About British Columbia’s Interactive Digital Media Industry
British Columbia is an international hotspot for streaming, console, PC, social and mobile game production, serving as a global hub for immersive technology innovation. The province is home to over 175 companies (Source: Creative BC), ranging from solo indie developers to major international studios.
Interactive digital media encompasses creative content where users actively shape their experience through engagement and choice. This includes video games, virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) experiences, interactive educational applications, immersive installations, and emerging formats that blend storytelling with technology. From award-winning indie titles to blockbuster franchises, B.C. creators are pushing the boundaries of interactive storytelling and digital innovation.
The industry is evolving rapidly as AI-driven tools, cloud gaming, real-time rendering, and XR technologies reshape what’s possible. B.C.’s strength lies not only in its technical expertise but in its creative talent, artists, designers, programmers, and storytellers who transform ideas into experiences played and celebrated worldwide.
Recent Impacts
$2.5B
Total GDP in B.C.
$2.3B
Direct Output in B.C.
23,787
Total Jobs
What Changed This Year
Interactive digital media remains B.C.’s second-largest creative industry, representing 33.3% of the creative sector’s GDP and 26.8% of its jobs in 2024. Estimated totals for 2024 show $2.5 billion in Total GDP and 23,787 Total Jobs. These figures reflect a fourth consecutive year of job growth, while GDP decreased slightly by 1.3% after seven years of continuous growth. Despite the small dip in GDP, the industry continues to grow steadily. The 2024 estimates show the highest number of interactive digital media jobs ever recorded and the second-highest GDP on record. Since 2015, the industry has achieved a compound annual growth rate of 11.4% for Total GDP and 9.2% for Total Jobs. (Source: CIERA™, 2024e).
In 2024, B.C. enhanced its Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit (IDMTC), The interactive digital media industry anchors B.C.’s technology-driven creative economy, generating high-paying jobs, exporting Canadian stories and innovation globally, and positioning the province as a world leader in gaming, immersive experiences, and the convergence of creativity and cutting-edge technology.
Why This Matters
The interactive digital media industry anchors B.C.’s technology-driven creative economy, generating high-paying jobs, exporting Canadian stories and innovation globally, and positioning the province as a world leader in gaming, immersive experiences, and the convergence of creativity and cutting-edge technology.
More Information on CIERA™ and Sector Counts
The Interactive Digital Media Industry Mapped Across the Sector Value Chain
CIERA™ maps business activity classified by Statistics Canada through what is known as the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). These NAICS codes are attributed in full or in part to a three-part sector value chain: Creation > Production > Sales + Distribution.
Some of the “culture industries” as defined by Statistics Canada contribute to more than one creative industry; these NAICS cannot easily be attributed to a single creative industry, nor can their business activities be proportionally allocated. In these cases, their economic contributions have been aggregated into CIERA™’s Multi-Creative Industry figures. Outlined boxes below are Multi-Creative Industry Services that contribute to this value chain. See those impacts here. See full annual CIERA™ tables.
Sector Counts
The total number of companies in B.C. is informed by various data sources, including industry submissions, coordinated manual and automated outreach, and comprehensive research.
Ecosystem
Segments
Video Games
B.C.’s video game companies are major drivers of Canada’s creative sector GDP and earn global recognition for their commercially successful and critically acclaimed digital exports. According to the Canada’s Video Game Industry: Powering the Future of Play 2025 report by the Entertainment Software Association of Canada and Nordicity, 146 companies are currently active in the province. However, Creative BC estimates the true number exceeds 175, reflecting the rapid growth of solo and independent game development—an emerging trend that continues to expand B.C.’s creative footprint. From solo developers like Daniel Mullins, who created the critically acclaimed games Inscryptionn, The Hex, and Pony Island, to household names and large developers like Microsoft, Nintendo, EA, Take-Two, and CD Projekt Red, B.C. studios of all sizes are proud producers of countless successful, award-winning video games that are played and beloved worldwide.
XR Immersive Tech
Apart from contributing to video game culture, B.C.’s creative XR universe consists of 36 core companies measured in 2022 (Source: Nordicity and DigiBC). Eighty-six percent of these companies are based in Vancouver, but locations such as Victoria, Burnaby, Qualicum, and Langley are emerging as popular XR destinations. It is challenging to isolate the exact economic contribution of XR because the data is often aggregated within broader industry classifications. The industry is growing, and XR’s impact is expected to increase in the future as technology and adoption expand.
