Conference Sessions & Schedule

Sessions

Ready to learn from some of the sharpest minds in game development?

MIGS26 returns with more stages, more speakers, and more opportunities to grow your business and career.

This year features four content stages – spanning business, external development strategies, and game development tracks – to deliver the insights, strategies, and stories shaping what’s next.

From AAA giants to trailblazing indies, these industry experts have built worlds, launched hits, and led global teams.

learn from the developers behind these games

Registration

• Early registration is available at the venue on Monday November 9 from 2 – 5

• Main registration opens at 8am on Tuesday November 10

• Note: registration stays open all day

main stage sessions

Red Stage Green Stage Blue Stage

9:15 am

9:30 am

10:00 am

10:15 am

11:00 am

11:15 am

12:00 pm

1:00 pm

1:45 pm

2:00 pm

2:45 pm

3:00 pm

3:20 pm

3:35 pm

4:20 pm

4:35 pm

Welcome

9:15 am - 9:30 am (15 min)

Red Stage

Jason Lepine

Founder & CEO, XP Gaming Inc.

Jean-Jacques Hermans

Directeur général/Executive Director, La Guilde du jeu vidéo du Québec

How IO Interactive’s Studio Strategy Shaped 007 First Light

9:30 am - 10:00 am (30 min)

Red Stage

Sandra Smedegaard Mondahl

Senior Manager - Global Studio Strategy, IO Interactive

So You Went Indie: How to Survive to the Pitch

10:15 am - 11:00 am (45 min)

Red Stage

Tanya Short

Captain, Kitfox Games

Clint Hocking

Founder, Build Machine Games

Kris Schoneberg

Co-Founder & Design Director, Studio Reset

Osama Dorias

Creative Director, Heartloop Games

The Invisible Art of Interactive Mixing

10:15 am - 11:00 am (45 min)

Blue Stage

Rob Bridgett

SVP, Audio, Interleave

Steve Szczepkowski

Senior Audio Director, Eidos Interactive

Julie Delisle

Soutien technique à la clientèle - Instructrice Wwise, Audiokinetic

Louis-Philippe Dion

Audio Director, Haven Studio

Making Games with AI in the Room: From Tripo to the Future of Game Worlds

10:15 am - 11:00 am (45 min)

Green Stage

Eric Kim

Country Manager, Tripo Studio, North America, Tripo AI

REN FU

Head of Solutions, Tripo AI

Shawn Woods

Founder and CEO, Brave Bear Ventures

Jordan Henry

Co-Founder & CBO, METATAILOR

Julien Bouvrais

CTO, aNormal Game Studio

Far Far West – Early Early Access

11:15 am - 12:00 pm (45 min)

Red Stage

Robert Feather

Senior Product Manager, Fireshine Games

The OP Cashflow Playbook for Studios

11:15 am - 12:00 pm (45 min)

Blue Stage

Muddassir Mahmood

Co-founder, Insert Coin

Matthew Walach

Co-founder, Insert Coin

What Publishing Deals Tell Us About the Current Market

11:15 am - 12:00 pm (45 min)

Green Stage

Astrid Refstrup

CEO, WINGS

Gabriela Siemienkowicz

Communications Lead, 11 bit studios

George Willard

Director, Secret Sauce

Building for the Long Game: Lessons from Three Decades in Games

1:00 pm - 1:45 pm (45 min)

Red Stage

Ryan Sno-Wood

Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, XP Gaming Inc.

Michael Schmalz

Board Chair, Canada Media Fund

You’ve Leveled Up: What Now? Legal Stories for Maturing Game Businesses

1:00 pm - 1:45 pm (45 min)

Blue Stage

François Tremblay

Partner, DLA Piper (Canada) LLP

Ryan Black

Partner; Global Lead, Video Games, DLA Piper (Canada) LLP

Franchise Storytelling Across Games, TV, Film and Beyond

1:00 pm - 1:45 pm (45 min)

Green Stage

Dallas Dickinson

Head of Franchise, Story Kitchen

Alt Funding: New Approaches to Financing Games in a Self-Published World

2:00 pm - 2:45 pm (45 min)

Red Stage

Kristian Roberts

CEO, Nordicity

Nick Hall

Commercial Manager, Reforged Studios

Daniel Wilén

Head of Games, Oh My

EDEN CHEN

CEO, FirstLook

Leading a Studio to Overwhelmingly Positive Success

2:00 pm - 2:45 pm (45 min)

