When Albertans think of video game developers, they might think of Edmonton’s BioWare, famed for the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series, or Ubisoft, makers of Assassin’s Creed and Prince of Persia, which has a branch in Toronto. Less likely to come to mind is one of the hundreds of smaller independent (indie) studios that make their home in Canada. There are 937 video game studios in Canada, accounting for 32,300 full-time employees and $5.5 billion contributed to the country’s GDP, according to the Entertainment Software Association of Canada. Of those, 88 publishers, developers and hardware companies are located in Alberta, accounting for a $148.8 million economic impact and 1,300 jobs in the province. Video games are big business. For example, Nintendo recorded more than $3 billion in net profit for the last fiscal year that ended in March. That was an increase of 52 per cent from the previous fiscal year. The company does expect a decline in profit for the next fiscal year, but the fact remains, the video game industry is still making money. Small but mighty Indie game studios have proven time and time again that you don’t have to be a big name like Square Enix or From Software to have a successful game. Stardew Valley celebrated its 10th release anniversary in February. The game, originally created by Eric Barone, also known as ConcernedApe, has sold more than 50 million copies across multiple platforms. Team Cherry, consisting of three members, is famed for the Hollow Knight and Hollow Knight: Silksong games, the first of which has sold more than 15 million copies since releasing in 2017, while the sequel sold more than seven million copies in the span of three months after release in 2025. These cases may be outliers, with many indie games never coming close to this level of fame and success, but the fact that it is possible to achieve such a thing is encouraging to small studios. “It’s like winning the lottery when that happens, but it is still a huge motivation for me,” said Andrew Glubrecht, the owner of RetroDragon Entertainment. “In this day and age, there’s so many more resources out here for indie developers to not necessarily need the big teams, and as long as you have the motivation to do so, even if you don’t feel like you’re necessarily have the skills, it’s more about just really being focused on your game and continuing to work on it.” Glubrecht is the sole developer at his Calgary-based studio and is currently working on the top-down action-adventure role playing game (RPG) The Path of Kana. Calgary is also home to Nice Axe Games, a studio working on the cooperative (co-op) adventure game Kali and Ko. Nice Axe was founded by Sean Santin and his brothers, who share the duties of programming, producing, marketing and everything else needed to make a video game. What makes these games special? There are hundreds of thousands of games available in dozens of genres for all price points, so what makes these Alberta-made games special? The Path of Kana wears its inspiration on its sleeve. The Zelda-like, meaning it is similar in some ways to games in The Legend of Zelda franchise, involves players venturing through haunted dungeons, solving puzzles and guiding lost souls home. Dungeon adventuring is a tried-and-true hallmark of The Legend of Zelda games, like A Link to the Past and The Minish Cap, games that inspired Glubrecht’s in gameplay and art style. “What makes my game a little bit different is it’s got a built-in randomizer,” he says. “What that means is all of the items can get shuffled around the world. So you might not end up going to dungeon one, for example, first, you might end up going to dungeon three instead. “That gives some replayability and changes the route every time you play the game. There is also going to be an actual full-on narrative, so if someone just wants to play a casual action-adventure game and have a nice story, there’s that option as well.” Randomizers are a popular element that are often added to existing games by the public to give people a chance to enjoy a familiar game in a different way. Pokémon, Metroid and The Legend of Zelda games are a few series that are popular for randomizers. The Path of Kana was also awarded Best Gameplay by CGMagazine at Game Con 2026, saying it captured “the wonder, excitement and whimsy of the classic era of The Legend of Zelda … in a way that is both fun and fresh.” While Kana has to traverse these dungeons alone, Kali and Ko explore together. The pair of junior explorer cats, who are also the namesake for the game Kali and Ko, are trapped on an island and need to work together to fight monsters, solve puzzles and uncover a nefarious plot. “It’s a cooperative game with a bit of a dynamic skill system to help people play with their siblings or kids or just friends who maybe don’t play as many games as they do,” Santin says. “And if you are a gamer, you will be challenged, we are making the highest difficulty a bit difficult.” The