Sam Girardin founded Game On way back in 2002, a company focused on audio in games that eventually expanded, adding facial capture, mocap, animation, cinematics, and more. Game On has worked in tandem with some of the biggest names in the industry, includingMarvel’s Avengers, Horizon Forbidden West, The Outer Worlds,Outriders, and more.
Game On is located in Montreal but has worked with countries outside of Canada, hence it meeting withPeople Can Fly. Game On was acquired byPeople Can Flyearlier this year, working closer than ever with the company responsible forOutriders, but it does maintain its ability to work with outside developers and publishers. It’s a big step for the company, for Sam Girardin, and for People Can Fly, especially as both People Can Fly and Game On will be turning 20 next year.
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Game Rant recently spoke with Girardin about this history, his role in managing bothGame On and PCF Canada, and People Can Fly as a whole. He was joined by People Can Fly New York’s Roland Lesterlin and CEO Sebastian Wojciechowski in a slate of interviews. Obviously, Girardin has a lot of experience in the industry, but many know this is a passion job that easily translates to everyday life too.
Girardin’s favorite games, for example, includeGTA 5, Red Dead 2, Breath of the Wild, andCall of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. His preferred platforms are PlayStation, as well as the Nintendo Switch with his kids, and like many gamers today, he has yet to beable to snag a PS5. His favorite video game character is Mega Man, which really speaks to his history in the industry, and he’s hopeful forGotham Knights, Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2,andHorizon Forbidden Westnext year.
From Game On to People Can Fly Canada: Sam Girardin
It’s been a couple of months since Game On was acquired by People Can Fly, and so we asked Girardin how this has impacted Game On specifically. To this, Girardin said,
“Yeah, PCF is bringing new projects, fun challenges, and bigger sandboxes to Game On and its team. That was one of my key reasons to make the transaction. Our relationship is also translating into developing new tech, and accelerating our research and development efforts. On the business side, the acquisition is also giving us long-term visibility on upcoming projects. And it’s actually giving some more security to our staff, because you’re part of a bigger family. It is very positive for them as well.”
But, Sam Girardin is also a busy man. Not only does he still oversee Game On activities, but he leads People Can Fly’s Canadian operations and expands the company’s scope there as head of People Can Fly Canada. Girardin has been building teams in the industry for a long time, which is mainly what he’s been doing with the United Studios of People Can Fly— an idea of global integrity of many different studios of the company, but also focused on its current growth in North America. Not only is there Montreal and New York, but the formerPhosphor Games became People Can Fly Chicagoearlier this year too. So, he’s been building bridges between all of the North American studios.
It’s also worth highlighting how he has done this through the entire pandemic. Many workers at People Can Fly remain remote, with very few physically coming into the office. This is because People Can Fly’s priority has been and still is the safety of its developers, and in Girardin’s own words, “…our first reflex is to protect them and to not push them going back to the office that fast.”
Part of this building bridges approach of the United Studios of People Can Fly has been bringing ex-Phosphor into the fold as People Can Fly Chicago, and Girardin has described it as “very natural.” Ex-Phosphor had already been working to some extent with theProject Daggerteam (the current game in development), and with similar skillsets pertaining to the Unreal Engine, it seems like it was as smooth as could be expected, especially given the restraints of the pandemic.
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People Can Fly Montreal – In the Hot Seat
Montreal is a hot bed for game development. Back in 2018, Greater Montreal had 140+ video game development studios, and it has only grown in the time since then. This growth is good for the industry, but for some companies like Ubisoft, it has played a contributing factor in turnover rates. However, it seems as if People Can Fly stands out from the competition there. When asked about it, Girardin said,
“Well, Montreal has been standing out as a creative city for many, many years, decades because of its eagerness to bring in new technologies. Think about Softimage (now Autodesk), Cirque du Soleil, and others. The city has always been very vibrant. I think with the gaming community, it really started in 1997, with Ubisoft Montreal, and then it created a brand new ecosystem for the city. Today, some people will say, ‘Montreal is too competitive. There are too many studios. How can you attract those people?' Well, I think PCF has a great weapon to attract talent: we create great IPs. Every time we show to somebody like a candidate what kind of game we’re working on, everybody’s super excited. I think this is how we make a difference in such a competitive market.”
Not only does the focus onnew IPs at People Can Flymake it stand out, but it seems it has a stellar reputation among game developers. People Can Fly New York’s Roland Lesterlin also commented on how surprised he’s been by the hiring pipeline in Montreal, with Lesterlin constantly hearing about the company’s positive reputation among new hires. All in all, despite being in one of the hottest seats in game development, People Can Fly Canada is not struggling with the big-name competition.
People Can Fly is the “Least Corporate Publicly Traded Company in the Video Game Industry, Period,’” Says Girardin
One point Girardin was excited about is how People Can Fly “over-communicates” with checking on its developers, communicating among each other, and working on such a scale. For example, he discussed how there’s a weekly project meeting on Project Dagger led by Roland which drives visibility and collaboration among the whole PCF team. This gives everyone a platform and really helps coordinate this development.
Beyond even that, though, Girardin really enjoys how “flat” People Can Fly is as a company, meaning there’s no real corporate structure, walls, or barriers. He discussed how open all the channels are among the company, stating if someone wants to talk to Roland, they talk to Roland. If someone wants to talk to him, they talk to him. And this goes all the way up the “corporate ladder” of the company, with Girardin saying that “if you have an idea and you want to chat with Seb [People Can Fly CEO] about it, you go to Seb.” That openness and honesty is seen at multiple levels of People Can Fly in terms of how it communicates with its community, among its developers, and among its leadership.
As Girardin emphasized in this Game Rant interview…
“It’s the least corporate publicly traded company in the video game industry, period. It is the flattest company that you may be in right now.”
People Can Flyis working onOutriders, Project Dagger, Project Gemini, and a new self-published project.
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Image Credit: Montreal Photo byMatthias MullieonUnsplash, Assets from People Can Fly
