Week of April 17, 2020
Government Announcements / Policies / Funding
- Prime Minister Announces New Support to Protect Canadian Jobs – April 17
- The B.C. Business COVID-19 Support Service for Small Businesses – April 16
- B.C. Psychological Assocation COVID-19 Resources
- Expansion of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit – April 15
Eligibility rules now include individuals making $1,000 or less/month, those who have exhausted EI benefits, and seasonal workers who have exhausted EI benefits and will be unable to undertake their usual seasonal work. There is also a planned wage boost for essential workers.
Industry-Related News
- COVID-19: The state of the games industry – April 9
- What does a year without events mean for indies? – April 9
- Shout out to Rob Cunningham (Blackbird Interactive) for sharing some great BC video game history in this interview – April 7
Signal Boosting / #GiveBack / How Can I Help?
DigiBC is working with two of our member studios, FlowMotion Entertainment and East Side Games to structure two fundraising options that the BC video games community will be able to participate in.
- Backpack Buddies is a local charity which pivoted to provide food for hungry children. Some kids lost access to a source of reliable food when schools closed. Backpack Buddies serves children across the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, and provided 1,600 meals to needy children last week alone!
- East Side Games recognized that while we are asking kids to go online and connect to their classrooms, not all BC students have the same access to technology. DigiBC and ESG are in collaboration to create a program that will deliver laptops to Indigenous students who need them.
DigiBC News
DigiMusic 2020 has officially launched! Do you know any high school students who are stuck at home during COVID-19 and would want to take part in a creative challenge that blends music with technology? DigiBC is proud to announce the launch of DigiMusic 2020, a music composition challenge for students in British Columbia.
Young musicians and composers of all varieties are invited to create an original piece of music for a video game or animated film clip taken from world-famous products that were made in BC. All worksheets and instructional guides are available at no cost, and the materials align with the BC school curriculum since they were developed in collaboration with professional music educators. Submissions are open until the end of May and further details can be found here.
Upcoming Virtual Events of Interest
April 19: Submission Deadline for ESAC Student Video Game Competition
April 24: F*ckup Nights Canada – Quarantine Edition vol.1
April 25: P.V.P. Pitch Circuit – On Air
April 30: Submission Deadline for SFF Youth Innovation Showcase