So we’re in a trade war.
This is a national story, and on this website, you can find many stories tracking its impacts on Canadian tech. But suffice it to say there has been a lot of talk recently about how best to diversify and strengthen the Canadian economy.
How about gaming?
“Part of the magic of the games industry here is that it’s not one thing.”
Did you know that some of the world’s most popular games are made here in Canada? I’m talking about huge properties like Mass Effect and Assassin’s Creed, alongside indie games like Celeste, Cuphead, and Balatro, the latter nominated for Game of the Year with 5 million copies sold.
Gaming also added $5.1 billion to Canada’s GDP in 2024, with 88 percent of that revenue coming through exports. That GDP number is nowhere near Canada’s top industries, but we’re looking for diversification opportunities, right?
I got this data from a recent report on Canada’s video game industry released by the Entertainment Software Association of Canada (ESAC). This week on The BetaKit Podcast we speak to Paul Fogolin, ESAC’s new president and CEO.
We don’t often cover the gaming industry on BetaKit, but as you’ll learn in this episode, there are a lot of parallels to the rest of Canadian tech: we punch above our weight, we don’t own our IP, and the largest companies in the world make great use of our talent and our tax credits.
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But there’s so much opportunity for Canada to do more, be a global leader, and diversify its economic portfolio.
How would that happen, and how does Canadian gaming fit into an industry currently dominated by too-big-to-fail releases and publishers, rampant layoffs, developer crunch, and burnout?
Grab your joystick and let’s dig in.
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Feature image courtesy Balatro.