Kick off MIGS 2025 with an inspiring welcome from the organizers as we set the tone for two days of world-class learning, networking, and collaboration. This year’s edition introduces an all-new conte...
Stage A
09:30 - 10:30
The Combat of 'Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Development
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a turn-based role-playing game that incorporates real-time mechanics into its combat system. This talk will explore how the combat system was developed, what makes it un...
Stage A
Michel Nohra - Sandfall Interactive
10:30 - 11:30
How to Design and Build Killer Game UI
Development
In most game studios, designers create the UI and then hand it off to developers to make it functional. That handoff is often messy, time-consuming, and riddled with redundant work. Developers might s...
Stage B
Dave Doherty - RIVE Tod Bouris - RIVE
10:30 - 11:30
External Development as the Backbone of AAA Production
Business
As games grow in size, scope, and complexity, external development has shifted from a cost-saving measure to providing both strategic and creative advantages. External development leadership from Sony...
Stage A
Jason Smith - Game Caviar Kat Carson - Wizards of the Coast Rob Clarke - Sony Interactive Entertainment | PlayStation Studios Wilson Mui - Warner Bros. Games Montreal
10:30 - 11:15
From Vision to Evolution: Growing Without Losing Yourself
Business
This panel will explore the real journey behind building and leading successful game studios—from the first spark of creativity to managing growth and staying true to one’s vision. This session brings...
Stage C
Marwan Bitar - Innoprofits Solution (Marwan Bitar inc.) Thierry Boulanger - Sabotage Studio William Dubé - Thunder Lotus Games
10:30 - 11:30
Objects that Speak: Shaping Narrative through Audio and Object Interaction
Audio
In Lost Records: Bloom and Rage, examinable objects - toys, desktop detritus and even trash - become carriers of story, memory, and nostalgia. This talk explores how audio-driven object interactions i...
Port Centre
Beatrix Moersch - Don't Nod Montreal Julien Goyon - Don't Nod Montreal
11:30 - 12:15
Prioritization Framework for Game Design Features
Development
This session proposes a new framework that helps teams meet their design and creativity goals. The framework helps you create a prioritized list of features tailored to your design needs, to ensure th...
Stage B
Osama Dorias - Heartloop Games
11:30 - 12:15
The 10 Moves Every Studio Needs to Make Before It’s Too Late
Business
After speaking with over a hundred studio heads across North America, Europe, and emerging markets, Adam Boyes shares a hard-hitting checklist for studios facing an industry in flux. With layoffs, pub...
Stage A
Adam Boyes - Vivrato
11:30 - 12:15
Visions of the Future for the Canadian Video Game Business
Business
The Canadian video game landscape is evolving in real time. While 2024–2025 challenged the resilience of studios across the country, there are early signs of rebound: new projects are launching, pause...
Stage C
John Nguyen - Xsolla Christopher Chancey - Indie Asylum Joshua Nilson - Maskwa Games Lysane Perreault - Norsfell Games
11:30 - 12:00
Ubisoft and SOCAN Foundation Screen Music Lab: Empowering Creative Collaboration in Games
Audio
In this session, Simon Landry (Ubisoft) and Julien Boumard Coallier (SOCAN Foundation) will present the SOCAN Foundation Screen Music Lab, an initiative designed to support emerging screen composers a...
Port Centre
Julien Boumard Coallier - Fondation SOCAN Simon Landry - Ubisoft
12:30 - 12:50
Building Scalable Creator Programs
Business
How can studios build creator programs that support both community and business growth? This session explores learnings from indie to AAA studios, showing their impact on KPIs, players, and creators, ...
Stage B
Justin Sacks - Nexus
12:30 - 12:50
Rolling Back The Curtain - Designing for Rollback Netcode
Development
'Rollback Netcode' is understood by many to be the state of the art of networking technology for building fast-paced online games where every frame counts. Of course, it isn't quite as simple as insta...
