It is a challenge to provide a complete picture of such an evolving ecosystem as esports. I would therefore like to thank all the people who helped me gather the raw data (Savard, 2021a) that was used to develop this article. Then, before I begin reading this article, I would like to share with you some editorial choices I had to make:
- Content structure. Quickly, while listing the different actors in Quebec, I was confronted with a classification problem. Even if it doesn’t do justice to all the activities an organization can do, I decided to classify them in the category where their main activities were. The broad categories of the esports ecosystem and scene that is used in this article are: video game, developers & publishers, players, franchises & teams, tournaments & leagues, operators, federation & regulators, education & health, media, fans, brands & investors (Savard, 2021b). The lists are arranged in the French alphabetical order.
- Exhaustiveness of content. In order to lighten the text, I have decided not to concentrate my efforts on identifying the entirety of the actors of a category, but rather to ensure a good representativeness. This decision is reflected particularly, but not only, at the level of the teams and the amateur to semi-professional players.
Note : This article is a translation. For the original article, click on Français in the menu.
” Video game ” and ” Developers & Publishers ”
For several years now, Montreal has been internationally recognized as a major video game hub (Bay, 2015; Kawanabe, 2021; Totilo, 2021; Tyler, 2021). If we add the studios present in other cities of the province such as Quebec City, Sherbrooke and Saguenay (Gamedevmap, 2021), nearly one out of every two jobs in the video game industry in Canada comes from Quebec (La Guilde, 2021). Although the vast majority of games developed in Quebec are not necessarily competitive (Games From Quebec, 2021), there are well-known titles that are. For example, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege is made in Montreal (Ubisoft Montreal, 2015), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered was made in Quebec City (Beenox, 2020), Motive Studios worked on Starwars Battlefront II (DICE, Criterion Games and Motive Studios, 2017), etc.
” Players ”
Many Quebecers have distinguished themselves over the years on the international competitive scene (e.g. Grrrr…, RamboRay, missharvey, Ally, etc.). It is difficult to list all the players from Quebec because they are usually only identified as Canadians, they play under a pseudonym, and their international social media is often in English.
Here is a limited list of only about 20 people we have managed to identify who compete on the professional and semi-professional stages of their respective games:
With approximately 57% of the Quebec population playing video games in general (ESA, 2020), Quebec is full of talent. From experience, if we had access to the place of origin of players in all competitive video game rankings, we would find a lot of Quebecers.
” Franchises & Teams ”
Currently in Quebec, there are three civilian teams with the resources to hire staff, pay their professional players, and compete in an esports circuit. Of the three, Mirage Esports is the only one that is 100% esports. The other two, the Canadiens de Montréal et le CF Montréal, are there de facto because they are professional traditional sports teams that each have a relatively small esports arm.
Next, we need to look to the student sector, particularly at the CEGEP and Professional Training Schools level, to find the next section of organization that offers support, a salary for a large part of its staff, and the resources to compete in a dedicated circuit. Of the 48 CEGEPs in Quebec, at least 34 have electronic sports programs (LCSE, 2021).
At the semi-professional and amateur level, there are many civilian organizations. Here are a few examples: Able Esports, Ducky Esports, Flanc Gauche, PsykoPaths Gaming, Quebec Meta (undergoing a name change), Régiment Tactique du Québec, Unexpected Victory, Valors, Vexo, Victorem, Virtual et Windstorm. The quality of the organizations, both in terms of their resources and their professionalism, is very disparate. All scenes combined, there are a few hundred Quebec teams that are created and dissolved each year. Although most of them are just a group of friends who only want to participate in a particular tournament, some of them still have dreams of greatness.
Special mentions to our talents who are currently working for professional teams around the world:
” Tournaments & Leagues ”
Across the globe, the pandemic has hurt the live event industry. Esports has not been spared. The Six Invitational, which is the culminating event of the entire Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege competition network, was moved out of Quebec due to health measures, but is scheduled to return. DreamHack Montréal, which had struck the imagination by taking place at the Olympic Stadium, will probably not return soon (DreamHack Canada, 2021).
