Silicon Knights Sucks Canadian Gov’t’s Sweet Maple Syrup Teat

Hey fans of socialized medicine and cheap drugs, here’s yet another reason to “Like” Canada on Facebook.

Yesterday, it was announced that the Canadian government has awarded a grant of $3 million ($3.15 million in American smackers) to Ontario’s Silicon Knights, the game developer behind the upcoming X-Men: Destiny.  The grant will allow Silicon Knights to create 80 new jobs, keep its 97 existing jobs, and to move into self-publishing.  This is huge, as it will potentially free up the company to pursue any direction they like without having to search for a larger publisher.

Denis Dyack, President of Silicon Knights, had this to say about the grant:

“With Ontario government support, we are better-positioned to further develop the 8th Art of video games. This will enhance our competitive edge within the highly-competitive video game market, help us become a self-sustainable, self-publishing entity, and allow us to enter lucrative global markets.”

Ontario’s Ministry of Economic Development and Trade also offered some interesting facts about the province, noting that “Ontario is home to about 1,000 interactive digital media companies that contribute almost $1.5 billion annually to Ontario’s economy and employ around 16,000 people,” and that their “Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit was valued at close to $20 million in 2009-10.”

Kind of puts the whole “Louisiana and Michigan tax breaks for games developers” story into perspective, doesn’t it?

Canada’s Maple Syrup Teat delivers sweet economic relief to the games industry.  Now if only we could get Belgium’s Waffle Teat in there…

Via Ontario’s Ministry of Economic Development and Trade