Blue Stage

James Karras

Executive Producer, Brain Jar Games

404 Error: Player Not Found

2:00 pm - 2:45 pm (45 min)

Green Stage

Junae Benne

Marketing journalist, Benne Media Solutions

The UX Challenge of Omniplatform Development

3:00 pm - 3:20 pm (20 min)

Red Stage

Valerie Motard

UX/UI Lead, Frima Studio

Small Models for Small Problems: Using a Little Reinforcement Learning to Make Life Easier

3:00 pm - 3:20 pm (20 min)

Blue Stage

Alexander Cann

Staff Software Engineer, AMD

Validating the Emotional Impact of a New IP

3:00 pm - 3:20 pm (20 min)

Green Stage

Sam Kabachek

Lead Game Designer, Soft Rains

The Ups and Downs of Open Development with the Deep Rock Galactic Franchise

3:35 pm - 4:20 pm (45 min)

Red Stage

Søren Lundgaard

CEO, Ghost Ship Games

Forward Looking Publishing Deals

3:35 pm - 4:20 pm (45 min)

Blue Stage

Louis-René Auclair

CEO, RocketRide Games inc.

International Growth Markets

3:35 pm - 4:20 pm (45 min)

Green Stage

Jason Della Rocca

Co-Founder, Execution Labs

Alexander Champlin

Senior Analyst, Niko Partners

Hugo Obi

Founder, Maliyo Games

Ignacio Baldini Pescarmona

CEO, Byzantium

Canada’s Video Game Industry: Players, Impact and Global Competitiveness

4:35 pm - 4:55 pm (20 min)

Red Stage

Paul Fogolin

President & CEO, ESAC

The Screen Music Lab: Overcoming the Challenge of Interactivity

4:35 pm - 4:55 pm (20 min)

Blue Stage

Simon Landry

Music Supervisor, Ubisoft

Julien Boumard Coallier

Gestionnaire des programmes de subvention, Fondation SOCAN

Less Is More: A Writer/Narrative Designer’s Request for Fewer Words

4:35 pm - 4:55 pm (20 min)

Green Stage

Deborah Chantson

Writer/Narrative Designer, Independent

Red Stage Green Stage Blue Stage

9:30 am

10:00 am

10:15 am

10:35 am

10:55 am

11:15 am

11:30 am

12:15 pm

1:15 pm

2:00 pm

2:15 pm

3:00 pm

3:15 pm

Paralives: From Solo Dev to Competing with The Sims

9:30 am - 10:00 am (30 min)

Red Stage

Alex Massé

Founder and lead developer, Studio Paralives

MIGS Indie Pitch Competition Presented by Gaggle

10:15 am - 11:15 am (60 min)

Red Stage

Jason Della Rocca

Co-Founder, Execution Labs

Shawn Fischtein

CEO, Gaggle Studios

Jacques Benchetrit

Partner, Ichiba / Agora Gaming Partners

Stephanie Driscoll

Founding Partner, Phantom Friends

Matt Nickerson

Business Development, Griffin Gaming Partners / Hooded Horse

Back from the Dead: No More Room in Hell 2

10:15 am - 10:35 am (20 min)

Blue Stage

Kenneth Bourgon

Senior Brand Manager, Torn Banner

How Short-Form Creators Are Changing Game Marketing

10:15 am - 10:35 am (20 min)

Green Stage

Mahdeen Abrar

Co-founder & CEO, Jestr

Online Safety

10:55 am - 11:15 am (20 min)

Blue Stage

Josh Logue

Director, Policy and Government Relations, Video Games Canada

Marc-Antoine Therrien

Gestionnaire, Politiques de lutte contre la traite des personnes et l'exploitation sexuelle, Sécurité publique Canada

How to Launch in China Without A Crazy Marketing Budget

10:55 am - 11:15 am (20 min)

Green Stage

Aleksander Ptak

Key Account Manager, Huqiao Games

Climate Change: Structuring Studios for Success in Todays Environment

11:30 am - 12:15 pm (45 min)

Red Stage

Rob Clarke

External Development & Partner Operations, (formerly PlayStation Studios)