Stage A
Yona Montineri - Thunder Lotus
12:30 - 13:00
Cheating on My CPU with Distributed Unreal Builds: A UBA Love Story
Development
Unlock the power of Unreal Build Accelerator to distribute Unreal compiling and cooking tasks to other CPUs! In this talk I’ll show you how to distribute builds for both dev machines and Horde/Jenkins...
Stage C
Mike Seese - Hathora
13:00 - 13:45
Views from Anywhere: International Approaches to Overcoming Global Indie Challenges
Business
Successful games can come from anywhere. From the side of a mountain in the Swiss Alps to the Arctic tundra of northern Sweden to the side of a different mountain in the Andes, the games industry is a...
Stage B
Ignacio Baldini Pescarmona - Byzantium Kristian Roberts - Nordicity Luca Cannellotto - Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council Tony Shong - indieLight
13:00 - 13:45
Balatro': Turning Low Resolution into High Praise
Business
Wout van Halderen unpacks the marketing strategy behind Balatro, a roguelike deckbuilder with unconventional visuals that presented significant challenges in traditional marketing channels. He details...
Stage A
Wout van Halderen - Playstack
13:00 - 13:45
From the Story of Four to the Fate of Forty Thousand
Development
This War of Mine, Frostpunk and Frostpunk 2 are games about difficult moral choices, which differ in one very important thing – the scale of the experience. As that scale increases, it becomes a great...
Stage C
Maciej Sułecki - 11 bit studios
13:00 - 17:00
Audiokinetic Wwise Tour
Audio
This year, Audiokinetic is celebrating their 25th anniversary, and they are marking the occasion by bringing the Wwise Tour home to Montreal! Join us for 2 unforgettable days of educational and inspir...
Port Centre
Joakim Enigk Sjöberg - Hazelight Philip Eriksson - Hazelight Thiago Schiefer - Yellow Brick Games Todd Baker - freelancer
14:00 - 15:00
The MIGS Indie Pitch Competition
Business
Do you have an awesome game with big potential? Still need funding and a partner to bring your game to a global audience? This is your chance to pitch your game to a panel of game publishers and inves...
Stage A
Jason Della Rocca - Execution Labs Bobby Wertheim - Kando Factory Chloé Giusti - Microsoft - Xbox Corey Caplan - tinyBuild Games
14:00 - 15:00
Ask Games Lawyers Anything Roundtable (Cafeteria)
Have you been pondering an interesting legal question but haven’t had the opportunity to ask? In that case, please join us for an AMA with experienced (and very friendly!) in-house and external lawyer...
Cafeteria
Madeleine Brown - Stohn Hay Cafazzo Heim Finlay LLP Tyson Gratton - DLA Piper (Canada) LLP
15:00 - 15:30
Coffee Break
General
15:30 - 16:00
Players as creators. UGC in the age of AI
Development
From map editors, to mods, Minecraft, to Roblox games have seen a continual rise of the player as creator. Now with AI, the barrier between imagination and play is dissolving. In this talk, Andy Mauro...
Stage B
Andy Mauro - Storycraft
15:30 - 15:50
CANCELLED - Exploring Opportunities Between Canada, Saudi Arabia and MENA
Business
Join Brian Ward, CEO of Savvy Games Group, for a candid discussion on the rapid growth of Saudi Arabia and the MENA region as emerging forces in global game development. Learn how this evolving market...
Stage A
15:30 - 15:50
Establishing Publishing Functions Within a Game Studio
Business
Publishing is more than marketing. It is the set of functions that connect a game to its players: audience insights, go-to-market strategy, platform and retail partnerships, lifecycle pricing, localiz...
Stage C
Elizabeth Howard - FarBridge
16:00 - 16:20
Beyond Surface Metrics: Uncovering the Human Behind Player Behavior
Business
Most teams are chasing the same player metrics and wondering why they can’t break ahead. The real edge isn’t in new tactics or copying strategies. It goes deeper by building authentic connections thro...
