Entre le réel et le virtuel : L'industrie du jeu vidéo au Québec

Key insights

7 takeaways

01
Direct employment in Quebec's video game industry was estimated at about 9,000 in 2012, up from 1,200 in 2002.See it on page 1
02
The ESAC estimated video game sector spending in Quebec at 741 M$ in 2012, while a 2008 government estimate of revenues was about 240 M$.See it on page 3
03
Quebec's tax credits cover between 26.25% and 37.50% of eligible employee salaries, and the document says they were revised upward in autumn 2013.See it on page 3
04
According to a KPMG study cited by the document, video game production costs in Canada were 22.3% lower than in the United States in 2012.See it on page 4
05
The document notes that France's video game industry employs 50% fewer people than ten years earlier, falling from 10,000 to 5,000 jobs.See it on page 4
06
PwC projects global mobile game revenues to rise from 8.8 G$ in 2012 to 14.4 G$ in 2017, the fastest-growing segment it identifies.See it on page 5
07
The document expects the pace of industry growth to slow, citing studio closures in 2012 and 2013 and continued consolidation through acquisitions.See it on page 5

Summary

This Desjardins Études économiques Perspective, published in November 2013 as Volume 23, examines Quebec's video game industry, drawing on public data mostly gathered from companies, industry associations and private research firms because official economic data is scarce. It presents a comparison table of figures from several sources, including TECHNOCompétences, Investissement Québec, the MFEQ (2008), and the Entertainment Software Association of Canada (2012).

According to the document, direct employment in Quebec's video game sector was estimated at about 9,000 in 2012, up from 1,200 in 2002. Estimates of the average annual salary ranged from 62,000 $ to 72,500 $ in 2012. The ESAC estimated sector spending in Quebec at 741 M$ in 2012, and the document notes that tax credits cover 26.25% to 37.50% of eligible salaries. The industry is concentrated in Montreal and Quebec City, and the document says Canada's production costs were 22.3% lower than those in the United States in 2012, according to a KPMG study.

The document also points to challenges: studio closures in 2012 and 2013, a consolidation trend through acquisitions, and the rapid growth of mobile platforms. PwC projects global mobile game revenues rising from 8.8 G$ in 2012 to 14.4 G$ in 2017.