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The XP Game Developer Summit is back!
Returning to Toronto for its 4th year, the XP Game Developer Summit will be held at the Westin Harbour Castle on April 20 & 21st, 2023.
Level up with global networking, world-class speakers, exclusive panels, masterclasses, a Business Lounge, a dedicated Esports Lounge, Canada’s largest game showcase, and more! The XP Game Developer Summit is the premier business-to-business conference for the Canadian video game industry.
Our partners at MeetToMatch will be on hand to deliver targeted networking and business-to-business experiences for international investors, publishers, developers, and service providers to connect and discover new business opportunities.
what to expect
Business Networking
The right connection can change your life. Meet industry professionals, investors, publishers, studios and more!
Panels & Masterclasses
Tap into the expertise of industry thought leaders and level up your knowledge tree.
Game Showcase
Play a ton of innovative titles – no quarters needed!
Esports Lounge
Connect with business and players in the fast growing esports industry.
SESSIONS
Format:
Panel
Outline:
What does 2023 hold for the Canadian video game industry? Industry experts weigh in on our triumphs and our challenges; and what they will be in the coming year. What developments will shape the future of our industry? Who will predict the next viral trend? And how will the Canadian video game industry look as we enter 2024?
Format: Masterclass
Outline:
Despite the influx of capital and new game-focused venture funds, scoring a juicy VC deal remains elusive for most developers.
This session will uncover the underlying truths of how venture capital works, and how it differs from other sources of funding.
Concepts such as business model and ambition alignment, the effect of traction and proof points, the timing of funding rounds relative to risk, and the impact of the co-founding team will all be explored.
VCs play by VERY different rules than publishers, and you need to understand what they invest in, how their economics work, and what kind of red flags and roadblocks will turn them off.
Finally, a VC-oriented pitch template will be reviewed to reinforce these differences.
Format: Masterclass
Outline:
TBA
Format: Panel
Outline:
Hear from publishers from around the world and different backgrounds on what they look for when it comes to investments.
Format: Masterclass
Outline:
To make fun and successful gameplay experiences, designers and developers must consider players’ diverse preferences and expectations and design games that cater to different play styles, skill levels, and motivations. Gaining a better understanding of player behaviour and gameplay experiences can help identify and resolve potential problem areas before release.
This talk aims at small-to-medium-sized studios wanting to introduce data-driven decision making into their gameplay experience design. We will discuss approaches and data sources that game designers can use to gain valuable insights and inform their design decisions to create more engaging and successful gameplay experiences.
Format: Masterclass
Outline:
TBA
Outline:
Video games and gamers are often blamed for the rise in toxicity in the surrounding culture. It has come to a point where some are even rejecting the label of “gamer” due to a growing acceptance of negative stereotypes around the identity. Games and game culture do not exist in a vacuum, however, and this is ignored at the peril of our passion and our industry. Toxic masculinity, incels, and the rise of hate group participation, just to name a few of the issues facing us today, is not a gamer problem – it is a societal problem – but it is within this society that games exist and are made. This begs the question, if game culture isn’t the problem, how might it become a part of the solution?
Participants: Krista-Lee Malone, Noel Brett
Format: Panel
Outline:
Universal Scene Description (USD), a framework for the interchange of 3D computer graphics data originally developed by Pixar, has been used in the animation and VFX industries but how can it be used in game development? What are the advantages of USD for game developers? What complexities are involved in integrating USD with the game development pipeline. Join our panelists of experts as they discuss how this framework could best be used in future game development pipelines.
Format: Masterclass
Outline:
TBA
Format: Panel
Outline:
New AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) tools such as Stable Diffusion have stirred conversations around the world about the utility and ethical use of AI tools in game development. Should artists be concerned about the rise of AI in game development or is AI’s role purely supportive?
Format: TBA
Outline:
TBA
Format: Panel
Outline:
TBA
Outline:
TBA
Outline:
We all know that promoting your game is critical to getting noticed in the deluge of titles… yet, few embrace the concept of product design as the most critical aspect of marketing. Meaning, how can you design discoverability directly into your game in order to boost commercial potential? This session will explore ways games are intrinsically shareable, memetic, watchable, or otherwise socially accelerated – both as a way to make games more engaging and commercially viable. Concrete game examples will be provided to showcase these discoverability methods and approaches.
Presenter: Jason Della Rocca
More to be announced!
SPEAKERS
More to be announced!
2023 sponsors
industry partners
