Have you ever played or heard of Super Stickman Golf, Chameleon Run or Flappy Golf? They’re mobile games available in the App Store which were either made or published in Saskatoon.
“We started in the game development side of things where we we’re creating our own games and launching them on the app store,” Ryan Holowaty, Noodlecake Inc. marketing & business development VP, said.
“That slowly grew and the team got bigger and bigger and eventually we got so good at it that other developers started coming to us with almost finished products, and said ‘can you help me make my game a little bit better’ and we would help market it for them and release it.”
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This week, Apple revealed that Noodlecake will be the first game studio featured in their Canada 150 series called “Canada’s best game makers.” It also highlights Invert – a new puzzle game launched by Noodlecake’s publishing sector.
“It’s a big deal to get a feature from Apple that’s so specific to our company,” Holowaty said.
“It’s spotlighting that this is happening here. It’s a job and career that kids going to university can actually have in Saskatchewan. It’s something they don’t have to move away to Vancouver, Montreal or Toronto for.”
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According to CEO and founder Jordan Schidlowsky, 90 per cent of hires are from the University of Saskatchewan. The continuous talent pool and access to infrastructure are why the company stays in Saskatoon.
“We also have some of the best internet in the world,” Schidlowsky said.
“Despite what people think about tech or about Silicon Valley being the place to be we actually have some really good advantages here.”
Noodlecake plans on pioneering Saskatchewan’s gaming industry for many years to come.