Canadian Video Game Developers
So, some friends of mine tried "Fragpunk" last night and dragged me into trying it. Short version - don't bother, I didn't last 2 hours. It's insanely jam packed with currencies and predatory micro-transactions, the most boring character designs I've ever seen in the genre, AI Slop art, insanely ugly weapon models, and it's published by NetEase. That's like a hundred red flags for what is, at best, a competent 5v5 hero shooter.
But one of the ways they talked me into at least giving it a shot was one friend was convinced (by AI lying to him) that Bad Guitar Studios was Canadian. Upon scrutiny that wasn't even a little true but it DID get me thinking, are we making any cool games up here in the North?
I found some stuff with basic Googling. Compulsion games just released South of Midnight and that looks pretty good, though it's owned by Microsoft. Pheonix Labs made Dauntless, I didn't know they were Canadian. There's a bunch of tiny mobile developers. But I thought maybe other people might have more insight. Does anybody have an awesome game made by Canadians that they can point me towards?
I started a thread a few months back in the Buy Canadian community: https://lemmy.ca/post/39687422
I think you'll find a lot of nice recommendations!
Terrific somebody already did the work. I only got to Lemmy last month. This kind of thing might happen to me a lot...
No harm there :) Lemmy has been great.
Thank you for this link! It's very helpful.
Klei is in Vancouver. Oxygen not included is one of my most played games.
Me but with Don't Starve. Klei is awesome.
Klei was purchased by Tencent.
The guy who made Balatro is Canadian
Yes, but buying that game a 4th time seems excessive.
The Long Dark still remains one of my favourite experiences of all time. If you haven't tried it yet, do so.
And Rimworld is...well....Rimworld; a fun war-crime simulator with cute characters.
Sea of Stars was made in Québec city I think.
It is inspired from Chrono Trigger, so if you liked that, give it a try.
Sea of Stars is the prequel to The Messenger. I haven't played Sea of Stars yet, different game style.
https://store.steampowered.com/sale/quebec2025?tab=3
There was a Québec games celebration event on Steam. I have a friend who makes games as both a hobby and also a living (freelancing contracts from a larger developer).
Bruh. There are TONS.
I'm going to try to create a list and publish it here.
Warframe by Digital Extremes.
They've managed to keep Tencent out of the pot so far, I'd say. Just disclosing that the big red is involved first.
The Messenger
Great game, just beat it recently, playing the bonus levels. 2D platformer
https://canadiangamedevs.com/
There are a lot of studios, diverse size and genres. What is missing in the website is their pubishers.
More mainstream and big budget, so everyone probably already knows this one. But if you like puzzles and wish your gameplay was narrated by Prometheus gentle-parenting manbaby Zeus through your hero's journey, Immortals: Fenyx Rising is fluffy fun. It's an ubisoft game, and they're still a Quebec company so it absolutely counts.
They are a French (ie European) company.
TIL! ty
So Montreal's one of their studios. Good to know.
Old bioware. Pretty much baldrs gate through mass effect
Main Sequence is coming soon from a Canadian indie developer!
Not my kind of game, but I have friend who will be very into this.
Nothing like the games you're describing, but Tunic is an utter delight, and was made by an amazing solo dev in Halifax!
Nobody has mentioned Blue Isle Studios yet. I played Valley, which is a single player, story/mystery driven game played in a wilderness setting with some cool movement mechanics. I can certainly recommend it if that sounds interesting to you. Their newer games are horror (slender man) or multiplayer pvp games that don't get great reviews and aren't my jam so I haven't tried them but Valley was great.
Lost Records: Bloom and Rage is made by Don’t Nod Montreal.
a short hike is 100% Canadian, I'm pretty sure. The composer and programmer/artist are both from the Toronto indie scene.
Ok, coming back to your post... In Québec there us a huge video game industry. There are many studios here, both huge companies and independent.
You can find a list here: https://gamecompanies.com/industries/north-america/canadian-game-industry/quebec/companies
A couple of my favourite companies are Tribute games who are behind Mercenary Kings, the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles beat 'em up and Panzer Paladin. And also Sabotage Studio who are behind The Messenger and Sea of Stars, which is an amazing action RPG inspired by Chrono Trigger.
Cellar Door Games is based in Toronto. They made a few noteworthy games, in particular Rogue Legacy.