According to the Entertainment Software Association of Canada, Canada is the world’s third-largest hub for game development, the video game industry brings in $3.7 billion CAD annually to Canada’s GDP, creates over 40,600 full-time equivalents, and houses almost 600 active studios.
But how does this industry continue to thrive?
The answer is simple: by using innovative solutions. The video game industry is much more than a platform for entertainment, every company invests in research and development activities to propose innovative products for their audience.
In fact, there is a large range of innovative technologies that help gaming companies stand out and offer a real customer experience such as:
- Artificial intelligence;
- Computer-generated imagery;
- Virtual reality;
- Augmented reality;
- Cloud gaming.
Significant advancement in digital gaming
By implementing one of these innovative technologies into their products/services, gaming companies fully succeed in bringing their level of innovation to another level and present a whole new experience to their customer. This is the reason why we have seen appearing in recent years significant advancements in digital gaming such as visualization, education, or medical simulation.
It allows non-gaming companies like those operating in the healthtech or biotech sectors to use gaming applications to offer an immersive experience for their client. For instance, virtual reality can now be used to help patients conquer their fear in a ‘gaming world’ and hence reduce the anxiety of actually facing their fear in a “real situation”.
These R&D projects were made possible thanks to Government funds such as the SR&ED tax credits, the Multimedia tax credit in Quebec, Digital Media tax credits in Ontario, or the Canada Media Fund. Those streams help Canadian companies in managing their growth in the sector and indirectly push other sectors to benefit from the innovation brought by the video game industry.
Many projects can be eligible to those funding programs if your company is involved in:
- Software development activities in AR and VR;
- Mobile or online gaming;
- Motion capture;
- Development of new machine learning algorithms or neural networks in relation to video game development;
- Sound engineering in the video game industry;
- Image processing and reconstruction (such as 3D imaging for feature recognition);
- Interoperability with third-party products (for instance in building new pipeline management tools where compatibility limitations can be identified with third parties).
You might be eligible for one of the streams available for gaming companies. Our team of experts can help you navigate through those programs and support you by maximizing your claim.