Dominic Guay

VP, GM, Invoke Studios

Wilson Mui

Head of Animation & Cinematics, Warner Bros. Games Montreal

Sandra Smedegaard Mondahl

Senior Manager - Global Studio Strategy, IO Interactive

Stop Building Games Nobody Wants: How Early Market Validation Helped Us Make 2 Hit Games

11:30 am - 12:15 pm (45 min)

Blue Stage

Mike Coeck

CEO, Cybernetic Walrus

How to Sell Your Games – Not What You Think

11:30 am - 12:15 pm (45 min)

Green Stage

John Nguyen

Regional Vice-President - Canada, Xsolla

Mario Machado

Founder and Fractional Head of Monetization, LootRate

Lindsay Daggitt

Co-Founder & CEO, LoopLight Studios

The Best Crisis Is the One That Never Happens

1:15 pm - 2:00 pm (45 min)

Red Stage

David Boileau

Technical Director of Game Engineering, Gamebreaking Studios

June Aguirre

Art Director, Indomi

Fleur Marty

Executive Producer, Gearbox Studio Québec

Brigitte Janssen

Production Manager, Yellow Brick Games

What It Takes to Build a Cathedral

1:15 pm - 2:00 pm (45 min)

Blue Stage

Pascal Nataf

President of the board, Indie Asylum

Kim Berthiaume

Creative Director, Indie Asylum

Live-Service Lessons Across Two Horror Games (Dead by Daylight x 7 Days to Die)

1:15 pm - 2:00 pm (45 min)

Green Stage

Aude Laliberté

Senior PR Manager - Gestionnaire Séniore des Relations Publiques, Behaviour Interactive

Isabelle Mocquard

VP Product & Executive Producer, Behaviour Interactive

Stefan Beauchamp-Daniel

Executive Producer, Production, Behaviour Interactive

AI – The Reality & Impact So Far

2:15 pm - 3:00 pm (45 min)

Red Stage

Dennis Cooper

Managing Director, North America, Virtuos

Rached Chatti

VP Production, Executive Producer, Behaviour Interactive

Claude Bordeleau

CRO, Winking Studios

Nicolas Liorzou

Chief of Staff, Keywords Studios

Windrose: A Publishing Case Study

2:15 pm - 3:00 pm (45 min)

Blue Stage

Phil Molodkovets

Publishing Director, Kraken Express

The Environment Is the Strategy: Balancing Creative Ambition and Production Reality

2:15 pm - 3:00 pm (45 min)

Green Stage

Matt Lee

Executive Producer, Gameloft Montreal

Great Games Are Built With Great Partners: Lessons From Years of Co-Dev

3:15 pm - 4:00 pm (45 min)

Red Stage

Martin Poirier

Directeur des technologies, Behaviour Interactif

Silence Is Not Golden: Lessons from the Trenches of Audio Co-Development

3:15 pm - 4:00 pm (45 min)

Blue Stage

Dave Sanderson

Senior Director, Co-Development & Client Services, Interleave

Christian Hurst

Co-Founder, Managing Director, Interleave

Caroline Calaway

Founder, Calaway Consulting

D2C Uncovered: Insights from FastSpring’s Massive Gaming Industry Survey

3:15 pm - 4:00 pm (45 min)

Green Stage

Jesse Paliotto

Director of Demand Generation, FastSpring

open stage sessions

PG Connects Stage

10:05 am

10:35 am

10:55 am

11:15 am

11:55 am

1:00 pm

1:20 pm

1:40 pm

2:00 pm

2:05 pm

2:25 pm

2:30 pm

2:50 pm

2:55 pm

3:15 pm

3:20 pm

3:40 pm

3:45 pm

4:25 pm

The Future of Mobile Gaming: Growth, Engagement & AI

10:05 am - 10:35 am (30 min)

PG Connects Stage

Blair Dolson

Sales Director, Xsolla

Wolfgang Hamann

Pres./CEO/Founder/Owner, Koolhaus Games Inc.

Ryan Holowaty

CEO, Noodlecake

AI May Make Your Game Cheaper. Does It Make Your Studio More Valuable?

10:35 am - 10:55 am (20 min)

PG Connects Stage

Rhys Dekle

Partner, Strategic Alternatives LLC

When to Burn It Down and Start Again: The Story of Adventure Capitalist 9.0

10:55 am - 11:15 am (20 min)

PG Connects Stage

Alexandre Denault

VP Production, Hyper Hippo Entertainment Ltd.

