Edmonton has close to 70 active video game studios, and almost all of them are indies. That was the backdrop when Good Game Edmonton host Cory Sellar moderated the Building Games in Alberta fireside chat at NAIT during Edmonton Startup Week.
The event was organized by Clinton Bowman of GHOAT LAB, a NAIT instructor who also runs the West Edmonton Game Developers meetup. The panel brought founders, educators and an ecosystem builder into one room:
Kaelin Lavallée, co-founder of Studio Reset
Jennifer LaFace of Only by MidnightOnly by Midnight, the studio behind Ctrl Alt Deal, and a NAIT instructor
Caghan Bonnough, Director of Business and Marketing at Embersail
Gaian Helmers, founder of Genome Studios
Ronnie Villanueva, Digital Media and Technology Specialist at Edmonton Screen
What are the panelists building?
Embersail: Comics Immersion, an audio comics app built for readers with invisible disabilities, with real voice actors, artists and writers.
Studio Reset: a supernatural point-and-click mystery inspired by The X-Files and monster-of-the-week TV.
Only by Midnight: Ctrl Alt Deal, out on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo, plus a new murder mystery set at a music festival.
Genome Studios: the GS Play gameplay framework and Opal Launcher, a launcher for an open source game engine.
GHOAT LAB: Off-Road Recovery: Yoho Trails, built from real LiDAR terrain data of Yoho National Park.
Edmonton Screen: supports film, TV and digital media and technology creators and studios across Edmonton and Northern Alberta through investment, training and industry connections. Ronnie looks after the digital media side, which includes video games. Studios can tap into training and grant programs, including a project support grant and a community development grant.
Why build a game studio in Alberta?
Kaelin and the Studio Reset team left AAA and kept the new studio small on purpose. "Put the pressure on ourselves versus somebody else putting pressure on us." The other reason is simple. The talent is here, and so are the people they know.
Caghan, who is based in Grande Prairie, said opening a business in northern Alberta feels welcoming, the talent pool is open to work, and the province is starting to look like a tech hub of its own.
Where is Edmonton's games industry growing?
Ronnie said the region is averaging close to 70 studios. Four are major studios in the AA and AAA range. Indies make up 90 to 95 percent of the total. The gap is in the middle. "Where we don't see a lot of growth, completely transparent, is in mid-sized studios that are roughly between 20 to 40 full-time people."
How should a first-time studio approach the Canada Media Fund?
The Canada Media Fund came up more than any other topic. Ronnie put its interactive digital media budget at $56.5 million and called it the largest federal funder for the sector.
The panel's tips for first-time applicants:
Know who is reading. Early-stage reviewers are business analysts who mostly come from film and TV, not game designers.
Build a team of non-developers. Jen recommends a lawyer on call and insurance, so the fund sees a real business.
Add a team video. It isn't required, but it helps tell the story.
Start small. Clinton said the conceptual round is $15,000 with a 25 percent match, and he was advised to send documentation only.
Hire a grant writer for the bigger programs. Ronnie said one who knows CMF can act as a translator between your studio and the fund.
When should an indie studio bring in a publisher?
When you have a product, not just a fun project. Clinton shared the question every publisher asked him: have you done Steam Next Fest yet? You only get one Next Fest per project, and most publishers want to put their marketing behind it. Caghan added two more. Know your monetization plan, and don't pitch anything that's 100 percent AI generated.
What do game studios look for in new grads?
A portfolio, even an unpolished one. Caghan said too many students booked meetings at NAGIS with a resume and no portfolio.
Ronnie shared results from Edmonton Screen's digital media job program, which placed a recent NAIT grad in a six-month junior role with a local studio. When technical skills were equal, soft skills decided it. Cory's summary for the room: soft skills, portfolio, and dress the part for the interview.
Students heading into that market have two game development diplomas to choose from at NAIT. Game Development - Animation and Game Design focuses on the artistic side of games and animation. Game Development - Game Programming focuses on the logical design and technical side of building games.
How are Alberta game studios using AI?
Caghan drew the line between AI-assisted work, which is fine, and AI-generated work, which carries copyright and legal risk. The rules are moving fast. Advice Embersail got from lawyers in June had already changed by September.
Gaian called AI an amplifier. "It amplifies what you are." Without the skills to judge the results, it won't help you grow. Cory shared how his day-job company is setting AI guardrails that keep a human in the loop.
What did the audience ask?
The room got the last word. Five questions came up before the night wrapped. Due to audio quality, the Q&A portion was cut from the final recording, so this is the only place to read it.
How do small studios get in front of publishers? Go where publishers already are. One panelist described Meet to Match as "dating software for conferences." Studios and publishers both list themselves, so you can see who is open to pitches before you reach out. Do your research first, and don't expect a yes on the first try. Caghan said Edmonton hosted the first North American Games Industry Summit this year, where studios booked 30-minute meetings with publishers from around the world. She knows of three studios that left with conversations still going. Another panelist pointed to a curated online spreadsheet of active publishers, with contact info, deal sizes and the kinds of games each one looks for.
What changes when a studio grows from a few people to 20 or 40? Caghan said to hire an HR or people-and-culture manager once you hit about 10 people, or work with an outsourced HR company. She also said to decide which seat you want, CEO or partnerships and marketing, so you know who you need to hire. Another panelist described two Edmonton studios with more than 20 people that run very differently. One has close to 30 full-time employees and no HR manager. At the other, the founders are the only employees and everyone else is a contractor. The takeaway was not to copy another studio's model. A founder paying for everything out of pocket might even hire an executive assistant before any other full-time role.
Can studios sell merch to make up for digital sales? An audience member asked about shirts and mugs. The answer was to build the audience and the brand first. Paying for shirts and a conference table only works if people already want to play your game. Caghan suggested a cheaper start: a monthly piece of concept art or a phone wallpaper for your Discord community. Another panelist said Kickstarter physical rewards can lose money once shipping is counted, and many indie campaigns now lean on digital rewards.
Does a background outside games help? Caghan said if you think you fit the role, apply. You may not land a high-end art role right away, but a different background gives a small team knowledge to pull from, and indie studios wear a lot of hats. The asker mentioned a forestry background, and a panelist asked if that meant fighting forest fires. The story that followed involved a helicopter pilot and dropping people off for months on end. Another panelist said they're making a forest game. Other panelists agreed. A varied background builds soft skills and helps you work across teams, and a generalist who knows enough about each area can talk to the specialists. One panelist added that HR experience is a bonus at a small indie that can't afford a full-time HR person. A part-time artist with that background would beat the automated HR bot their studio uses now.
Any last advice on funding applications? Caghan said the approach depends on the size of the grant. Use a grant writer and talk to people who have been through it. She said she met someone that day who pointed her to CMF funding avenues she hadn't considered. Then put real work into your marketing plan. A vision for the next year helps you find your community and your consumer, and she said she can tell when a plan was written by a team that cared and when it came from ChatGPT.
