Vancouver’s console game developers – struggling in recent years from an exodus of studios to Eastern Canada and a trend toward mobile and social gaming – are reaping benefits from two new game consoles being released within one week of each other.
The Xbox One hit store shelves on November 22, just one week after Sony Corp. released its PlayStation4.
It has been eight years since Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT) issued its last console – Xbox 360 – and seven since the PS3.
Because neither console is compatible with old games, a new generation of console games needs to be developed – a big boost for game developers everywhere.
“It’s a new chapter for the industry, and Vancouver is one of the biggest gaming hubs in the world,” said Colin Macrae, communications director for Burnaby’s EA Sports, maker of the multibillion-dollar FIFA game franchise.
“All the attention that comes onto the new consoles will bring a certain number of new people in.”
“It builds excitement, it adds features and capabilities that are designed to draw people to the platform, and it often results in ‘launch’ contracts to build things that are specific for that platform,” said Richard Smith, director at the Centre for Digital Media
“Even smaller studies benefit, because they often get contracts to build features or components or even special effects and animations for the larger games.”
While EA and Capcom Vancouver studios have already released games for the new consoles, it is still a mystery what Vancouver’s Black Tusk Studios is working on, although according to Microsoft, which owns the studio, it is something big – a brand new triple-A title.
Worldwide, the Xbox One and PS4 sold one million copies each in 24 hours; Sony plans to sell five million units of the PS4 by the end of March.
Josh Bridge, executive producer of Dead Rising 3, Capcom Vancouver’s triple-A title for Xbox One, said B.C. remains at a competitive disadvantage with Ontario and Quebec, which has drawn studios like Rockstar Games away from Vancouver with tax incentives.
“The support that they get from the government facilitates their ability to staff a larger team on a similar investment,” Bridge said. “When you hear the staff numbers coming out of Eastern Canada on the games, it’s mind-blowing in some cases.”
Fortunately, its talent pool and proximity to Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond Washington continue to make Vancouver a spoke, if not a hub, for studios that are either owned by Microsoft or which develop for Xbox.
Since 2009, Microsoft has opened three game studios in B.C. – one in Victoria and two in Vancouver (Black Tusk and BigPark).
Capcom Vancouver, meanwhile, developed Dead Rising 3 solely for Xbox One. A team of about 180 people worked on that title.
With a headcount of 1,300, EA is B.C.’s biggest game studio. It has already launched one new game – FIFA 14 – for both Xbox One and PS4 and is planning to launch two more new games in February and May.
EA is not releasing sales figures for FIFA 14, but according to review aggregator Metacritic, it was the top-rated game for Xbox One last week.
“We’re very excited and pleased for the team here that we’re coming out of the gates with the highest-rated console game for both the new devices,” Macrae said.
EA Sports has a team working on a brand-new title – EA Sports UFC – based on the mixed martial arts Ultimate Fighting Championship. That title is due out in May.
The studio will also release Plants Versus Zombies: Garden Warfare in February for both Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
As for Black Tusk’s new triple-A title for Xbox One, it is being kept under tight wraps.
Microsoft has given only tantalizing hints – including a new trailer – that the Vancouver studio is working on an entirely new title that is intended to be a blockbuster on par with Halo – Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar game, which is being turned into a TV series.
