Canadian Video Game Companies Take Center Stage at Gamescom 2017

Their mission : to seize new business opportunities and explore new markets 


With over 900 exhibitors and 345 000 visitors (fans, professionals and journalists alike) expected in Cologne, Germany next week, Gamescom is indisputably one of the world’s largest events for computer and video games.

As such, it has become a must-go-to event for all those wishing to promote their products, share their expertise and explore new markets. That’s all very well, provided that you get the chance to go there in the first place!

Luckily, that’s exactly where our Mission Abroad program comes into play (pun intended).

Led by the CEIM's experienced team (Pierre Moisan and Martin Brouard) in collaboration with Global Affairs Canada’s Trade Commissioner Service, the initiative aims at stimulating the economic development of the Gaming and New Media industry and, more specifically, at enabling young Canadian creators to take part in key events such as Steam Dev Days, Game Connection or even the Paris Games Week and ChinaJoy in Asia (stay tuned for info!) with a view to building strong strategic partnerships and accelerating the development and launch of their products internationally.


Since Canada (that is celebrating its 150th birthday this year) is the partner country, and given the volume of high-quality submissions that we have received, it isn’t 15 (as previously mentioned) but rather an army of 20 Canadian developers that will take part in our Gamescom mission to promote their know-how and creativity and thus, position themselves on the European and world stage.

In addition, there will be a special Canadian pavilion which should provide great networking and meeting opportunities.

Until then, and in order to satisfy your curiosity, here is a small glimpse of four of the talented companies that you can expect to see at the show:

Chainsawesome Games

Inception Date: 2012 (Quebec)
Co-founders: Jean Simon OtisDavid Paré and Jade Bélanger

Chainsawesome Games is an independent game development studio, creator of award-winning Knight Squad and Beat Blaster III. Knight Squad, which was entirely self-financed and self-published, has been downloaded by 1.8 million users through an exclusive partnership with Microsoft. Thanks to a solid business plan for this project, Chainsawesome Games also won the grand prize of the Catapulte contest presented by Ubisoft Quebec in 2015.

Set to release in early 2018 for PCs and consoles, their third title (Aftercharge) has already been showcased at key events including E3 2016, GDC 2017 and PAX East 2017 last March. Chainsawesome Games has signed strategic agreements with Amazon and Microsoft and is benefiting from a grant of the Canadian Media Fund.



Titles to discover or rediscover:
• Beatblaster III
• Knight Squad
• Aftercharge

Gogii Games

Inception Date: 2006 (New Brunswick)
Founder: George Donovan

Gogii Games is a renowned independent mobile & casual game developer with more than 160M downloads of their 90 games worldwide, providing quality products on a variety of platforms including PC/Mac, iPad/iPhone, Android, Nintendo Wii and DS, XBOX 360.

The company, which recently expanded to Nova Scotia as Gogii Lighthouse Studios to expand its video game design and development capabilities, has released a long line of Premium and Free-to-Play games that are available in multiple languages (13) and formats incl. Online from iTunes, the Google Play Store,  Amazon's App Store, the Windows and Windows Phone Store and Big Fish Games’ Manager.

Titles to discover or rediscover:
• The award-winning Princess Isabella, named Big Fish Games' Games of the Year in 2009 
• Pet Zoometery
• Archie: Betty or Veronica
• Fish Tycoon 2: Virtual Aquarium

 

Itzy Interactive

Inception Date: 2011 (Alberta)
Co- founders: Kyle Kulyk and William Iftody

Itzy Interactive Inc. is an independent game developer that uses the Unity3d engine to bring its creations to life. The company, which has released three mobile games to Android and iOS (games that have been downloaded on nearly half a million mobile devices), has been hard at work on its most ambitious project to date: Mad Devils, a Diablo/WWII mashup for PC and game consoles that blends the popular WWII genre with supernatural/fantasy elements in a one of a kind, co-operative shooter experience.

Itzy Interactive has been shifting from mobile platforms to game consoles to tell even bigger stories in larger, more interactive worlds, and continues to expand its team (which has a wealth of experience, from mobile development to AAA games such as Diablo III, Starcraft 2, the Mass Effect Series and Baldur’s Gate) and its network of industry veterans and console developers alike.  


Titles to discover or rediscover:

Itzy3D, selected to be part of Chillingo’s 100% Indie showcase at E3 as well as being Greenlit on Steam
• Vex Blocks
• Vex Puzzles, named "Best in Mobile Entertainment” at the 2014 Digital Alberta Awards

Triple Boris

Inception Date: 2014 (Quebec)
Founder: Simon Dansereau

Since its inception, Triple Boris has demonstrated a strong expertise in video games and mobile apps development. The company, which has experienced sustained and rapid growth, now has 15 employees. In addition to IP development, Triple Boris offers consulting and training services.

Triple Boris prides itself on providing a comprehensive and customized service to all its customers. Respect, creativity, quality, dedication and family are at the heart of its core values.

Since releasing its first game: Gauche-Droite : Le Manoir last year, the company has received support from Canada Media Fund for its next big virtual reality project.




Title to discover or rediscover:

• Gauche-Droite : Le Manoir


Elsa Lebey
Communications Manager

 

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