Stage B
Andrew Pappas - Rengen Marketing
16:00 - 16:20
Epic Games Store: Where it's at and where it's headed as the first multiplatform digital storefront
Business
Epic Games Store: Where it's at and where it's headed as the first multiplatform digital storefront
Stage A
Sarah Thomson - Epic Games Store
16:00 - 16:20
The Hybrid Future: Artists + AI in Game Development
Development
AI isn’t here to replace game artists; think of it as a creative co-pilot that takes on the heavy lifting so designers, writers, and art directors can stay focused on what matters most: storytelling, ...
Stage C
Justin Webber - Shutterstock Studios Michael Casalino - Shutterstock Studios
16:30 - 16:50
Inside the Indie Playbook: Our lessons from Self-Publishing (Big Wins, Some Fails, and everything in between)
Business
In this session we're going to reverse engineer Raccon Logic's journey from indie developer to self publisher. We'll go through all the components required to self publish in 2025, and how we did it ...
Stage B
Reid Schneider - Raccoon Logic
16:30 - 16:50
Over the hill: From Announcement to 200k Wishlists in a Month
Business
Funselektor has spent 11 years building stylized vehicle games and the community around them. That foundation helped their latest upcoming off-road vehicle game over the hill reach 200,000 Steam wishl...
Stage A
Dune Casu - Funselektor
16:30 - 16:50
Mastering Multiplayer: Trends, Tools, and Creative Pathways
Development
Multiplayer games continue to dominate top gaming charts, but transforming a prototype into a globally successful, engaging experience is no easy task. This talk will dive into the platform’s evolving...
Stage C
Mark Val - Photon Engine
Wed, Nov 12, 2025
09:30 - 10:30
Friendly Fire: Surviving Success as a Studio
Business
Helldivers 2 was a breakout success - but behind every chart-topping launch is a studio adapting in real time to the weight of expectations.
In this talk, Linda Tiger breaks down the real cost...
Stage A
Linda Tiger - Arrowhead Game Studios
09:30 - 10:30
Crafting the Music and Audio of The Outer Worlds 2
Audio
This team has been collaborating on the audio and music for The Outer Worlds 2 for many years, and will share all kinds of insights into how the vision and strategy was developed, the evolution of the...
Port Centre
Christian Hurst - Interleave Andy Frech - Interleave Creative James Duncan - Interleave Creative Logan Wall - Interleave Creative Oleksa Lozowchuk - Interleave
10:30 - 11:30
Everything Sucks and I Have No Time: Self-Publishing and Marketing
Business
Congratulations! You're making a cool game. A common step for developers is to immediately look for a publisher, but is it really the best option? What if you can't sign a deal? Either way, doing your...
Stage A
Victoria Tran - Innersloth
10:30 - 11:30
Building and Operating Teams with a Live Service Mentality
Development
Building a great game is only part of the journey—structuring your team to support it live is what makes it thrive. In this session, Executive Producer Matt Lee shares actionable strategies for buildi...
Stage C
Matt Lee - Gameloft Montréal
10:30 - 11:30
Advancing AI Game Development with AMD and GPUOpen
Development
Explore how AI is transforming game development pipelines -- accelerating your workflows and enabling smarter, more immersive gameplay. This session dives into the latest developer tools and resources...
Stage B
Alexander Cann - AMD Alex Blake-Davies - AMD Max Kiehn - AMD Tian Yue Liu - AMD
10:30 - 11:30
Creative Collaboration in Game Audio Development
Audio
This talk will cover creative collaboration in game audio and music, including team building, talent sourcing, assessment and management, communication, project scoping and planning and real time rela...
Port Centre
Audrey Dubois - Cloud Chamber Bénédicte Ouimet - Ubisoft Louis-Philippe Dion - Haven Studio Oleksa Lozowchuk - Interleave Rob Bridgett - Sony Interactive Entertainment / Creative Arts
11:30 - 12:30
Building an OP Cashflow Strategy for your Studio to Thrive
Business
Let’s discuss strategies that enable studios of any size to supercharge established financial tools to improve your returns. Early-stage indies can convert sweat equity into real cash with minimal inv...
