A new language law passed by the Province of Quebec may threaten the future of prominent gaming companies such as Ubisoft and Square Enix.
As reported by the CBC, the legislation, known as Bill 96, aims to strengthen the province's language laws with rules that expand from healthcare to business and gaming. However, a controversial part of the bill includes that all immigrants who have lived in Quebec for over six months will only be able to access government services in French, the province's official language. This, in turn, has created fears that the region will now struggle to attract more talent amidst a global labor shortage, especially within the gaming industry.
Christopher Chancey, the chairman of the board of the Guilde du jeu vidéo du Québec, an organization that represents video game studios in Quebec, says that while the guild does support French being the default language in Quebec's gaming industry, they still raised concerns that the new legislation would alienate those not from the province. "We have a lot of people coming from everywhere around the world to make video games here in Quebec," said Chancey. "Our fear is that this is sending out a message [that Quebec is] not inclusive to other cultures." Chancey also says he wants to see the government potentially expand the six-month time limit.
While some, like Chancey, are hopeful that the Quebec government will change its mind or at least be more lenient with Bill 96, others who work in the gaming industry are far from optimistic. "I think that the intention behind [Bill 96] is to make certain people feel unwelcome," said Osama Dorias, a long-time game designer who says he expects the government to push the new law heavily. "I hope I'm wrong. I seriously hope I'm wrong."
Data from Quebec's Industry Ministry reports that over 11,000 people work in the province's gaming industry, producing over $1.75 billion yearly. Many of these people work for major companies such as Ubisoft and Square Enix, both of which are currently working on upcoming, prominent titles in the action-stealth series Assassin's Creed and the fantasy role-playing series Kingdom Hearts. However, many of these 11,000 employees are not originally from the province; instead, they're from abroad and often speak little to no French. English is considered the industry's default language, and for many, having to learn English and then learning yet another language comes off as way too strenuous. This potential issue has led some employees to consider leaving the province for good, hoping that the gaming industry, which is continuously booming and adding new developers such as Shueisha Games by the day, will allow them to get a job elsewhere.
Bill 96 passed May 26 and will come into effect over a period of three years.
SOURCE: CBC