In today’s crazy world, we figure that people are probably looking farther afield than they used to when it comes to job searches, and for those that think Odyssey has something to offer that they’re interested in, we wanted to take the time to brielfy talk about why we’re setting up shop in Canada, and why we plan to be here for hopefully a very long time.
Here’s a few reasons why…
Canada offers one of the highest Quality of Life ratings in the entire world. With social programs like Universal Health Care and much more affordable housing, Canada takes care of you and let’s you live your best life - regardless of where you come from.
Canada offers incredibly progressive immigration policies that make it really easy to hire and relocate the best talent in the world. We want to build a diverse team to help us make games for the diverse audiences of the next generation, and knowing that we can actually do that without having to jump through incredible hoops and hurdles put in place by the government has us incredibly optimistic of that goal.
Canada has a thriving tech scene. Waterloo boasts the highest startup density in the world second only to Silicon Valley, and graduates from University of Waterloo are the second most recruited graduates to the Valley behind Stanford. We’re moving into a city that’s just beginning to get recognized on the global scale, and we want to help elevate it to the next level.
Canada ranks 3rd in total game devs thanks in part to incredibly supportive programs by the government to entice companies to set up shop here, and allows for stable growth of the industry which is an exciting thing to be a part of.
Look, if I’m being entirely honest, starting a company from scratch is really damn hard, and working to try to prove yourself against the titans of the industry is going to be no small challenge either. We want people that join us in this journey to feel supported both at and outside of work, so they could spend their time focusing on making some of the world’s next great games, not whether they could afford things like health insurance, or rent for the next month. Thanks to the lower cost of living in Waterloo, and in Canada generally, as a startup we’re actually able to pay people salaries that can keep their focus where it matters, while giving us enough time to focus on building a sustainable company.
While Waterloo might not exactly be known for it’s game development scene, I know first hand how strong the gaming scene is. I remember living in residence at the University of Waterloo as people in every room up and down the hall were playing Super Smash Bros between class, League of Legends in the evening, or NHL on their PS3. We know that passion for games is the number 1 sign that someone will be an amazing game developer, so setting up shop right in the heart of a community that shares our passion, while also being insanely talented, bodes well for building the studio we dream of building.
To folks who are interested in a role at Odyssey and don’t currently live in Canada, we do offer relocation and immigration assistance to get you here should we seem like a good mutual fit - and are excited to help you explore this amazing country that we call home.
And to folks in Waterloo who might be reading this…we’re going to need some help playtesting our first game soon, so keep your eyes peeled :).
Richard