Fight or Flight by Kayla Williamson

source article: "The Five Events That Shook the Game Industry in 2012", by Frank Cifaldi on Gamasutra, December 7, 2012

Let's face it. The video game industry isn't doing too well in Vancouver. Numerous branches of companies have shut down permanently, moved east, or downsized, leaving many experienced people are out of work.

Radical Entertainment, creators of the Prototype series, shut down on June 12th of this year, leaving many people jobless. Some employees were able to continue on with games being created by Activision, Radical Entertainment's parent company, but not enough to balance the collapse. Developers made a substantial investment in the Prototype IP but it didn't find a large enough audience to support them. Activision states that they tried to sell Radical, but nothing could have been done.

Rockstar Vancouver also closed down  this year. There are claims that the company wanted to focus the majority of development at Rockstar Toronto, so 35 people were given the opportunity to move east and continue working. Ubisoft Vancouver, which shut down in January, also gave employees reason to stay with them by opening up positions world-wide.

For graduates hoping to jump into the industry, this is terrifying. Not many companies would choose a student over someone with years of experience under their belt, especially if they have helped develop a successful game. Many companies look for specialists over generalists which makes finding a job even harder for former-students. There may be work abroad, but not everyone has the means to move away from home, especially if they have debts to pay off from university!

There's still hope though despite how bad it may seem. It could inspire people to start their own companies and create completely new games and genres. Fresh ideas from new designers may be what's needed to refresh  the industry in Vancouver  Well that, and lower taxes of course. It's the fear of not finding work that may shape the future of video games.