Ubisoft's Montreal studio was the big winner at the inaugural Canadian Videogame Awards in Vancouver on Wednesday night.
The studio won four of 11 awards, including best console game, for Assassin’s Creed II, which tells the story of a member of a clan of 12th century assassins.
Vancouver was also well represented: Rainmaker Entertainment took home the In-game Cinematic Award for Ghostbusters: The Video Game; and United Front Games won the Most Promising Game Award for ModNation Racers. Dawn of War II, an adventure game made by Vancouver-based Relic Entertainment received the Best Audio Award, while Radical Entertainment’s Prototype split the award for best technology with Ubisoft.
Game makers from Edmonton and Toronto also received awards.
Video game-related festivities continue in Vancouver May 6 and 7 with the city hosting Game Developers Conference Canada 2010.
Ubisoft’s success in Montreal has come to symbolize the debate in Vancouver whether Canada’s hub for video game development is shifting from the west coast to Quebec. See Government incentive game heats up in video sector, Business in Vancouver May 5-11, 2009; issue 1019 to learn more about this ongoing issue.
By Curt Cherewayko