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This article was published 28/02/2023 (1057 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Justin Chommany pored over his drawings.

Beside him, fellow Kildonan-East Collegiate students tinkered with plans to transform the sketches into a video game.

“Our working title right now is Canadian Simulator,” Chommany, 17, said Friday.

His team’s vision was to place a “socially awkward guy” as the game’s lead. Players would go about day-to-day life as the man, waving at people they encounter.

“You have to wave… or else you die,” Chommany said. “We’ll just put this poor man in increasingly more difficult situations.”

Chommany was nervous. He and his team had the weekend to build a video game. They were among at least 200 people to participate in the biggest ever Winnipeg Game Jam. It was the event’s first in-person session since the pandemic began.

The weekend event drew students, video game creation hobbyists and businesses from the city’s burgeoning technology sector.

“I’d love to see talent… stay in Winnipeg, whether it’s starting their own studio or contributing to an existing studio that might be hiring,” said Daniel Voth, Winnipeg Game Jam’s co-organizer.

Canadian video game hubs like Vancouver and Montreal often draw Manitobans, he said.

Connecting business to local developers, and fostering community, will ideally keep skilled video game creators in Winnipeg, Voth added.

“I think a lot of people maybe aren’t immediately aware that there is a community,” he said.

But there is one, and it’s growing, he added.

Winnipeg Game Jam hit maximum capacity for in-person attendees — there was limited space in Manitou a bi Bii daziigae, Red River College Polytechnic’s innovation centre, where the event was held.

Speakers from global and local gaming companies headed to the school to address pursuing a career in video games and avoiding burnout, among other things.

Complex Games was one of the event’s partners. It’s a Winnipeg-based game development studio that England-based Frontier Developments acquired last November. It’s hiring game designers, among other roles.

Ubisoft — which opened in Winnipeg in 2019 and announced it would add 200 jobs by 2030 — was at the event.

New Media Manitoba, another event partner, attended. It’s the sector council for the province’s interactive digital media industry, which includes video games.

The industry generated around $186.9 million in GDP in 2016, up from $39 million in 2012, according to New Media Manitoba’s latest statistics.

In 2016, the interactive digital media industry had around 3,230 full-time equivalent workers in Manitoba.

“I’m sure now… coming out of the pandemic, where it’s been booming, (that number) is going to be like four, five (times higher),” said Jonathan Le, a training manager with New Media Manitoba.

The sector council hopes to expand the industry.

“To do that, we need a talented and skilled workforce, and game jams are a great way to develop those types of people,” Le said.

Creating a pipeline for talent — from schooling to landing a job — is necessary, Le added.

Liang Sun brought his Kildonan-East Collegiate interactive digital media students to Manitou a bi Bii daziigae Friday.

The classes are always full — 20 students in Grade 11 and 12 each, he said.

“I wanted to (give them) a taste of the possibilities that they could go into,” Sun said. “It’s much closer than they think. The industry is really booming in Winnipeg… and I have a lot of confidence it’s only going to get bigger.”

His students sat on the campus of Red River College Polytechnic’s game development program.

Manitoba has an interactive digital media tax credit; eligible businesses receive an up to 40 per cent credit on labour costs and marketing.

Jehan Moorthy sat near students Friday, ready to give tips and suggestions — and remind people about e-sports, the main focus of New Frontier Esports and Entertainment, the company he co-founded.

Moorthy was also looking to meet Manitobans ready to break into the gaming world. New Frontiers is expanding.

“I really foresee that perhaps in five to 10 years, there’ll be far more game development studios here,” Moorthy said.

About 67 companies were part of Manitoba’s interactive digital media sphere in 2016, according to New Media Manitoba.

Games produced during Winnipeg Game Jam are on indie gaming platform itch.io for free.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com