Stage C
Matthew Walach - Insert Coin Muddassir Mahmood - Insert Coin
11:30 - 12:30
The Rising Chinese Indie Game Market: Characteristics and Trends
Business
A deep dive into the development, current state, and unique qualities of the Chinese indie game scene, with advice for global studios and developers looking to enter this market.
Stage B
Tony Shong - indieLight
11:30 - 12:30
Rethinking External Asset Creation in the Assassin’s Creed Franchise
Development
Join Isabelle Bismuth and Erika Benacka as they share how the Assassin’s Creed franchise created the EXACT team to tackle recurring challenges in asset creation across multiple titles. They’ll explore...
Stage A
Erika Benacka - Ubisoft
11:30 - 12:00
The Role of Sound in Video Games
Audio
Sound in video games is far more than a background element — it shapes the player’s experience by delivering information, evoking emotion, and immersing them in the game world. Through concrete exampl...
Port Centre
Jorge Peirano - Gameloft Montréal
12:30 - 13:00
D2C in Action: Publisher, Player, and Content Creator Perspectives
Business
Direct-to-consumer is reshaping how games engage players and drive revenue—but what does it mean for publishers, content creators, and player communities? This data-backed presentation explores why so...
Stage B
Chip Thurston - FastSpring Justin Sacks - Nexus
12:30 - 13:00
Canada’s Video Game Industry – From Strength to Staying Power
Business
Economic impact, global competitiveness, and the policy foundation for growth
Stage A
Paul Fogolin - ESAC
13:00 - 14:00
Worldbuilding for a Generated City and its Personalities
Development
Our Constantinople-inspired city in Streets of Fortuna is populated by literally thousands of fully simulated citizens, generated on the fly and then living their lives, including finding work, love, ...
Stage B
Tanya X. Short - Kitfox Games
13:00 - 14:00
Publisher Panel: Tips and Tricks for Market Success
Business
This panel will explore the current pathways to success for indie games in today's crowded market. From competitive analysis and determining market signal, to discoverability hacks and marketing tips....
Stage A
Jason Della Rocca - Execution Labs Matthew Handrahan - kepler interactive Matthew White - Whitethorn Games Ryan Holowaty - Noodlecake
13:00 - 13:45
Building for Xbox Play Anywhere and the New Era of Handheld
Development
As Xbox expands across console, PC, cloud, and handheld form factors, game developers are uniquely positioned to reach more players than ever before. This session explores how to build and optimize ga...
Port Centre
Nick Landry - Microsoft Xbox
13:00 - 14:00
A Chat with Behaviour Interactive and AWS: Mastering Global Game Launches
Development
Behaviour Interactive leveraged Amazon GameLift to seamlessly deliver their highly anticipated 'Five Nights at Freddy's' expansion to Dead by Daylight's massive global player base of over 50 million p...
Stage C
Rémi Veilleux - Behaviour Interactive Stephen Oliver - Amazon Web Services (AWS)
14:00 - 15:00
The Composition and Operations of a (small) Modern Publisher
Business
This talk will explore how new publishers have popped up with similar impact to larger outfits. Focusing on high impact marketing strategies, market validation and ideation framework and how team com...
Stage B
Hans Haave - Oro Interactive
14:00 - 15:00
South of Midnight: My Tales and Takeaways
Development
Whether you're launching your first commercial game or tenth, influencer marketing is a strong consideration for your marketing strategy. But the content creator landscape is ever-shifting and many ar...
Stage C
Mike Jungbluth - Compulsion Games
14:00 - 15:00
Finding Success with ID@Xbox: Getting Started and Partnership Programs
Business
Learn how to launch your games on Xbox: get started with the ID@Xbox program and learn how to publish your game on our platforms. This session will share information about the program, partnership opp...
Port Centre
Chloé Giusti - Microsoft - Xbox
14:00 - 15:00
Breaking the Code – Unconventional Advice for Women Leaders in Tech and Video Games
Business
In a technological world where women are still actively carving out their place, Stéphanie Marchand, a key contributor to Quebec’s video game industry, invites you to a candid, bold, and refreshing di...
