It's Canada Day here in Canada, so instead of going out and partying like every other single person in my country, I've decided to write a blog article that talks about a bunch of video game companies/developers that Canadians can be proud of. To come up with this list, I went through Wikipedia (I know, very professional) and am using the information from that site.
These are all companies either founded in Canada, by Canadians, or they have their main headquarters in Canada.
11: Tribute Games - Founded in 2011 by Ex-Ubisoft employees, they haven't developed many games as Tribute Games so that's why they are only eleven on this list. However, the one game I played by them -- Mercenary Kings -- is a wonderful, original take on the classic run and gun/side-scrolling shooter that gamers my age grew up on.
10: Radical Entertainment - Vancouver has been described as "the backbone of the Canadian video game industry," and Radical Entertainment was the leader of the pack, so despite the fact that I haven't actually played many of their games I had to throw them on here because they are literally a massive part of gaming culture in Canada.
Unfortunately Prototype 1 and 2 didn't find as much of an audience as they had hoped (they're solid games), and this was the nail in the coffin for them. Since then, they've been doing support work on Activision Blizzard games, but they will no longer have any original games that they create by themselves.
9: Relic Entertainment - Here's a company that is important due to the quality of their games within the strategy genre, but also a company that I haven't actually experienced. They've made games such as Homeworld, Company of Heroes 1 and 2, and a bunch of Warhammer games. Within that realm, they are giants, so they are included in this list because I know people love some of those games.
8: Ubisoft Toronto - I'm probably jumping the gun a bit with this one, but I have to give them some respect anyway because of the potential that the future holds for this offshoot of Ubisoft. They've only technically made one game -- Splinter Cell: Blacklist -- but they have two massive titles in the works: Far Cry 4, which I know will be awesome and Assassin's Creed: Unity, which is the first Assassin's Creed game to have co-op and consequently the first game in the series to have me excited. Plus let's be honest, it has Jade Raymond at the helm.
7: Klei Entertainment - I have yet to play Don't Starve, but I've played Shank 2 and I absolutely love Mark of the Ninja, so Klei Entertainment gets put on the list. Their games are stylish, always beautiful and with Mark of the Ninja they actually made a great 2D stealth game. I also look forward to Invisible, Inc. which is the game that they're working on now.
6: Capybara Games - Like a lot of people, I would imagine, my first experience with Capybara Games is with the excellent Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery, which is my favourite mobile game of all-time as of writing this. I really want to play Super Time Force because it looks like a great take on manipulating time, wrapped up in an old-school style, but unfortunately I don't have the means to get it. Below is shaping up to be another solid entry in their catalogue, but I'll always remember the first time I played Sword and Sworcery.
Superbrothers also get respect because they co-developed Sword and Sworcery, so major props to them as well.
5: Eidos Montreal - Eidos Montreal is like Tribute Games for me, only they resurrected a franchise that's near and dear to a lot of gamers: Deus Ex. Even though they've only released a few games, and their treatment of Thief was only a little above mediocre, they will get love from me for the work they did on Deus Ex: Human Revolution. They also released a mobile Deus Ex game that apparently doesn't suck.
So even though there's only been one game I love by them, it's a doozy. The sky is the limit for Eidos Montreal.
4: Silicon Knights - Though I don't actually know if they're defunct or not at this point, and they released a stinker in Too Human (despite the ambition), I don't feel like Silicon Knights gets the credit they deserve. They re-imagining of Metal Gear Solid for the Gamecube wasn't better than the original, but even as a staunch Metal Gear fanatic, I appreciated the zany, over-the-top (even by Metal Gear standards) cutscenes that Silicon Knights created.
Sure, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes was pretty good and Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain was also a lot of fun, those two games aren't what define Silicon Knights for me. In 2002, they released a horror game that was quietly one of the best games that the Gamecube ever saw: Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. It was a truly scary game that messed with your mind greatly, and it is their crowning achievement.
3: Rockstar Toronto - In 2012, Rockstar Vancouver merged with Toronto. Combined, they have either created or collaborated with other studios to bring us games like Bully, Grand Theft Auto 4 and 5 and Max Payne. Upon researching this list, I figured out that they have more collaborations on their record than a rapper.
2: Ubisoft Montreal - They're a giant gaming studio, and they've brought us games like Prince of Persia, Assassin's Creed, Splinter Cell and Far Cry. Just this year they've released Child of Light and Watch Dogs, which were both great games, even if one of them (ahem Watch Dogs) was too overhyped for its own good.
It doesn't look like they're stopping anytime soon, because the future looks bright. They're collaborating with Ubisoft Toronto -- and some other companies -- to bring us Far Cry 4 and Assassin's Creed Unity, but they are also working on Rainbow Six: Siege... a game that impressed many, including myself, at E3 this year.
1: Bioware -- Bioware are owned by an American company now, but they were founded in Alberta in 1995. To a lot of people, Bioware are the kings and queens of the RPG. They have a list of conquests bigger than the Lindsey Lohan sex list:
- Baldur's Gate series
- Neverwinter Nights
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series
- Mass Effect series
- Dragon Age series
- Star Wars: The Old Republic
- Jade Empire
- MDK2 (I didn't like the Dreamcast controls but the game was awesome in every other way)
Did I miss anything? Am I a terrible Canadian? Let me know in the comments below or you can always reach me directly on Twitter @ArtBathednCrime. Thanks for reading and I will see you next time.
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