5 ms·

In the early/mid 2000's Vancouver had a healthy games industry. Not sure about now. But your point is valid. Vancouver doesn't really have any technology indus

In the early/mid 2000's Vancouver had a healthy games industry. Not sure about now. But your point is valid. Vancouver doesn't really have any technology industry that's in a virtuous cycle yet.

jmspring 12y ago
Google / Microsoft / others are building office complexes in Richmond, Surrey, and other places close to the border because of "US immigration" limitations, but those aren't going to help build industry. Until the mid 2000s, I was looking for a viable company / excuse to move to Vancouver (meet the required points/immigration first bar), but never felt like tech was taking off there. I was involved in the identity arena from the late 90s to mid/late 2000s, the aware of sxip (Dick's company) and had me again exploring the vancouver scene. Funding and major players then were a handful of people and not growing. Not healthy for long term growth -- at least for the risk assessment I was running personally.
- eigenvector 12y ago
  Microsoft's latest development isn't even a real office. It's just a temporary stopover for non-Canadians to get them enough time working at MS to apply for an L-1 to go to Redmond. The people working there will not have immigrant status in Canada and couldn't stay even if they wanted to. The contribution to the Vancouver economy will be only from custodial or clerical support jobs. http://www.biv.com/article/2014/12/ottawa-gives-microsoft-tfw-exemption-vancouver-tra/ http://www.biv.com/article/2014/12/ottawa-gives-microsoft-tf...
  - Mankhool 12y ago
    I disagree,because of this: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/tech-news/microsoft-creates-400-new-high-tech-jobs-for-vancouver/article18373461/ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/tech-news/microsof... Imageworks is taking 2 floors in the same building, Amazon is already in the Telus building at the 555 Robson Atrium and have leased numerous floors in the new Telus Garden tower which will be open momentarily: http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2013/10/amazon-vancouver-office-to-set-up-at-new-telus-garden/ http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2013/10/amazon-vancouver-office-t...
- curiously 12y ago
  Facebook / Microsoft is here too but they hire almost no Canadians, most are foreigners, until they can get the green light to work in the States. Amazon is the only one hiring locally but I often find that they just advertise positions but never really end up hiring
  - edwinnathaniel 12y ago
    Amazon does hire local talents. I know a few people there.
    - halostatue 12y ago
      I know someone there, too, but I have also been scouted a few times by folks looking to have me move from Toronto to Vancouver (something I’m not willing to do for a lot of reasons).
- jmspring 12y ago
  re: my point...there are "body shops" for big companies, but no anchor development in the province. I'd love to see something take hold. I'd love to move there, but the infrastructure and base for something more isn't there.
- serge2k 12y ago
  Big companies coming in with their money does help. Vancouver loses out on loads of people to SF and Seattle. I used to live around Vancouver, I really like it there. I'm not going to choose that over Seattle where I can make more money. With TN visas being a pretty painless path towards working in the states why not move down? Of course if I can work for good money at a good company in Vancovuer then I'd stay. Didn't really seem like an option.
- hluska 12y ago
  So....you had bad experiences in Vancouver a decade ago so its tech community is not vibrant today??
olalonde 12y ago
Quebec province was heavily subsidising the video game industry back then (and I believe still is though to a lesser degree) which might have not played in Vancouver's favour.
- Tiktaalik 12y ago
  Quebec and other provincial subsidies played a role, but in general the AAA console game business model that fuelled the Vancouver games industry in the early 2000s has been weakened severely. The middle of the market is gone leaving only a tiny handful of ultra high budget games, and a low end of indies in the PC space. There are a lot of talented games or ex-games people in Vancouver, a lot of them interested in indie games, but because games is not a repeatable business model and it is incredibly hard to predict what will be successful, there's no real VC environment and it's hard to find the cash to start up a studio. The age of big publishers like Sony and Microsoft dumping cash on people for exclusives seems over. I know a few games guys that have gotten out altogether and gone to work at non-games companies, but in general I'm not sure if there's a great deal of interest from non-game companies in hiring ex-games people. Unfortunately games is weird highly specialized skill set.
conover 12y ago
EA has a very large studio there that produces the FIFA video game franchise among other things.