Liveops Strategy – Managing a 10+ Year Old Successful Liveops Game

11:15 am - 11:55 am (40 min)

PG Connects Stage

Lucas Larbodiere

Sr. Product Manager, Ludia

Karl Dandan

Senior Director, Ludia

Building Your Discord Server Through Every Stage of Game Development

1:00 pm - 1:20 pm (20 min)

PG Connects Stage

Anthony Tešija

Senior Developer Advocate, Discord

<Hello Marketplace> How Indies Ship and Earn More

1:20 pm - 1:40 pm (20 min)

PG Connects Stage

Ted DiNola

Developer Evangelist, Xsolla

Flow State: The Science Behind Games Players Can’t Put Down

1:40 pm - 2:00 pm (20 min)

PG Connects Stage

Robert Warren

Chief Creative Officer, LoopLight Studios

Indie Dev & AI: Accelerating Without Compromising

2:05 pm - 2:25 pm (20 min)

PG Connects Stage

Adam Clare

Cofounder, Game Space Agency

How an Indie Company Can Thrive in Difficult Times by Building Real Capacity for Change

2:30 pm - 2:50 pm (20 min)

PG Connects Stage

Frederic Tremblay

VP Strategic Growth, ALTKEY

Six Months, Nothing Shipped: What Founding a Studio Actually Costs

2:55 pm - 3:15 pm (20 min)

PG Connects Stage

Jon Huffman

President & Co-Founder, Phantom Rowboat Ltd.

Shipping Is Not the Final Boss – How to Build Resilient Live Service Businesses for Fun & Profit

3:20 pm - 3:40 pm (20 min)

PG Connects Stage

Sean Wylie-Toal

CEO, Extra Dimension Games

Writing for Established IP

3:45 pm - 4:25 pm (40 min)

PG Connects Stage

Ashley Cooper

Principal Writer, Motive Studio

Lonnie Nadler

Franchise Narrative Director, Bandai Namco

James Nadiger

Scriptwriter, Ubisoft Montreal

Yannick Belzil

Narrative Director, Tribute Games

PGC Big Indie Pitch: Results

4:25 pm - 4:35 pm (10 min)

PG Connects Stage

Michael Eardley

Developer Partnerships Executive & Big Indie Pitch Lead, Steel Media

Dev Shorts

10:15 am

10:35 am

10:50 am

11:10 am

11:25 am

11:45 am

12:00 pm

12:20 pm

1:15 pm

1:35 pm

1:50 pm

2:10 pm

2:25 pm

Beyond the GPU: How AMD Helps Game Developers Build, Optimize, and Innovate

10:50 am - 11:10 am (20 min)

Dev Shorts

Alexander Blake-Davies

Sr. Developer Product Marketing Specialist, AMD

How to Panic Responsibly When People Actually Want Your Game

11:25 am - 11:45 am (20 min)

Dev Shorts

Pietro De Grandi

COO, Funselektor

Beyond the Stack Trace: A Crash in Three Acts

12:00 pm - 12:20 pm (20 min)

Dev Shorts

Amir Mujacic

Head of Gaming, Sentry

Multiplayer Unbound: Build the Game You Imagine

1:15 pm - 1:35 pm (20 min)

Dev Shorts

Mark Val

Head of Growth, Photon

Everywhere at Once: Multi-Storefront Launch Basics

1:50 pm - 2:10 pm (20 min)

Dev Shorts

Sarah Thomson

Account Management Director, EGS and UE, Epic Games Store

“We’ll Fix It in Pickups”: The Most Expensive Sentence in Game Development

2:25 pm - 2:45 pm (20 min)

Dev Shorts

Susan O'Connor

Founder & CEO, The Narrative Department

Round Tables

november 10

The Tower - Observatory (13F)

1:00 pm

2:00 pm

Game Audio Mixer

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm (60 min)

The Tower - Observatory (13F)

Christian Hurst

Co-Founder, Managing Director, Interleave

Game Audio Round Table

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm (60 min)

The Tower - Observatory (13F)

Christian Hurst

Co-Founder, Managing Director, Interleave

Steve Szczepkowski

Senior Audio Director, Eidos Interactive

Louis-Philippe Dion

Audio Director, Haven Studio

Rob Bridgett

SVP, Audio, Interleave