Stage A
Stephanie Marchand - Behaviour Interactive
14:45 - 15:15
Coffee Break
General
15:15 - 15:45
Maximizing Results on Xbox Platforms
Business
Hear from Chloe Giusti, ID@Xbox Regional Lead America Microsoft, on how the evolution of the Xbox ecosystem creates new opportunities for developers, publishers and independent games.
A part of the...
Port Centre
Chloé Giusti - Microsoft - Xbox
15:15 - 15:45
How Walmart Is Leaning into Gaming
Business
From live events like San Diego Comic-Con to a dedicated enthusiast gaming site, Restart.run, Walmart is targeting gamers and opening new opportunities for game developers and brands.
Stage B
John Gaudiosi - Moonrock
15:15 - 15:45
The Pulse of Canadian Gaming: A Look Ahead with the Canadian Game Awards
General
Join the Canadian Game Awards team for an exclusive look at Eh Game Pulse, a short doc series about the Canadian gaming industry. This special session will celebrate the incredible creativity, innovat...
Stage A
Carl-Edwin Michel - Canadian Game Awards
15:45 - 16:30
The Price of Success: Why Making Your 2nd Game is Even Harder
Business
The number 1 question a lot of indies have is 'How do you break into the industry'? But we're here to discuss the challenges that follow. While some things are easier, many other things become a lot h...
Stage B
Abhi Swaminath - Visai Games Shahrin Khan - Visai Games
15:45 - 16:30
The Influencer Landscape: Common mistakes and pitfalls to avoid in today's market
Business
Whether you're launching your first commercial game or tenth, influencer marketing is a strong consideration for your marketing strategy. But the content creator landscape is ever-shifting and many ar...
Stage A
Clara Sia - Folks At Play
15:45 - 16:30
Funding Pathways: How to Combine Public and Private Support to Scale Your Studio
Business
Join representatives from the Canada Media Fund, a publisher, and a studio that successfully leveraged both types of financing to bring their projects to life. This panel will explore how studios can ...
Stage C
17:00 - 19:00
Closing Drinks Presented by La Guilde du jeu vidéo du Québec
VIP, Business, and Media pass holders are invited to close out MIGS25 with an evening of connection, conversation, and a well-earned toast to the community that made it possible.
VIP Lounge
Michel Nohra
Lead Game Designer
Sandfall Interactive
Abhi Swaminath
Creative Director
Visai Games
Adam Boyes
Founder & CEO
Vivrato
Andrew Pappas
Founder
Rengen Marketing
Andy Mauro
CEO
Storycraft
Beatrix Moersch
Audio Lead
Don't Nod Montreal
Chip Thurston
Head of Gaming
FastSpring
Christian Hurst
Co-Founder, Managing Director
Interleave
Clara Sia
Business & Marketing Consultant
Folks At Play
Dave Doherty
Strategic Account Executive
RIVE
Dune Casu
Founder & Creative Director
Funselektor
Elizabeth Howard
GM
FarBridge
Erika Benacka
Senior Outsourcing Production Manager
Ubisoft
Hans Haave
Head of Publishing
Oro Interactive
Ignacio Baldini Pescarmona
CEO
Byzantium
Jason Della Rocca
Co-Founder
Execution Labs
Joakim Enigk Sjöberg
Senior Technical Sound Designer
Hazelight
John Gaudiosi
President
Moonrock
John Nguyen
Regional Vice-President - Canada
Xsolla
Julien Goyon
Sound Designer
Don't Nod Montreal
Justin Sacks
CEO
Nexus
Justin Webber
Head of Game Development
Shutterstock Studios
Kristian Roberts
CEO
Nordicity
Linda Tiger
Chief Operating Officer
Arrowhead Game Studios
Luca Cannellotto
Head of National Funding
Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council
Maciej Sułecki
Game Director
11 bit studios
Mark Val
Head of Growth
Photon Engine
Marwan Bitar
Founder/President
Innoprofits Solution (Marwan Bitar inc.)
