2006 11:30 AM | Comments (0)

Indiana Jones Adapts in Montreal

Our friends from LucasArts have sent word that they are participating in digital art production conference Adapt:

"We're participating in the ADAPT conference in Montreal the weekend of Sept 23-24. Chris Williams, Project Lead on LucasArts' Indiana Jones project will be doing a 90 minute presentation. Additionally, one of the Compositing Supervisors from Industrial Light & Magic, Eddie Pasquarello, will be doing a presentation on Pirates of the Caribbean."

Check out the snazzy Adapt website for more details. FYI, it was also announced that Chris Williams would be giving the keynote speech at GDC London...

Posted by della on September 6, 2006 02:47 PM | Comments (0)

Autodesk Launches The Area

Autodesk has recently launched it's community portal for digital artists called The Area. Their opening blurb notes:

"Think of it as a 3D resource made by you, for you. An area for artists and developers, beginners to advanced – to create, collaborate and communicate."

They've got blogs, forums, portfolios, polls and cool tools to download. Everything a digital artist could ask for :)

Posted by della on September 6, 2006 02:43 PM | Comments (0)