Alberta video game developers hope for tax break to compete with provincial rivals

The 20th anniversary of BioWare’s Shattered Steel highlighted Edmonton’s role as the birthplace of Alberta’s modern game-development industry while drawing attention to concerns about its future competitiveness. BioWare had grown from its Edmonton beginnings into an internationally successful studio, while alumni such as Trent Oster continued building local companies including Beamdog. Developers argued that Alberta’s lack of labour-based game-development tax credits made it difficult to compete with provinces such as Quebec. With roughly 68 per cent of game-production costs going toward labour, incentives elsewhere could significantly affect hiring and studio-location decisions. Oster said even enough support to add one or two employees could materially benefit a small studio, while also pointing to BioWare jobs moving to Montreal. The debate showed that Alberta had successfully developed experienced game talent and major studios, but risked losing investment, employment and future growth to provinces offering stronger incentives.