Warner Bros to open Montreal development studio

Hats off to Warner Bros and the Quebec government for recognising the huge potential growth of the games industry and investing so quickly.

Posted:3 years ago

Quebec is getting bigger and bigger in the games development scene. I guess... Montreal is an amazing city, so it's not too hard to attract talents over there, this combined with huge tax incentives, bi-lingual environment that bolsters up creativity with influences from both Europe and America, seems to be quite the perfect place for a development studio !

Posted:3 years ago

"The new studio, which is set to open by the end of 2015, will gradually grow to employ more than 300 people - an approach that Warner Bros said would facilitate the recruiting of new graduates."

Is that right? The end of 2015?? Seems a bit far away to me, wondered if it's a typo....

Posted:3 years ago

I've double-checked that information Fran and you are right - to be clear, Warner hasn't specified a date, and said that it expects to have 300 people working at the studio by the end of 2015.

Posted:3 years ago

"High turnover rates and anglophone discrimination is the dirty little secret no one wants to talk about."

I'd totally second this. I married a girl from Quebec, but in Ontario. I'll say this. If you're English speaking and you don't want to be forced to learn French, Ontario is a much better option than Quebec. A lot of Quebec really does have a huge chip on its shoulder about being French speaking etc.

Although I can't quite vouch for Ontario's poutine;)

Edited typos.

Edited 2 times. Last edit by Fran Mulhern on 23rd March 2010 3:00pm

Posted:3 years ago

Hey Katherine, I thought the bit about opening by 2015 was a bit far ahead:)

One other thing I noticed was this:

"The Government of Quebec's tax credits and other incentives made Montreal the right location for our studio at this time. Montreal, with its wealth of talent and highly affordable operating costs, is a wonderful place to continue to expand our growth in gaming."

Note the "at this time" bit. I really shudder to think what will happen when the Quebec government tries to withdraw its tax breaks system. Talk about a hostage to fortune.

Posted:3 years ago

Let's not start an Ontario / Quebec debate. We all know that /Montreal wins hands down when it comes to lifestyle, atmosphere, cost of living and definetely poutine :)

As a bilingual Montrealer I wouldn't say there is any hidden truth to living in Montreal. Quebec is French province which is made clear once your cross the provincial border, the signs are in French. (another sign that you're in Quebec is the potholes and poor road maintenance but that's another story...).

Knowing how to speak French will surely work in your favour when finding employment here, especially in the media/entertainment sector. Although, based on experience and from my observations it's not necessarily a requirement depending on your position and especially with a multi-national company.

The French language and culture is what makes Montreal a very unique piece of Canada and North America as whole (my opinion). If you're not open to it, then living and working in Montreal is not for you...

Posted:3 years ago

I would love be employed with warner bros. ...............they are realy going high.

Posted:3 years ago

@ Daniel: the amount of weight I put on every time I go to Montreal, and it's down entirely to poutine:)

As for the state of your roads - they're a nightmare. BUT - it's not surprising, given your winters. My first visit there last a month, from mid December to mid-January, and I realised a few days from the end that I hadn't seen a single bit of pavement the whole time I was there. It was all snow. I wonder how much money they spend on maintaining the roads every year. And truckloads of snow, on its way to getting dumped? That's a new one on me:) Your winters are crazy. My brother in law, who's from Quebec City, made a good point: he can understand why the original European settlers stayed the first winter, as they didn't know what to expect. He'll never understand why they stayed after that.

Anyway, as for my comments above, I've had a number of experiences where people have simply stared at me if I've asked them something in English, and one incident where I went to order some food at a restaurant, only for the waiter to tell my wife (in French) that if I wanted to order, I needed to do so in French. When asked if it was because he didn't speak English (as I didn't speak French and was the customer) he merely shrugged his shoulders. We went somewhere else.

Like I said, some people in Montreal definitely have a chip on their shoulder about speaking French (at least, the Quebecois do). Sure, English might be okay at work if you're working for a large multinational, but outside of work you'll definitely experience at least some incidents where it's obvious you're looked down on for not speaking French.

If you're a French speaker, or would like to learn, try Quebec (and personally, I actually think Quebec City is more beautiful than Montreal). Otherwise, look at places like Ontario or BC. And BC's climate isn't anywhere near as cold in winter:)

Armando mentioned staff retention. What's interesting is the amount of people who go to Montreal and leave within 12-18 months. That number is definitely on the increase.

Posted:3 years ago