This site hooks up game developers

MTLGS

While there are a few Facebook groups and out-of-date websites out there that have done a decent job of culling together the city’s manygame development studios, the aptly barebone Montreal Game Studios is far and away the most convenient and thorough listing yet.

Like most good ideas, mtlgs.ca was conceived to respond to an obvious need. Site creator Fouad Karam is an aspiring 3D prop and environment artist with a degree from Concordia, and in the search for employers to apply to, realized he wasn’t alone in wondering where all the studios are.

“Someone on the Mount Royal Game Society Facebook page posted the question asking if anyone knew of any indie studios,” says Karam. “Various posters started mentioning indie studios that they knew about and right then I realized there is a demand for such information.”

He got the ball rolling earlier this year by finding out about companies through the MRGS Facebook group and the rather unhelpful Gamedevmap.com, but now that more people are discovering the site, the gaming community has been pointing out omissions. Studios have also been in touch and are even providing him with better formatted logos. For now, the website is just an alphabetical listing with links to the studios’ official homepages

“At the moment, my focus is to continue tweaking the site for a better user experience, creating a more attractive logo and ironing out some minor technical issues,” he says. “As for the future of the site, I would like to see it become the go-to site for all game-related info, resources, news and more. I am constantly writing down ideas.”■

Check out www.mtlgs.ca.