way the dynamic difficulty works for the fighting elements, he explains, is the game will constantly adapt to the skill level of the players. If the game senses one player is having a harder time, enemies will wait longer between attacks against that player and focus more on the other person. “We are aware that when you’re trying to introduce someone to gaming, it’s kind of like introducing them to a movie. You don’t need to be convinced, but you want them to enjoy themselves,” Santin says. Santin and his brothers have “strong core memories” of playing co-op games together while growing up and wanted to give others the chance to form similar memories. Kali and Ko is also inspired by classic The Legend of Zelda games, as well as “many, many other games,” Santin said. Positive reception to indie games at Games Con Canada Edmonton recently hosted Games Con Canada for the third consecutive year. The event brings together gamers of all types, developers, publishers, celebrities and more. Originally set to stay in Edmonton for only three years, an agreement signed this year will keep the convention and the North American Games Industry Summit in the city until at least 2031. “The city has been over the top supportive of what we’re doing, and there are a lot of really great developers and publishers here already, so it felt like a fitting place for us to take the (events) and grow it to the next level,” said Chris Meilleur, the chief executive officer of Meibel Consulting who cofounded the events. Nice Axe Games and RetroDragon Entertainment both had booths at the convention with demos of their games available for people to play. “We had these little moments where I’d be walking to the booth, and there’d be a husband and wife leaving, and I could hear her say to him, ‘That was so much fun. We have to buy it when it comes out,’” Santin said. “Just saying, ‘That was so much fun,’ is so gratifying (to hear). “We had this little kid playing with his dad, and he’s just like, ‘Dad, come on, pass the shield, pass the shield,’ he’s coaching his dad … and that’s perfect.” “It was stunning,” added Glubrecht. “One of the coolest things was how many people I actually got to sit with and talk to while they were playing the game … that was a good time.” They weren’t alone, with dozens of other games on display like SAK’D, Beyond the Oaks, Project Visceral, and more. Hurdles for small game studios Making a video game is not easy, it can take many years of work, depending on the scope and quality of the game. It can also cost a lot of money, which is one of the biggest hurdles indie studios face. Santin and Glubrecht both had to learn a lot of new skills as they embarked on their projects, including programming and coding, but there were some skill sets they needed to source frown outside talent. “If we don’t have the skill set internally, either we have to do it and sometimes the quality isn’t the best,” Santin said. “An easy example is I tried to do some music for the game, and that was a huge mistake, and I should have never tried. And that’s fine. “Eventually, when we got grants, we hired someone to do it, and the quality (increased) tenfold.” Finding the people with those missing skills can be another big challenge. Nice Axe Games had trouble finding someone skilled in 3D animations at one point. “My understanding is all of the really good animators are getting taken up by companies because there’s not many animators and people who can do rigging - building the skeletons for the characters,” Santin said. Growing your skill tree Communication skills are an often overlooked part of being an indie developer who will need to talk to publishers, investors, grant agencies, potential employees and more, Santin adds. Art direction is also one of the most important parts of a game. The old adage to not judge a book by its cover might be nice in theory, but the visual aspect is often the first part of a game people see and make judgments on. “It is a more important role than people realize,” Santin said. “It is also tough because often … if someone’s making art for you and they’re doing it for very cheap or free because you’re an indie studio and you don’t have the money, and it’s maybe not going the direction you want, that is a tough conversation to have. “Developing the skill set of giving feedback and taking feedback is an important thing.” On the other side of the coin, being a smaller studio does come with some benefits, including being able to change directions quickly if some part of the game isn’t working out. “It’s my vision, it’s my game, I get to make all the decisions, there’s a lot of creative freedom there, and that’s been one of the most important parts of this,” Glubrecht said. “I get to actually make what I would consider my dream game, and so I really like having that flexibility.” Gaming trends are also constantly shifting, something a smaller studio can more quickly adapt to meet, rather than a larger studio. “Literally next weekend, we