Move to Quebec for EA no reason to give up on government assistance: Alliance

Even as the new media industry struggles across Canada, Quebec has solidified its place as a multimedia hotspot by scoring giant Electronic Arts (EA) as Montreal’s newest developer. The global video games developer and publisher announced on August 14 that it would build a new studio in the city by the end of this year under the direction of games veteran Alain Tascan. Tascan tells Canadian NEW MEDIA the facility will likely hire between 50 and 80 project staff every 12 months for the next four years as it undertakes development of four titles over that span. He forecasts a complement of 300 to 500 people within the next five to six years if plans work out as predicted. He says the company has not yet decided which titles will be produced in Quebec but that EA is leaning toward original action/adventure properties as opposed to exploiting existing brands such as Harry Potter to which the company currently has rights. The facility will be located at an as-yet-to-be determined site. One of the key challenges EA faces in setting up shop in Montreal will be finding sufficient numbers of development staff. But, says Tascan, the company will be casting a wide net in search of talent. "We always have to work to find the best talent. But I think there’s an incredible pool of talent in Montreal - for several reasons," he says. "One, historically Montreal and the East Coast has been a place of creative content. A lot of people are in these kinds of jobs related to creativity. Then, in terms of schools, you have four very good universities in Montreal with McGill, Concordia, the University of Quebec in Montreal and the Université de Montréal. You have a lot of schools of design around there, like the (CentreNAD), and schools in Toronto like Sheridan College in terms of animation." He adds that EA will be looking to supplement local sources of people with workers from as far afield as New York City and Boston. He says that several years of government assistance to the multimedia sector has also created a talent base in Montreal that the company can use. But, he notes, historically generous direct government assistance wasn’t a factor in EA’s decision to move to the region. "It was a factor, but it wasn’t the primo factor, for the reason you just said - it’s under reconsideration. At the size of being a publicly traded company, we cannot build a business plan based on a factor or a key element that is not under our direct control. Quality, marketing, sales - that is something that we can control, but government help is not something that is under our control. We obviously will try to maximize the help that we can get, but for the bottom line, our business plans are not computing for the moment the government help." Alliance numériQC president Suzanne Guèvremont cautions that while EA’s decision is encouraging, it’s too early to say government assistance is no longer needed in the province. Assistance to the multimedia sector appears poised to be slashed under the new Liberal government (CNM, June 25/03). Guèvremont cautions that small- and medium-sized enterprises still need help to help create the talent base that can be used by larger companies like EA. "There is an expertise that exists here already and the past help that the government implemented probably helped our industry to get to this point," she tells CNM. "We can’t say that if the government is rethinking its help to the companies or that EA coming here just confirms the fact that Quebec doesn’t need any help. One plus one doesn’t necessarily make two in that particular case. "For local and smaller companies, there’s still a lot of work to do. And that’s what we’re focusing on...We’re talking about companies that have less than five years experience... It’s still an industry that requires help. I’m not saying that the help that was there before remains the best solution, but … we need to think of something. We still need to think of something - perhaps different, but we cannot just pull the plug."

Move to Quebec for EA no reason to give up on government assistance: Alliance

Broadcast | August 28, 2003

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