seattleskylinesmall1The list of game development companies in the Seattle area, from Valve to PopCap to 343, is certainly impressive.

And to show how awesome the Emerald City’s gaming scene is, GameSpot just put out a really well-done video showcasing the talent here. They spoke with several of the city’s leading game devs, from Pete Parsons at Bungie to Jake Kazdal at 17-BIT, to find out more about what makes Seattle such a hot gaming city. They also went inside DigiPen, the Redmond-based game development school.

Parsons notes that the gray skies and copious amounts of coffee help drive all of the creativity.

“Honestly, a shitload of really smart people work up here,” says Parsons. “It is certainly a huge technology hub — a big startup hub. I think Seattle has been known for decades as being a place where everything from music and works of art and technology comes from. It really is a natural place. It is a great community to work inside of … and it’s a great place to make games.”

There are nearly 100 game companies that have set up shop here, including Valve, Nintendo, Microsoft, 343 Industries, Big Fish, PopCap, Bungie, WildTangent, Z2, U4iA, and several more of which are ranked on the GeekWire 200, our monthly startup index tracking the Seattle region’s technology companies.

Check out the video above or with this link.

Previously on GeekWire: Top 10 cities for gamers: How the heck did Atlanta beat out Seattle for No. 1?

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