Jennifer Cheverie Cott

This is excellent news! The Government of Canada has announced ongoing funding of $660.5 million over five years through Budget 2025 to advance equality, inclusion and safety for women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people. At Simply Sweet Games (SSG) we believe successful games are built with diverse teams, inclusive design and broad audience perspectives. This kind of investment helps strengthen the entire Canadian creative tech ecosystem and can open more doors for women and gender-diverse creators, while supporting safe workplaces for all. We’re excited to continue our work to build a welcoming, safe culture at SSG and to partner with, hire and uplift talent from communities that have been under-represented in games. Congratulations to all the organizations and advocates who’ve kept pushing for this. It’s a strong step forward for Canada’s economy, our industry and our community. 🍁 👏 #genderequity #canadianvalues #womenintech #inclusion #gamedev #canada

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Edmonton’s BioWare is shutting down after more than three decades, ending a chapter for one of Canada’s best-known game studios. The developer behind Baldur’s Gate, Dragon Age, and Mass Effect announced that work on its next Mass Effect game will also stop. The closure follows parent company Electronic Arts (EA)’ decision to cut staff and close the studio. EA acquired BioWare in 2007. Founded in 1995, BioWare helped establish Canada’s reputation for ambitious, story-driven games. Its shutdown adds to a difficult period for the domestic gaming industry, following Ubisoft’s closures of its Winnipeg and Halifax studios and the resulting job losses. https://lnkd.in/gKySSayG

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Absolutely gutted by the news about Bioware. Not only a cornerstone of our industry, but one of the biggest Canadian studios in our history.

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SPEAKER ANNOUNCEMENT📢 Derek Kwan: Building a Better Games Industry: Our (Difficult) Journey as a Worker Cooperative The games industry is facing unprecedented uncertainty. In the wake of layoffs, limited funding, and labour issues related to oppressive structures, we asked ourselves: how might we build a better, human-centred games industry? This talk interrogates the roots of oppression in our industry, and explores how we might reconcile capitalism with worker-centric business models. We reflect on our ongoing journey in building Cozy Comet Games, Alberta’s first games worker cooperative, including hard-fought battles, ongoing struggles, and the potential of a worker-controlled future. Catch the talk at this year's expo: ti.to/GDoCExpo/2026 🎮 #GDoCExpo

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In January, Ubisoft laid off the entirety of its Halifax studio, just weeks after staff unionized with 74 percent support. As Isaac Peltz reports, the move raises urgent questions about union power and corporate accountability in Canada’s gaming sector. https://lnkd.in/gwV-VAv5

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Women make up more than half of gamers, yet leadership in the industry remains far less diverse. B.C.'s Carina Kom of Simply Sweet Games and Jeanne-Marie Owens of Critical Path Games offer their insights into how this gap is affecting investment, workplace culture and on-screen representation. https://lnkd.in/g8e8kZTW

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Like the rest of the games industry, we have also been shaken by the news of BioWare's closure. We are saddened by the loss of BioWare as a pillar of our game development ecosystem, and grieve for the impact this closure has on the wonderfully talented team who was working on the next installment of Mass Effect. Consequently, while we acknowledge that while the loss of a AAA studio is indeed unfortunate, we would like surface the very real human impact of BioWare's closure. Edmonton and Alberta have incredible talent, and as job losses from layoffs and studio closures continue to mount, we risk losing a generation of veterans whose knowledge and capabilities could be the foundation for incredible ideas, products, and intellectual property that come from our region. This is a wake up call: if our creative industry is to have relevance on the global stage, and if we want the outputs of our creative work to have a positive economic and cultural impact on our region, we need to build supports that are sustainable and resilient. We need an industry that puts human-beings and Canadian/Albertan-owned IP first. BioWare's closure has not been the only headwind that our region's game developers have faced. From 2022-2026, the games industry ecosystem--Alberta included--has been rocked by changing conditions that threaten the viability of old-school business models. The unfortunate thing is that the big, multinational corporations will continue to exist; those who suffer are the talented creatives who are laid off in droves. More than ever, let's find ways to support the people who make up our creative industries. Whether that's transitioning to indie, to another studio, or to a new career, we should be resourcing interventions that ensure Alberta retains the creative and technical talent who have built world-renowned games, experienced by millions of fans across the world. Alberta can be one of the best places in the world to make games; let's make it happen together. Also all of those impacted by layoffs can attend GDX for free. If you are at all marginalized or impacted by today's events, please fill out this form to receive your free ticket https://lnkd.in/gkDemyer.

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The Calgary Games Kiln invites the Calgary game development community its first community plenary session! For aspiring, emerging and established developers, students, hobbyists, and enthusiasts alike; join us on Monday, November 17th at 5:30pm at Platform Calgary (East Annex) for our first guest speaker – Jason Della Rocca. In the first of these plenaries, Jason Della Rocca will talk about new timelines for success in the indie game ecosystem. Specifically: what is the most obvious and direct path to success for game developers today? There is always too much work to do, too many demands on our time as smaller indie teams. How do we even prioritize and optimize for the greatest chance of success? This session will reveal the most direct path and approach for succeeding in today's hyper competitive game market. This session is part of the Calgary Games Kiln program, a proof-of-concept initiative powered by Calgary Economic Development. The incubator-style program currently supports five Calgary-based, early-stage game developers, with a focus on market validation and commercial viability. Importantly, the Kiln also aims to support the Calgary games ecosystem by way of plenary activities extended to non-program participants. We'd also like to thank Nordicity and Digital Alberta for helping bring these events to our vibrant games ecosystem here in YYC.

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Another cycle, another big ol' bag of veteran talent out on the street. This one hits pretty close, I worked directly with a score of these folks in my 10 years at DICE. Plus, little known fact, was offered a job at Bioware Edmonton as well. To see both decimated and long standing talent now unemployed feels very hard to stomach seeing how the actual industry and its biggest publishers are doing. BF6 sold more than any other game in the US, better than any BF before it. And yet, 2nd round of layoffs. But do the AI investments dry up, despite *constant* losses? Do they fuck. It's a dark day, friends. 🫂 Sending support to the affected, cuz there's not much else we can do. 😑

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