Vancouver game developer and my former employer (from a while back) Radical Entertainment signed a six-game deal with Vivendi Universal Games. At $5 to $10 million per game, that’s some serious cashola. Additionally, there’s apparently a take-over option that Vivendi may undertake if the games sell well.
If you’re an unemployed game developer in Vancouver, I think you know who to call.
Now that I mention it, do any of my readers work at or know anyone who works at EA Sports or Radical (I seem to recall that somebody’s boyfriend does, among others)? I’ve done contract writing work in the past for those companies, and have enjoyed it. I might like to do some more. If you’ve got any fancy contacts (or if you know the cleaning staff), drop me an email.
DarrenBarefoot.com 
Chris did his last co-op term at EA, and is hoping to do his next one there too. They’re also doing a lot of expansion in the next few years. I guess it’s a good time to be a game developer in Vancouver!
Game companies in Vancouver are eeeevil! Bah.
Well, I wouldn’t say all game companies in Vancouver are evil. Just perhaps EA and Radical. =P
Are you sure you want to go back there??? The two people I know who have managed to last at these two companies work the most brutal hours; it’s corporate slavery in the worst, worst way. Since your area is technical writing, I don’t know if a texture artist (EA Sports) and director of sound (Radical) are of any help, but if they are, by all means let me know.
Actually, I’d be thinking strictly contract work. Not so much technical writing, actually, but writing content for games. I did this for Black Box Games (now part of EA) for Sega Soccer Slam and NHL Hitz. It didn’t pay as well as hardware security whitepapers, but it was more fun.
I doubt Black Box is much the same after folding into EA.
I know some higher ups at Rockstar, I’ll ask if they have any needs for techincal writers right now. They’re good people, although it’s run quite a bit different from when they were Barking Dog.
What I’ve heard about working at Black Box under the umbrella of EA echoes what Rog says — it has ceased being fun.