With the absence of the DreamHack, Lan ETS ris once again the largest LAN in Canada by default, even though the administrators have announced its return to École de technologie supérieure (Lan ETS, 2022). Then, there are many LANs across the province that have started to come back, or are likely to come back: Console qui Console, Lan JDL, Grand LAN de Drummond, Polybash, Wonderlan UQAC, etc. Many tournaments are organized in specialized physical locations, but we will discuss them in the “fans” section.
Online, there are tournaments and amateur leagues that could be compared to garage leagues in traditional sports: King of the Spike (Team Able), Mamago Esports, MSI Dragon Cup, RLQC events, SLQ, R6QC, etc.
There are also events in the student community, notably with the Ligue secondaire de sports électroniques (LSSE) and the Ligue collégiale de sports électroniques (LCSE). Friendly events are also organized by university student associations.
” Operators ”
In many cases, the event organizers mentioned so far could also be considered operators. QcTourna is one of the few actors that defines itself as first and foremost a Quebec-based platform that offers recurring events. The eDoxa platform should be back this year.
In terms of creating events for a third party, Waveform et veeZion are among the biggest companies currently specializing in electronic sports.
Northern Arena, founded by Carl-Edwin Michel, is based in Toronto, but a large part of their team is from Quebec.
” Federations & Regulators ”
With the Fédération québécoise de sports électroniques (FQSE) which was created in 2016, we are one of the few places in the world with a federating entity focused on the development of the local and amateur ecosystem. For example, it promotes a sportsmanship charter, a code of ethics and a safety code. It also offers accreditations for organizations and leagues, as well as certifications for referees and coaches. It is directly responsible for developments in the student milieu, in the defense of athletes excluded from international competitions, in addition to acting as a major counterweight with governmental, community and educational institutions with regards to the alarmist and anti-video game discourses conveyed by several pressure groups.
” Education & Health ”
AIn terms of education, Quebec is one of the world’s pioneers thanks to the esports concentrations that have been developed throughout the province. For example, when travel was easier between countries, it was not uncommon for the Académie Esports du Canada (AEC) to host international delegations seeking their expertise. Halternative Esports, established by Patrick Pigeon, has been working with several countries (e.g. Panana, Lebanon, Cameroon) to help them develop their own programs. Of course, it is important to mention that several programs (e.g. Arvida et Matane) are still developing their respective regions.
A first microprogram in electronic sports, which I helped set up, is currently available at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR). I have already given courses on esports at UQAM and UQAT in their program related to video games. Otherwise, there are also many scientific researches (exemples) going on right now at different levels on e-sports.
On the health front, Virtual Guardian Foundation (FGV) is a Canadian registered charity that I founded whose mission is to be a beacon on the Internet for people in distress as well as to promote the responsible use of digital technology. We work primarily on various types of prevention, ranging from cyber addiction to suicide. Specifically in electronic sports, we collaborate with several institutions to optimize player training and promote healthy lifestyle habits.
There are also currently specialized services based on the needs of the athlete. The Gamer Mentor is a good example of a coaching service and Perform+ is a good example of a platform for specialized physical training programs for e-sports. More and more health professionals (e.g. Alexandre Savard I.O.) are people who have been heavily involved in the esports scene in Quebec, and who are now on the job market. They can therefore easily offer specialized services to the players’ reality.
” Media ”
Three traditional media outlets have some coverage of esports topics: Pèse sur Starts, Radio-Canada Techno, RDS Jeux vidéo.
Jeux.ca is a media specialized in video games that does a few articles per year on electronic sports.
Naomi Kyle, originally from Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts (QC), is a contributor and part owner of Toronto Defiant (Kyle, 2020). Special mention also to Philippe-Olivier Crépin who is the head of programming for Twitch Rivals.
New for 2022, Able Esports has launched a weekly podcast about Quebec news. The project is called ” Cut-Scene QC “, and here is episode 3:
The Rocket League Quebec community has also launched a specialized podcast.
” Fans ”
Obviously, it’s extremely difficult to put a figure on the exact number of video game competition fans in Quebec. Considering that the video game culture is growing in Quebec and that live events were full before the pandemic, we can assume that the number is quite high. As for services and projects related to fans, they are numerous and varied: Loto-Québec’s Mise-o-jeu platform offers sports betting on various esports events; authors are inspired by esports in their novels (e.g. Laporte, 2016; Villeneuve, 2016; Provencher, 2021); communities are organizing social activities; artists are participating in costumades and making “fanmade” illustrations; many people are going to broadcast content online; etc.
