East Side Indie: Vibes on the Tech world of Vancouver
Vancouver is host to a lot of talent, tons of wicked people in the game development industry, and a serious romance with the tech world. As a lovable studio, we at East Side Games have spent a lot of time and effort in the search for community. We focus a great deal of our efforts weaving and strengthening the friendships we have with other studios in town; this really helps to define and separate the dev industry in our beautiful coastal metropolis. I have yet to come across another industry such as ours - the camaraderie and support shown by all parties in this melting pot never ceases to amaze me. There doesn’t appear to be a shred of competition and for some unexplainable reason, there hasn’t been a need for any.
There is a dozen, thriving studios in town and dozens more on the rise. In just the Gastown district of old-downtown Vancouver, there is an abundance of start-ups and developers, all of them grinding away tirelessly to achieve something great. But miraculously, not one pair of tracks to success have crossed. Imagine a mind-numbingly versatile and complex subway system (Tokyo’s springs to mind). Now picture, if you will, not a single one of those different coloured rail lines ever touching: it’s a hundred different coloured lines running parallel with one another. That’s not to say that influence doesn’t change train lines, or that we never interact. In fact, it’s the opposite. We know everyone. We want to. And it works.
A problem that often comes up in these kind of industries is when multiple studios/groups starts executing on a project that is eerily similar to one already being made by another party. We’re all on our own track here, and there is no cross-over in audience market-shares. I believe this is a fundamental part of our greatness, or at least how great it feels to be a part of it. You need friends in this industry. You need people with massive amounts of talent that want to help you achieve success. We, here in Vancouver, are out for one goal; making TECH MATTER where we live.
Wednesday of this week, we had the pleasure of attending and sponsoring Tech Fest by Tech Vibes, taking place at the legendary Commodore Ballroom on Granville Street. The yearly gathering is geared towards the up-and-coming talent within the tech industry. Those looking for amazing people with highly educated backgrounds, would be missing out big time by forfeiting the opportunity to meet hundreds of exceptional candidates all while having a drink in your hand.
Billed as a “festival”, the event is a pinnacle of tech job hunting. The sixteen companies listed in the above photograph all had booths set up, littered with reasons why working there is the best choice for you. It’s a veritable “who’s who” of Vancouver clout, both in big names and exceptionally renowned local start-ups. Being that we (as a studio) feel that our relationships with other game dev studios is gleefully strong, we want to branch out beyond the world of games.
We were the only gaming studio at Tech Fest. It felt stilted. Awkward. Everyone looked at us like the goofy kid in science class that never paid attention to what the teacher was trying to imbue upon us. What are they doing here? said the stares. I was shocked at first, worried that the hours of conversation ahead of me would be stained with the same impression, but after a few minutes of mingling, I understood the room a lot better.
After I had chatted up a dozen or so people, I heard a handful of the same things which shed further light on the situation we’d put ourselves in, and how it wasn’t necessarily our fault.
I can work in games?
You guys need engineers?
ESG Employs Systems Administrators?
Why didn’t anyone tell me I was qualified for this?
There I was, wondering who was misleading these young (or young-ish) superstars. Maybe it’s best that we don’t listen to the science professor because it doesn’t sound like they’re successfully educating the masses. Dear tech professionals, WE NEED YOU!
There’s no mistaking it - there are plenty of jobs in this studio (including mine) where a degree in computer science would leave you listless in a galaxy of nothingness. However, our foundation, our structure, our work, is built on the grounds of our tech. I can only speak in-depth to our scenario specifically, but at East Side Games we use our own tools. This means that every department on every project uses tools built in-house. This also means that we need people to create them. Furthermore, we need people to maintain and improve them.
I spoke with one particular character that I adored right off the bat. It was loud, crammed full of people. The cork foundation dance-floor of the Commodore was shoulder-to-shoulder mobs of Hors d’oeuvre eating job seeking missiles. The top-forty playlist booming between the pillars. When a young man, maybe twenty-five, approaches, obviously second guessing his opening song and dance before extending his hand in greeting.
“Hi, I’m REDACTED, I’m a computer science major, with a knack for software. I know..”
I didn’t let him finish before exclaiming that we had positions open that would fit his skill-set. But by the look that grew across his face I could easily assume that he was about to describe how we (a gaming company) may not need his services, or something with that vibe. His jaw nearly unhinged. Who ever had been prepping him for the job market neglected to share with this sprite that he could take the skills learned at the University of British Columbia, and combine it with his passion for video games.
So we talked a little longer and I probed him on his knowledge of mobile game markets, which he surprisingly knew a lot about. I hand him my card. Told him to email me, as he needed a co-op to complete this term.
“We are always looking for both AWESOME PEOPLE, and STELLAR CO-OPs.” i said. “Granted, it may not be a fit if you’re looking for a place to come and go, as we don’t tend to let our co-ops leave without a fight.”
The conversation wrapped up when REDACTED had run out of questions fueled by surprise, both at our desire to employ folks like himself, and for our presence at TechFest as a whole. I left that interaction with a bit of pride, and a new goal. Luckily, our CEO came to the same conclusion as I did after the fact.
“We want to focus on the world of Tech. Break down those walls. Educate the scholars about our needs as a studio/industry. Construct a ladder that will notify the talent of our presence, while simultaneously giving them a way to reach us.” — ESG
So that’s that. It’s my biggest take-away from the great event put together by Tech Vibes. There’s a new aim here, a fresh finish line to run towards. That community feeling woven into the indie dev world within Vancouver needs to breach the walls of the tech universe. We need to get that talent into the highly-functioning studios that thrive on atmosphere and culture. Our studios. God knows, you’re not going to feel like a critical piece of the end product sitting next to a hundred others doing the same thing atop the fancy amazon suites in Telus Gardens. But I bet the view is nice.
Be here. Be with us. Where your skills matter less than your desire to do great things. After all, we make games that don’t suck.
EAST SIDE GAMES is a proudly independent and profitable game studio with a collaborative, creative, and fun culture. Our games fund all our new projects, and everyone who works here has a direct impact on the day-to-day business.
WYATT FOSSETT is an Author who resides in Vancouver, Canada, known for high-octain cocktails of real life expression, fanciful works of fiction, and a history in Video Game Journalism. Wyatt is also a Community Champion at ESG.
