EA Montreal brainpower gets $3.3 million boost

The world’s largest gaming software firm will beef up the brainpower of the employees at its Montreal studio with a $2.6 million training program. Redwood City CA software firm Electronic Arts will provide the money for full-time staff in Montreal to upgrade their skills in a wide variety of fields and enhance their knowledge of the industry. Emploi Québec, a unit of the province’s Ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité Social (Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity) which provides labor market research and job-finding services, also announced it will add $660,000 to the pool of funds. Although details are tentative, the proposed curriculum will offer courses in such core gaming skills as graphics, performance technology and engineering, according to the company, but will also include material on skills such as project management and people management. Guest lecturers from other disciplines such as filmmaking, music, comic book illustration, computer animation and engineering will also be invited to participate. Electronic Arts opened its Montreal studio in 2003 with 40 employees; the operation has now grown to 100, and the firm says it plans to add another 75 to 100 staffers over the next five years. EA employs nearly 1,300 Quebecers in total. The firm’s Canadian headquarters are at its Vancouver studio, which houses more than 1,000 employees. Electronic Arts reported $3.1 billion in revenue in its 2005 fiscal year, which ended on March 31. At the 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards held in Las Vegas in March 2004, EA Canada’s Need For Speed Underground won top honors in the Console Racing Game of the Year category, while SSX 3 took home two awards, for Console Action Sport Game of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Licensed Soundtrack. EA Canada didn’t fare so well at this year’s edition of the awards in February, failing to take home a single award. A representative from Electronic Arts was not available for comment before press time, but Alain Tascan, VP and general manager at EA Montreal, said in a media release: "Education and training are key components of EA’s long-term growth strategy. We are making the necessary financial investments that will empower our game makers and help us stay ahead in this competitive market." Electronic Arts has been moving jobs northward in recent years, lured by tax credits and investment capital provided by various levels of Canadian government. In 2002, it closed its Seattle game development studio, transferring only half of the 40 jobs that were there at the time to its Vancouver operations. At its peak, the Seattle facility – which joined the firm’s holdings in 1997 after an acquisition – housed 70 EA staffers. Electronic Arts has four main product lines: EA, encompassing the company’s fantasy, science-fiction and simulation titles; EA Sports, which publishes the annual Madden, NBA Live, NHL, and Tigers Woods PGA Tour franchises; EA Sports Big, which publishes titles based on street and extreme sports; and Pogo, a provider of family-oriented games. In May, rival game developer Ubisoft Entertainment of Paris received a funding commitment from the Quebec government that could be worth as much as $5.3 million. That money, plus up to $16 million from Ubisoft, will go to create a new "Ubisoft Campus" in partnership with a Quebec CEGEP and the Université de Sherbrooke. At the time, EA spokesperson Jeff Brown told the Montreal Gazette he was concerned about public money going to fund a corporate training initiative, and that the program might give Ubisoft an unfair advantage when it came to recruiting video game development talent.

EA Montreal brainpower gets $3.3 million boost

News | 09/02/2005 4:00 am EDT

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