Membership Levels

All membership fees are tax deductible business expenses (IO Membership Fees).

Build

$500

All membership fees are tax deductible business expenses (IO Membership Fees).

  • Access our Funding Assistance Database

  • Receive free access to monthly Indie Superboost Talks

  • Join peers on IO Discord’s exclusive Member Channels

  • Get exclusive member discounts

  • Be in the know

  • Stand out on TheLodgge.com

  • Get IO’s Seal of Membership

  • Access to IO industry committees and task forces

Current Build members renew by clicking the button below

Expand

$1k – $7.5k

All membership fees are tax deductible business expenses (IO Membership Fees).

  • Everything in Build and…

  • Get exclusive access to Ontario Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit (OIDMTC) Initiatives such as: Town Halls, Task Forces and Policy Discussions

  • Participate in exclusive Expand and Torchbearer policy discussions during Interactive Ontario’s Annual Impact Forum

  • Get priority access to Interactive Ontario’s advisory and reference services

  • Get a sneak peek at industry research

  • Priority access to Interactive Ontario’s policy discussions on Labour

Current Expand members renew by clicking the button below

Torchbearer

$10k

All membership fees are tax deductible business expenses (IO Membership Fees).

  • Everything in Expand and…

The opportunity to become a Torchbearer for the video game and interactive digital media (IDM) industry in Ontario.

  • You are committed to Ontario becoming a leading jurisdiction worldwide in video games and IDM.
  • You are ready to work with IO to advocate for business conditions that will foster investments and job creation.
  • You want to actively contribute to the growth of the whole ecosystem in the Province.

  • Get enhanced collaboration on government relations initiatives

  • Be first in line for partnership initiatives and opportunities to engage with the industry

  • Be recognized for your efforts with prominent branding on IO’s website.

Join IO’s group of Torchbearers.

Contact torchbearers@interactiveontario.com to inquire about becoming a Torchbearer.

Need help getting started?

Features Build Expand Torchbearer
Receive free access to monthly Indie Superboost Talks ✅ ❎ ❎
Access our exclusive Funding Assistance Database
 ✅ ✅ ✅
Join peers on IO Discord’s exclusive Member Channels ✅ ✅ ✅
Get exclusive member discounts ✅ ✅ ✅
Be in the know
 ✅ ✅ ✅
Stand out on TheLodgge.com ✅ ✅ ✅
Get IO’s Seal of Membership
 ✅ ✅ ✅
Access to IO industry committees and task forces ✅ ✅ ✅
Get exclusive access to Ontario Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit (OIDMTC) Initiatives such as: Town Halls, Task Forces and Policy Discussions
 ✅ ✅
Participate in exclusive Expand and Torchbearer policy discussions during Interactive Ontario’s Annual Impact Forum ✅ ✅
Get priority access to IO’s advisory and reference services
 ✅ ✅
Get a sneak peek at Industry Research
 ✅ ✅
Priority access to Interactive Ontario’s policy discussions on Labour ✅ ✅
Become a Torchbearer for the video game and interactive digital media (IDM) industry in Ontario. ✅

How to Renew your IO Membership

Login to your Member's Hub Account.

1. Use the links below based on your current membership level

Click the links below based on your current membership level to visit the member portal.

2. Choose renew or upgrade your membership

Renew your membership, or select a new membership type from the list of new membership types.

3. Review your Profile Information

Review the information in your renewal application and make any necessary updates or changes. Fields marked in blue text indicate new fields of information to be filled out during the reapplication process.

4. Pay

Pay for your IO membership online by clicking “pay online”, or select the “Invoice Me” button and email membership@interactiveontario.com.

Membership Benefits

Connection

Connect with peers.
Join our network of industry professionals collaborating, and sharing knowledge and experiences.

Advocacy

Have your voice heard.
Alongside our members, we work diligently to influence legislation and government policy that matter to your business.

Insights

Be in the know.
Get information and insights that matter to you and equip your business for long term success.

Resources

Access valuable resources. Whether it is funding resources, programs, research, or discounts, we provide resources that help your business.

Discounts

Game Discover Co.

GameDiscoverCo

We’ve teamed up with GameDiscoverCo to offer our members a 33.3% discount off an annual subscription to their paid tier of their newsletter, which also includes access to a Steam/console data back end, eBooks, a member Discord, and more.

How to Market a Game

How To Market A Game

We’ve teamed up with Chris Zukowski of How To Market a Game to offer our members a 33.3% discount off his Steam Wishlist and Visibility Masterclasses.