Associations and Communities
Key Association
DigiBC: DigiBC is a non-profit association that promotes, supports, and accelerates the growth, sustainability, and community of B.C.’s creative technology industry, which includes the video games, VFX, animation, VR/AR/XR, and virtual production segments.
Other Associations
BUS Game Developers Association: BUS Game Developers is a community that hosts B.C.’s largest game jams, such as the Global Game Jam Vancouver. They also host events dedicated to fostering the indie community, hosting guest speakers, and providing networking opportunities.
Canadian Game Devs: This nation-wide community aims to connect every team, developer, and student to the broader industry within Canada. They offer resources to aspiring developers, community support, and networking opportunities at various events across Canada.
Centre for Digital Media (CDM): The Centre for Digital Media is a groundbreaking campus that offers master’s degrees, after-school programs, and other educational courses pertaining to Digital Media. Located in Vancouver, this one-of-a-kind location is partnered with four leading academic institutions: The University of British Columbia (UBC), Simon Fraser University (SFU), Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECU), and the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT).
Entertainment Software Association of Canada: ESAC is the voice of the Canadian video game industry. Their annual report, Canada’s Video Game Industry Powering the Future of Play, provides important economic, demographic and public opinion data about Canada’s video game industry.
Frontier Collective: The Frontier Collective is the first organization to formally represent and advance the interests of the region’s fastest-growing technologies, including Web3, the metaverse, VR/AR, AI, climate tech, and creative industries such as eSports, NFTs, VFX, and animation.
Full Indie: Vancouver’s biggest Indie game dev community since 2010, offers support, monthly meetups, and annual summits for independent studios and solo developers. This non-profit, volunteer-run association helps indie developers and creators become a part of a community, showcase gameplay, and work toward a unified game developer scene in Vancouver.
Quiver Games: This mentorship and community platform connects students and aspiring developers alike, offering them university clubs and industry employment mentorship. They create programs and spaces where aspiring developers can gather, connect with one another, work on projects, and build their portfolios.
Spark Computer Graphics Society: organizes SPARK conferences and festivals and promotes and fosters the local computer graphics community in B.C.
Vancouver ACM Siggraph: a non-profit society serving researchers, professionals, and artists who are involved in the fields of computer graphics and interactive techniques. They also host conferences and exhibitions with the aim of connecting those in the industry over five days of immersion into your unique area of interest.
VRARA Vancouver: This chapter is the leading voice of VR/AR in British Columbia and represents the coming-together of brilliant minds across the VR/AR/MR ecosystem, from original content creators and creative distributors to innovative hardware companies and ambitious researchers.
Web Summit: Web Summit Vancouver helps to connect a new generation of founders to investors, journalists and technology leaders from around the world. Web Summit runs the world’s largest technology events, connecting people and ideas that change the world.
Resources
- Vancouver ACM Siggraph is a non-profit society serving researchers, professionals, and artists who are involved in the fields of computer graphics and interactive techniques. They also host conferences and exhibitions with the aim of connecting those in the industry over five days of immersion into your unique area of interest.
- Spark Computer Graphics Society: The Spark Computer Graphics Society organizes SPARK conferences & festivals and promotes and fosters the local computer graphics community in B.C.
- Entertainment Software Association of Canada: ESAC is the voice of the Canadian video game industry. Their annual report, Essential Facts, provides important economic, demographic and public opinion data about Canada’s video game industry.
- Canadian Game Devs: This nation-wide community aims to connect every team, developer, and student alike to the broader industry within Canada. They offer resources to aspiring developers, community support, and networking opportunities at various events Canada-wide.
Funding
Creative BC Funding Programs: Creative BC’s interactive digital media funding programs support both emerging and established independent video game studios, as well as other interactive projects delivered in partnership with the BC Arts Council.
Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit: The interactive digital media tax credit (IDMTC) is for eligible registered corporations that develop interactive digital media products.
Canada Media Fund (CMF): Fosters, finances, and promotes the production of Canadian content and interactive media across all audiovisual platforms.
Visit DigiBC’s website for up-to-date funding available to creative tech companies in B.C.
Education and Careers
Academic and Training Programs
This is not an exhaustive list. See more on Creative BC’s industry contacts list.
Jobs
Find jobs via DigiBC.
Our Industry Partner