In the early/mid 2000's Vancouver had a healthy games industry. Not sure about now. But your point is valid. Vancouver doesn't really have any technology industry that's in a virtuous cycle yet.

jmspring 12y ago

Google / Microsoft / others are building office complexes in Richmond, Surrey, and other places close to the border because of "US immigration" limitations, but those aren't going to help build industry. Until the mid 2000s, I was looking for a viable company / excuse to move to Vancouver (meet the required points/immigration first bar), but never felt like tech was taking off there. I was involved in the identity arena from the late 90s to mid/late 2000s, the aware of sxip (Dick's company) and had me again exploring the vancouver scene. Funding and major players then were a handful of people and not growing. Not healthy for long term growth -- at least for the risk assessment I was running personally.

eigenvector 12y ago
Microsoft's latest development isn't even a real office. It's just a temporary stopover for non-Canadians to get them enough time working at MS to apply for an L-1 to go to Redmond. The people working there will not have immigrant status in Canada and couldn't stay even if they wanted to. The contribution to the Vancouver economy will be only from custodial or clerical support jobs. http://www.biv.com/article/2014/12/ottawa-gives-microsoft-tfw-exemption-vancouver-tra/ http://www.biv.com/article/2014/12/ottawa-gives-microsoft-tf...
- Mankhool 12y ago
  I disagree,because of this: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/tech-news/microsoft-creates-400-new-high-tech-jobs-for-vancouver/article18373461/ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/tech-news/microsof... Imageworks is taking 2 floors in the same building, Amazon is already in the Telus building at the 555 Robson Atrium and have leased numerous floors in the new Telus Garden tower which will be open momentarily: http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2013/10/amazon-vancouver-office-to-set-up-at-new-telus-garden/ http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2013/10/amazon-vancouver-office-t...
curiously 12y ago
Facebook / Microsoft is here too but they hire almost no Canadians, most are foreigners, until they can get the green light to work in the States. Amazon is the only one hiring locally but I often find that they just advertise positions but never really end up hiring
- edwinnathaniel 12y ago
  Amazon does hire local talents. I know a few people there.
  - halostatue 12y ago
    I know someone there, too, but I have also been scouted a few times by folks looking to have me move from Toronto to Vancouver (something I’m not willing to do for a lot of reasons).
jmspring 12y ago
re: my point...there are "body shops" for big companies, but no anchor development in the province. I'd love to see something take hold. I'd love to move there, but the infrastructure and base for something more isn't there.
serge2k 12y ago
Big companies coming in with their money does help. Vancouver loses out on loads of people to SF and Seattle. I used to live around Vancouver, I really like it there. I'm not going to choose that over Seattle where I can make more money. With TN visas being a pretty painless path towards working in the states why not move down? Of course if I can work for good money at a good company in Vancovuer then I'd stay. Didn't really seem like an option.
hluska 12y ago
So....you had bad experiences in Vancouver a decade ago so its tech community is not vibrant today??

olalonde 12y ago

Quebec province was heavily subsidising the video game industry back then (and I believe still is though to a lesser degree) which might have not played in Vancouver's favour.

Tiktaalik 12y ago
Quebec and other provincial subsidies played a role, but in general the AAA console game business model that fuelled the Vancouver games industry in the early 2000s has been weakened severely. The middle of the market is gone leaving only a tiny handful of ultra high budget games, and a low end of indies in the PC space. There are a lot of talented games or ex-games people in Vancouver, a lot of them interested in indie games, but because games is not a repeatable business model and it is incredibly hard to predict what will be successful, there's no real VC environment and it's hard to find the cash to start up a studio. The age of big publishers like Sony and Microsoft dumping cash on people for exclusives seems over. I know a few games guys that have gotten out altogether and gone to work at non-games companies, but in general I'm not sure if there's a great deal of interest from non-game companies in hiring ex-games people. Unfortunately games is weird highly specialized skill set.

conover 12y ago

EA has a very large studio there that produces the FIFA video game franchise among other things.