There are also many places across the province where video game enthusiasts can meet. While some closed permanently during the pandemic, here are those that reopened in February, or are planning to reopen: Arcade Montréal, Coin Game Over, Esports Central, Gam1ng Cafe, Meltdown Montréal, Montreal Gaming Centre, Nemesis Video Game Lounge, Sauvegarde and Skyzo,.
” Brands & Investors ”
Endemically, brands and investors were generally linked to computers and their various peripherals. Today, to list all the companies that invest in one way or another in Quebec would be tedious because there are so many and at so many levels.
Here are a few partnerships and sponsorships that I personally found interesting in terms of symbolism: Under Armor with Mirage Esports, Bud Light with Able Esports, Guru with several Quebec teams, Desjardins and Georges St-Pierre with the Esports Academy of Canada, Bell with several events, Scotiabank and Coca-Cola with the esports initiatives of the Montreal Canadiens, the Montreal Canadiens with OverActive Media, Parro Info with the JDL LAN, and D-Box and Red Bull with Esports Central.
Sources
Bay, J. W. (2015) Best Cities for Video Game Development Jobs, Game Industry career guide, https://www.gameindustrycareerguide.com/best-cities-for-video-game-development-jobs/
DreamHack Canada (2021). Publication Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/DreamhackCanada/photos/a.1286815788000609/5294751650540316/ (mis en ligne le 10 décembre 2021)
ESA (2020). Entertainment Software Association of Canada – Real Canadian Gamer, https://theesa.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/RCGEF_en.pdf (mis en ligne en novembre 2020)
Gamedevmap (2021). https://www.gamedevmap.com/index.php (mis à jour le 19 octobre 2021).
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Kawanabe, A. (2021) Montreal, the North American Capital of Video Game Development: The Valuable Connections That Fostered its Growth, Wired, Traduit par Alexe Frederic Migneault, https://wired.jp/2021/02/11/montreal-video-game-ecosystem-en/ (mis en ligne le 11 février 2021).
Kyle, N. (2020). Publication Twitter, https://twitter.com/naomikyle/status/1235672231570595846 (mis en ligne le 5 mars 2020).
La Guilde (2021). L’industrie québécoise des jeux vidéo : Une force présente et montante, Les Affaires, https://www.lesaffaires.com/dossiers-partenaires/le-quebec-pole-mondial-du-jeu-video/lindustrie-quebecoise-des-jeux-video–une-force-presente-et-montante/625004 (mis en ligne le 18 mai 2021).
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LCSE (2021) Ligue collégiale de sports électroniques, https://lcse.esportsquebec.ca/
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Savard, F. (2021a). Préparation d’un article sur le sport électronique au Québec, https://leonin.ca/2021/11/10/preparation-dun-article-sur-le-sport-electronique-au-quebec/ (mis en ligne le 10 nov 2021).
Savard, F. (2021b). Qu’est-ce qui compose l’écosystème et la scène du sport électronique?, https://savard.work/2021/12/25/quest-ce-qui-compose-lecosysteme-et-la-scene-du-sport-electronique/ (mis en ligne le 25 décembre 2021).
Totilo, S. (2021) Montreal is becoming an even bigger game development hub, Axios, https://www.axios.com/montreal-is-becoming-an-even-bigger-game-development-hub-688a46c7-5c07-48f9-9d77-cf5e6201e37c.html (mis en ligne le 27 avril 2021).
Tyler, D. (2021). Video Game Developers, These Are the Cities To Look For Job Opportunities & Career Growth, Game designing, https://www.gamedesigning.org/career/cities/ (mis à jour le 24 juin 2021)
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Other resources consulted
Montreal International (2017). Montréal World-Class Tech Hub 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCXfD7oUFgI (mis en ligne le 29 mai 2017)
Poljicak, V. (2018). Greater Montréal – 5th video game hub in the world, Montréal International, https://www.montrealinternational.com/en/news/greater-montreal-5th-video-game-hub-in-the-world/ (mis en ligne le 8 mars 2018)
