Canadian studios have produced some of the most played video games in the world, yet many people have no idea where they were made. Since we like to celebrate everything Canadian, here’s our list of the eight best-selling Canadian-made video games.
1. Mass Effect 2
Released in 2010 and developed by BioWare based out of Edmonton, Mass Effect has some of the best character-driven gameplay of any sci-fi game. Mass Effect 2 features immersive world-building, action-packed gameplay, and a deep narrative that propels the story further and encourages more engagement.
Players love it because every decision they make leads to an alternate outcome. Two people playing the same game will end up with two different scenarios — which gives it excellent replay value.
2. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Many players are surprised when they find out the immensely popular Deus Ex series was developed in Canada by Eidos-Montréal. ‘Crafting Emotions’ is the studio’s tagline, and it does that with all its games.
The 2011 entrant to the family, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, is a fan favourite. Players become ex-SWAT specialist Adam Jensen, whose mission is to defend one of America’s most experimental biotechnology firms. However, not all is as it seems. Something is happening behind the scenes that Jensen isn’t aware of.
The character evolves as the player makes decisions, controlling the entire gameplay. There’s an equal mix of action and role-playing. Hack systems, shoot enemies, perform stealth actions or use social skills to extract information.
3. Assassin’s Creed II
Another surprise for players is that Ubisoft Montreal created the sequel to the popular Assassin’s Creed in Canada in 2009.
There’s something about becoming an Italian assassin during the Renaissance that keeps players returning to Assassin’s Creed II year after year. The cities of Rome, Venice and Florence are so detailed that they believe they’re actually there at times.
Ezio Auditore da Firenze is one of video games’ most engaging characters, and players love immersing themselves in history while having loads of fun at the same time.
4. Dragon Age: Origins
Dragon Age: Origins, the 2009 game of the year, still holds up today as an excellent RPG game in the style of Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. Also developed in Canada by BioWare in Edmonton, it spawned several follow-up games and a Netflix series and remains a top seller, as people new to the series often start from the beginning.
Players can choose to be a mage, warrior or rogue, coming from a dwarven, elven, or human background. Their goal is to end the invasion and defeat the Archdemon. Getting through the entire game takes anywhere from 40 to 87 hours, which offers loads of engagement and bang for your buck.
5. Dead by Daylight
The 2016 release Dead by Daylight by Canadian studio Behaviour Interactive is an excellent team game for a group of three friends who want to band together to defeat a ruthless killer.
Dead by Daylight recently hit the 60-million-player milestone with no signs of slowing down. Solo players can be the hunted killer. Buy the add-on packs to play as famous film villains, Chucky, Ghost Face, and Saw, or exist in the Resident Evil or Silent Hill realms.
What would you choose — be a hunter or the hunted?
6. The Long Dark
In 2017, British Columbia’s Hinterland Studio released what has been dubbed ‘the most definitively Canadian’ game, The Long Dark.
As survival destinations go, no place on Earth is as harsh as Canada’s northern wilderness. Players become bush pilot Will Mackenzie, who, thanks to a geomagnetic storm, crash lands and must survive as best as he can with what limited resources he can discover as the game progresses.
Build a shelter, locate food and water, and fight off beasts, all while the weather deteriorates into the nastiest winter on record. How long could you survive?
7. Cuphead
In 2017, StudioMDHR in Oakville, Ontario, released Cuphead with no idea just how popular it would become. The game is unique in many ways, notably because the characters are drawn in the 1930s’ Golden Age of American animation’ style.
The story goes: Cuphead plays at the Devil’s casino, loses, and can’t pay his debt. The Devil sends him on a task to repossess the souls of other gamblers who have lost money at his casino and never paid their dues. Fight your way through four levels, culminating in the ultimate battle against the Devil himself.
Watch out; if you play at your favourite slot sites and leave a debt, you might just be Cuphead’s next target.
8. Watch Dogs 2
Ubisoft Montreal’s second game on the best-seller list is 2016’s Watch Dogs 2. It’s the sequel to the 2014 original Watch Dogs, and the studio incorporated a ton of feedback from people, including real-life hackers, to improve the gameplay of the following version.
Play as Marcus Holloway, a hacker who works at DedSec in a fictionalized version of the San Francisco Bay Area, whose mission is to take down ctOS, the city’s advanced surveillance system.
Canada Created Some of the Best Video Games
There you have it. Some of your favourite video games were created in Canada. Whether you enjoy fantasy, sci-fi, world-building, spying, hacking, hunting or being hunted, there’s a Canadian-made game just for you.
Look for the names of these studios next time you’re shopping for a new game.