Unity Software

Unity Pro

Members are eligible for a 10% discount off the list price of Unity Pro for up to 10 licenses per member.

IO Seal of Membership

IO Seal of Membership

The IO Membership Seal can be added to member websites to verify their status as contributing members of Interactive Ontario and Ontario’s IDM Industry.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the Expand membership pricing structure work (FTEs)?

There are 6 tiers within Expand. The price for each tier is based on the average estimated number of Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) annually.

  • 1-10 FTEs: $1000
  • 11-20 FTEs: $1500
  • 21-40 FTEs: $2000
  • 41- 60 FTEs: $3000
  • 61-100 FTEs:$4000
  • 101+ FTEs: $7500

FTEs are used by IO because companies in the video game and interactive digital media sector employ a mix of full-time and part-time employees, as well as independent freelancers. Therefore, the number of average annual FTEs is a better indication of a company’s revenue/financial resources, than the number of full-time employees.

As an example, if a company’s work-week is 40-hour long and it employs 7 full-time employees, 3 part-time employees working 20 hours per week each, 2 freelancers working 40 hours per week each, and 6 freelancers working 10 hours per week each, then the company employs 12 FTEs.

IO recognizes that FTEs fluctuate throughout the year and that the calculation of FTEs for IO membership purposes is not an exact science. The goal is to be fair to others in the industry. With that in mind, just do your best at estimating your average annual FTEs.

Interactive Ontario designed its membership model according to the life cycle of companies. Most early-stage studios find the value they are looking for at the Build level, while established or scaling-up studios find it at the Expand level.

Suppliers of products and services

Become an IO partner to reach out to our members with your products and services.

Contact us at partners@interactiveontario.com to inquire about partnership opportunities.


Academic institutions

Contact us at academia@interactiveontario.com to inquire about partnership opportunities.


Promotional and event partners

Contact us at communications@interactiveontario.com to offer discounts to IO members and discuss cross-promotion opportunities.
Still have questions? Contact membership@interactiveontario.com.

Interactive Ontario (IO) is the not-for-profit trade association representing the video game and interactive digital media (IDM) industry in Ontario.

IO is driven by its Mission to inspire, unite and enable Ontario’s Video Game and Interactive Digital Media community to achieve long-term growth and prosperity.

IO works with industry on advocacy issues that matter. Some IO wins over the last 2 years:

  • Getting a commitment from the Ontario government – during the 2021 Fall Economic Statement delivered by Minister of Finance Peter Bethlenfalvy – that they will continue to explore opportunities to work with the digital media industry to attract more investment and create jobs in Ontario. This is the direct result of meetings IO has had over the last months with high-level politicians to discuss our industry and its opportunities.
  • Lowering the labour threshold for annual filing to the Ontario Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit (OIDMTC) from $1M to $500K.
  • Reducing the OIDMTC queue and accelerating processing time.
  • Getting a commitment from Minister MacLeod to keep the OIDMTC stable.
  • Providing recommendations contributing to improvements of the Ontario Creates Interactive Digital Media Fund (IDM Fund) and the Canada Media Fund (CMF) programs.
  • Resolving a thorny issue for the industry with the CMF re. its insurance requirements.
  • Instigating the creation of the Phase 2 COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund for the IDM industry (CMF and Canadian Heritage).
  • Significantly raising awareness of our industry at all levels of governments.

IO collaborates with all industry stakeholders incl. fellow provincial organizations under the Canadian Interactive Alliance / l’Alliance Interactive Canadienne (CIAIC) as well as the Entertainment Software Association of Canada (ESAC) to further our industry.

IO provides business development opportunities to the industry via a unique funding resources database, missions, B2B events, an industry directory and personal connections.

IO connects the industry via its Discord and events.

IO provides professional development opportunities via specialized programs and talks.

IO promotes the industry to key stakeholders and via our newly launched www.thelodgge.com, where we celebrate and raise awareness of our industry with news, podcasts, Twitch events, jobs, industry events and a unique Ontario games library.

And more as described in the membership table.

Members of Interactive Ontario are businesses producing interactive digital media (IDM) content in Ontario.

They are video game studios producing video games for various platforms (eg. mobile, PC, consoles) and genres.

They are also IDM studios producing interactive entertainment, edutainment and elearning applications such as at-home or location-based immersive (VR, AR, XR) experiences, interactive or immersive documentaries, and interactive or immersive elearning content