Episode 174 - Tencent Acquires Yet Another Canadian Studio

Support Indigenous movements across this land: Land Back Lane in Ontario, Wet'suwet'en in British Columbia & Mi’kmaq in Nova Scotia. Watch Night of the Indigenous Devs up now on YouTube!

Overview:

After acquiring the Warframe dev's parent company in December, Tencent acquired yet another Canadian studio this week in Vancouver-based indie powerhouse Klei Entertainment, creators of beloved games like Don't Starve and Mark of the Ninja. Will we still be able to type "Free Hong Kong" in the chat in future Klei games? Yeah, probably. But Canadian studios are getting a little less Canadian...

We also discuss Interactive Ontario's #StayHomeON campaign, Curved Space's killer publishing partner and the new season of Apex Legends from Respawn's Vancouver studio!

Jobs:

- Achimostawinan Games - Intern Video Game Programmer (Toronto, ON)

- Canuck Play - Senior Unity Game Developer, Unity Game Developer & 3D Modeller (static objects) (Peterborough, ON)

- Sleeping Giant Interactive - Character Animator - Rigger (Toronto, ON)

- Stormy Shore - Lead 3D Artist (Paradise, Newfoundland)

Events:

- Global Game Jam Online (27 - 31 January 2021)

- Game Breakfast Audio Club (Feb 3 @ 9:30 AM)

- Unity Club by DMG TO (Mon Feb 8 @ 6:30 PM)

- Dirty Rectangles (Feb 10 @ 8 PM EST)

- Annual General Meeting by DMG TO (Sat Feb 27 1:00 PM)

News:

- Interactive Ontario Launches #StayHomeON Campaign, Encouraging People to Stay Home and Play Games Made in Ontario

- Tencent Buys Majority Stake in Vancouver Indie Studio Klei Entertainment

- Curved Space Lands Publishing Deal

- Apex Announces Season 8 Release Date

Wishlist This:

1 - Fire Tonight by Reptoid Games (@ReptoidGames) in Toronto, ON. Releasing Winter 2021, Wishlist on Steam. “A narrative puzzle game about two people trying to find their way back together in a city on fire.”

2 - Kaiju Wars by Foolish Mortals (@Foolish_M_Games) in Saskatoon, SK. Releasing “When it's done”, Wishlist on Steam. “Play out a Kaiju movie as the (hopelessly) outclassed military in this stylish 2D turn-based strategy game. Construct buildings and defend your city with cannon-fodder tanks, jets and more as the devastating kaiju grow in power with every attack.”

3 - Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator with art by Julia Minamata (@JuliaMinamata) in Canada. Releasing 2021, Wishlist on Steam. “Buy, sell, and trade organs in a strange and evolving universe. Dive into the quivering innards of alien capitalism in the sci-fi body horror market tycoon game you didn't know you needed.”

Credits:

Intro Music by @jakebutineau

Outro Music by @Composingdan