could change (the game) and the items might not exist anymore if they’re not fun,” Santin added. “We’ll change it to something else, like critters or spirits you’re swapping.” He also suggests developers keep their players in mind throughout the design process and not rush to get something out before it’s ready. “You still need to be understanding that the person on the other end playing the game is a person, and they’re spending money to play your game,” Santin adds. “You have to respect that time and the money because the reality is there’s so many games out there. If you aren’t going to (respect them), why should they have to play your game?” Alberta is the place to be for video games Alberta took the message from the original Zelda game seriously, though now, “It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this,” means skilled people instead of free swords. “(Making a game) can be challenging sometimes, but I really do think it’s very rewarding,” Glubrecht said. “I want people to keep in mind that there’s a lot of really cool local resources both in Edmonton and Calgary now.” There are a plethora of resources in the province for people looking to make games, find talent or expand their own talents, including: Alberta also has game jams, an event where participants make a video game from scratch in a time limit. Events like this can help teams learn to work together and polish their skills. “We explored just making projects that will never see the light of day because they are practice projects, and that’s just kind of part of the cycle,” Santin said. “Where people get tripped up is they feel, ‘Oh, I’ll start with my dream game. I’ll do it in a year,’ and yeah, you’re going to hit some roadblocks there. “But if you start with doing game jams and building the skill sets and then working your way up, I think it’s very doable.” Calgary is hosting the Indie Rodeo in September, a conference for game makers that includes a bootcamp, talks, a showcase and a game jam. Glubrecht’s philosophy is “no zero days,” meaning even if he only works on The Path of Kana for 15 minutes a day, it’s still progress. “With that mentality, along with all of the resources we have now, I just think there’s so much opportunity for people to make games,” he adds. The affordability of indie games Video games are not cheap to buy, with newer releases like Forza Horizon 6 costing $90 and The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales costing $80 on Steam. These are AAA titles, games published by mid- to large-sized companies and often come with mid to large price tags. Indie games tend to be more affordable on the wallet, and while they are often shorter games, not 80- to 100-hour journeys like Persona 5: Royal, that can mean players have a chance to try more of them. “When you have an experience that you’re like, ‘Hey, it’s 14 bucks and it’s a 20-hour game, great, that’s the price of a movie ticket, let’s do it,’ and so that’s a little bit easier for people,” Santin said. “What you’ll probably notice with indie games is that they jump up for a bit, and then it’s a new thing, there’s a new hotness always coming out. “One of the strengths of indie development is you get to try out different things.” Santin points to a game he recently played and enjoyed, a puzzle game about languages inspired by the mythical Tower of Babel called Chants of Sennaar. “I am not a puzzle person. I am not good at English. I barely know English. But I loved that game, it was such a different experience for me, and it really took a lot of brain tickling to get through it,” Santin said. “Having that experience with an indie game is great.” Countdown to launch Kali and Ko and The Path of Kana can be wishlisted on Steam. Nice Axe is also doing playtesting that people can sign up for on the game’s Steam page. Steam is the biggest platform that supports indie games currently and the wishlisting feature is a good metric for developers to help determine the viability of a game before launch, according to Glubrecht. “A strong wishlist count means that your game is gaining both the visibility and traction that it needs to be worth the time and effort of development,” he said. “I do think sometimes however developers can lean too hard on wishlists, especially when they aren’t getting the amount they were hoping for. “It’s not that you have a bad game, but rather you’re missing a crucial element to getting the word of your game out there. Steam has a really strong algorithm that picks up on organic traction, and if you can get that ball rolling, then Steam will pick it up and help it along further. Nice Axe Games anticipates a 2027 release for Kali and Ko, while RetroDragon Entertainment expects a 2028 release for The Path of Kana. In the meantime, recent and upcoming releases that caught Santin and Glubrecht’s eyes include Under the Island, Elementallis, and We Were Here Tomorrow. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Craig Ellingson and The Associated Press