Matt Lee
Executive Producer
Gameloft Montréal
Matthew Walach
Co-Founder
Insert Coin
Michael Casalino
Executive Creative Director
Shutterstock Studios
Mike Jungbluth
Animation Director
Compulsion Games
Mike Seese
Head of Unreal Tooling
Hathora
Muddassir Mahmood
Co-Founder
Insert Coin
Osama Dorias
Creative Director
Heartloop Games
Paul Fogolin
President & CEO
ESAC
Philip Eriksson
Audio Director
Hazelight
Reid Schneider
Studio Head
Raccoon Logic
Sarah Thomson
BD Director, PC + mobile
Epic Games Store
Shahrin Khan
Lead Producer
Visai Games
Stephanie Marchand
Sr VP Production
Behaviour Interactive
Tanya X. Short
Captain
Kitfox Games
Thiago Schiefer
Audio Designer
Yellow Brick Games
Tod Bouris
Developer Relations Engineer
RIVE
Todd Baker
Music & Audio Artist / Director
freelancer
Tony Shong
Vice President
indieLight
Victoria Tran
Communications Director
Innersloth
Wout van Halderen
Communications DIrector
Playstack
Yona Montineri
Programmer
Thunder Lotus
Alexander Cann
Staff Software Engineer
AMD
Alex Blake-Davies
Sr. Developer Product Marketing Specialist
AMD
Andy Frech
Senior Sound Designer
Interleave Creative
Audrey Dubois
Producer
Cloud Chamber
Bénédicte Ouimet
Music Supervisor
Ubisoft
Bobby Wertheim
Founding Partner
Kando Factory
Carl-Edwin Michel
Founder
Canadian Game Awards
Chloé Giusti
ID@Xbox Regional Lead - Americas/ANZ
Microsoft - Xbox
Christopher Chancey
Cofounder & GM
Indie Asylum
Corey Caplan
Director of Business Development and Partner Licensing
tinyBuild Games
Isabelle Bismuth
Director of Studio Partnerships, AC Franchise
Ubisoft
James Duncan
Senior Sound Designer
Interleave Creative
Jason Smith
CEO
Game Caviar
Jorge Peirano
Global Creative Audio Director
Gameloft Montréal
Joshua Nilson
Founder
Maskwa Games
Julien Boumard Coallier
Gestionnaire des programmes de subvention
Fondation SOCAN
Kat Carson
Senior Business Development Manager
Wizards of the Coast
Logan Wall
Senior Sound Designer
Interleave Creative
Louis-Philippe Dion
Audio Director
Haven Studio
Lysane Perreault
Studio Head
Norsfell Games
Madeleine Brown
Litigation, Entertainment & Media Lawyer
Stohn Hay Cafazzo Heim Finlay LLP
Matthew Handrahan
Portfolio Director
kepler interactive
Matthew White
CEO
Whitethorn Games
Max Kiehn
Senior Fellow Software Development
AMD
Nick Landry
Developer Relations PM Lead
Microsoft Xbox
Oleksa Lozowchuk
Co-Founder/Creative Director
Interleave
Rémi Veilleux
Senior Programming Technical Director
Behaviour Interactive
Rob Bridgett
Senior Manager, Sound
Sony Interactive Entertainment / Creative Arts
Rob Clarke
Director, Partner Sourcing
Sony Interactive Entertainment | PlayStation Studios
Ryan Holowaty
CEO
Noodlecake
Ryan Sno-Wood
Director of Marketing & Communications
XP Gaming Inc.
Simon Landry
Music Supervisor
Ubisoft
Steph Lone
Global Leader, Solutions Architecture, Media Entertainment Games and Sports IBU
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Stephen Oliver
Principal Specialist Games
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Thierry Boulanger
CEO / Creative Director
Sabotage Studio
Tian Yue Liu
Sr. Software Development Engineer
AMD
Tyson Gratton
Lawyer
DLA Piper (Canada) LLP
William Dubé
CEO
Thunder Lotus Games
Wilson Mui
Head of Animation & Cinematics
Warner Bros. Games Montreal
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