Dyack says layoff numbers are "staggering", but there's growth in Canada

Silicon Knights bossman Denis Dyack has said that the amount of industry developers being laid off during the past 18 months "has been staggering", but the next fiscal year will be one of growth for Ubisoft with its new 800-person studio opening in Toronto.

"It's been really a rough year and a half for the industry as a whole," he told GI.biz. "The number of layoffs in the industry has been staggering. As an external developer it's been tough. I actually don't know anyone who's older than us any more. There used to be four or five people I knew of but I feel right now that we're one of the last of the V8s".

"I've talked to a lot of people and I know a lot of people who have gone out of business," he lamented.

"Where I see some more growth for Silicon Knights in the future is I can see a very strong recruiting campaign that will say 'come back home to Ontario'," he added. What that means for us [the new studio] is we're really excited because we're going to be able to come out, and the industry is going to rebound and grow, and we'll be one of probably five companies in the world that has any serious business beyond ten years."

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