In the early/mid 2000's Vancouver had a healthy games industry. Not sure about now. But your point is valid.
Vancouver doesn't really have any technology industry that's in a virtuous cycle yet.
Vancouver doesn't really have any technology industry that's in a virtuous cycle yet.
Until the mid 2000s, I was looking for a viable company / excuse to move to Vancouver (meet the required points/immigration first bar), but never felt like tech was taking off there.
I was involved in the identity arena from the late 90s to mid/late 2000s, the aware of sxip (Dick's company) and had me again exploring the vancouver scene. Funding and major players then were a handful of people and not growing. Not healthy for long term growth -- at least for the risk assessment I was running personally.
http://www.biv.com/article/2014/12/ottawa-gives-microsoft-tf...
Imageworks is taking 2 floors in the same building, Amazon is already in the Telus building at the 555 Robson Atrium and have leased numerous floors in the new Telus Garden tower which will be open momentarily: http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2013/10/amazon-vancouver-office-t...
Amazon is the only one hiring locally but I often find that they just advertise positions but never really end up hiring
I'd love to see something take hold. I'd love to move there, but the infrastructure and base for something more isn't there.
I used to live around Vancouver, I really like it there. I'm not going to choose that over Seattle where I can make more money.
With TN visas being a pretty painless path towards working in the states why not move down?
Of course if I can work for good money at a good company in Vancovuer then I'd stay. Didn't really seem like an option.
There are a lot of talented games or ex-games people in Vancouver, a lot of them interested in indie games, but because games is not a repeatable business model and it is incredibly hard to predict what will be successful, there's no real VC environment and it's hard to find the cash to start up a studio. The age of big publishers like Sony and Microsoft dumping cash on people for exclusives seems over.
I know a few games guys that have gotten out altogether and gone to work at non-games companies, but in general I'm not sure if there's a great deal of interest from non-game companies in hiring ex-games people. Unfortunately games is weird highly specialized skill set.