Ontario interactive media companies set to expand: report

Interactive digital media companies in Ontario are set for “significant growth” within the next two years, according to a report commissioned by industry trade association Interactive Ontario. Interactive digital media companies create digital content that engages users in a “rich interactive” experience, such as video games and apps. There are 877 such companies in Ontario, 86 per cent of which were founded since 2000 and 46 per cent since 2010, according to the report. Companies included in the list include game developers and publishers, e-learning software developers, virtual, augmented and mixed reality developers, mobile app developers, digital advertising companies and some web developers. The report, which was prepared by Nordicity, found that employment growth is expected to increase 44 per cent in this field in Ontario within 24 months, while revenues are expected to surge 61 per cent within the next year. Ontario IDM companies employ 10,900 full-time employees and generated $1.3 billion in revenue in 2015. Christa Dickenson, executive director of Interactive Ontario, called the report the “first of its kind” to provide such insights into IDMs, according to a press release. Games make up 64 per cent of the Ontario IDM industry, the report said. The majority of revenue (95 per cent) is generated by mobile, desktop, web browser and console platforms. “By contrast, VR , SmartTV, kiosk/standalone/installation, platform-agnostic, and ‘other’ platforms” contributed five per cent. This is despite 29 per cent of companies developing for VR, 23 per cent for kiosk, 21 per cent for platform-agnostic and 13 per cent for SmartTV, the report said. In total, the Ontario IDM industry contributed $1.4 billion in gross domestic product in 2015, with $420 million in taxes going to all levels of government. However, challenges still remain, according to the report. Those include access to public funding through grants and tax credits, access to experienced domestic and international talent, access to business clients, foreign competition, access to sales and distribution platforms, such as app stores, and access to foreign markets. Data from the study was culled from an online survey of 103 IDM companies in Ontario (12 per cent of companies in the province) between August and September 2016 and a “series of stakeholder interviews.” The purpose of the survey was to “obtain activity and financial data” about the companies. The report used Nordicity’s platform to “estimate GDP, employment and fiscal impacts.” The report said a margin of error could not be calculated.

Ontario interactive media companies set to expand: report

Brief | February 15, 2017

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Ontario interactive media companies set to expand: report

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