XP26 programming

2026 sessions

Red Stage (Regency A) Green Stage (Regency B) Blue Stage (Regency C)

8:30 am

9:15 am

9:30 am

11:00 am

12:00 pm

1:00 pm

1:30 pm

2:00 pm

3:00 pm

4:00 pm

Registration (All Day)

8:30 am - 5:00 pm

Opening Remarks & Title

9:15 am - 9:30 am (15 min)
Founder & CEO, XP Gaming Inc.

Indie Pitch Competition presented by Ubisoft

9:30 am - 10:30 am (60 min)
Co-Founder, Execution Labs
Game Director, Ubisoft Toronto
ID@Xbox Regional Lead - Americas/ANZ, Microsoft - Xbox
Content & Acquisition Lead, Team17
Founder & CEO, Serenity Forge

Building an OP Cashflow Strategy for your Studio to Thrive

11:00 am - 11:45 am (45 min)
Red Stage (Regency A)
Co-founder, Insert Coin
Co-founder, Insert Coin

Building the Creator Pipeline: How Smart Partnerships Are Scaling Influencer Marketing

11:00 am - 11:45 am (45 min)
Green Stage (Regency B)
Studio Director, Hilltop Studios
Regional Vice President - Canada, Xsolla
CEO, Corvian Marketing
Marketing Director / Influencer Manager, Mighty Yell / Skystone Games

Always Playable: The Production Mindset That Survives Reality

11:00 am - 11:45 am (45 min)
Blue Stage (Regency C)
Executive Producer, Gameloft Montreal

Art Direction Is Marketing (You’re Just Calling It the Wrong Thing)

12:00 pm - 12:45 pm (45 min)
Red Stage (Regency A)
Founder, DMTC

The Innovation Paradox

12:00 pm - 12:45 pm (45 min)
Green Stage (Regency B)
Founder and Chief Consultant, International Hobo Ltd

Closing Deals in 2026

12:00 pm - 12:45 pm (45 min)
Blue Stage (Regency C)
Co-Founder, Agora Gaming Partners

Building a Community for Lifetime Game Projects

1:00 pm - 1:20 pm (20 min)
Red Stage (Regency A)
Community Director, Kitfox Games

How We Rebuilt Our Studio Around AI (And Why You Should Too)

1:00 pm - 1:20 pm (20 min)
Green Stage (Regency B)
CEO, Gaggle Studios

From West to East: How to Make F2P Games Thrive in New Markets

1:30 pm - 1:50 pm (20 min)
Red Stage (Regency A)
Lead Product Manager, Scopely Inc

Building Our UA System From Media Buying to Scalable Growth Engine

1:30 pm - 1:50 pm (20 min)
Green Stage (Regency B)
VP, Marketing, HyperHippo

The New Timeline for Indie Success

2:00 pm - 2:45 pm (45 min)
Red Stage (Regency A)
Co-Founder, Execution Labs

Game Audio: The Future of Game Audio & Music

2:00 pm - 2:45 pm (45 min)
Green Stage (Regency B)
Co-Founder, Managing Director, Interleave
Audio Director, Soft Rains
Audio Director, Ubisoft Toronto
Audio Director, Tencent

The Business of UX

2:00 pm - 2:45 pm (45 min)
Blue Stage (Regency C)
Founder, Go Boldly Design

What Does Indie Success on Steam Look Like? A Data-Driven Review

3:00 pm - 3:45 pm (45 min)
Red Stage (Regency A)
CEO, Nordicity

Inside the Booth: Bringing Professional Performances to Your Next Project

3:00 pm - 3:45 pm (45 min)
Green Stage (Regency B)
Studio Director, Hilltop Studios
Actor, ACTRA
Voice Actor
Voice/Casting Director

Best Practices for Multi-Platform Development

3:00 pm - 3:45 pm (45 min)
Blue Stage (Regency C)
Co-Founder and Technical Director, Laundry Bear Games

Where Traditional Animation Meets Gaming

4:00 pm - 4:45 pm (45 min)
Red Stage (Regency A)
Executive Director, 2veinte
Creative Director, 2veinte

What We Got Wrong (And Right) About Game Marketing

4:00 pm - 4:45 pm (45 min)
Green Stage (Regency B)
Co-founder, Never A Minute Marketing
Partner, Wholesome Games
General Manager, Indie Asylum / Gambit Digital
Technical Director & Co-Founder, Adjective Noun Studios
Red Stage (Regency A) Green Stage (Regency B) Blue Stage (Regency C)

8:30 am

9:15 am

10:30 am

11:30 am

12:30 pm

1:00 pm

1:30 pm

2:30 pm

Registration (All Day)

8:30 am - 5:00 pm

Designing Backwards: Creating Cauldrons for ‘Horizon Forbidden West’

9:15 am - 10:00 am (45 min)
Principle Game Designer, Guerrilla Games

IP Teardown: Under the Hood of the Game Worlds We Love

10:30 am - 11:15 am (45 min)
Red Stage (Regency A)
Founder and Head of IP, Leverage

Capacity Planning That Works Across Studios and Titles

10:30 am - 11:15 am (45 min)
Green Stage (Regency B)
Executive Producer, Gameloft Montreal
Senior Operations Manager, 2K
Director of Operations (Shared Development Studios), 2K Games
Production & Planning Director, Ubisoft Toronto

Worldbuilding a Generated City

10:30 am - 11:15 am (45 min)
Blue Stage (Regency C)
Captain, Kitfox Games

Designing Effective Communication During Game Development

11:30 am - 12:15 pm (45 min)
Red Stage (Regency A)
Lead Game Designer, Behaviour Interactive

Renaissance of Business in Health Care and the Video Game Sector

11:30 am - 12:15 pm (45 min)
Green Stage (Regency B)
VP, Business Development and Partnerships, Surrey Place
Development Director, Electronic Arts
Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer, Lumenus Community Services
Sector Development Officer, IDM Office, City of Toronto

Start Up 101 – 20 Years Later

11:30 am - 12:15 pm (45 min)
Blue Stage (Regency C)
Pres./CEO/Founder/Owner, Koolhaus Games Inc.

Great Game, Wrong Foundation: A Studio Audit for Indie Founders

12:30 pm - 12:50 pm (20 min)
Red Stage (Regency A)
Fractional COO, OpsCat

Canada’s Video Game Industry – From Strength to Staying Power

12:30 pm - 12:50 pm (20 min)
Green Stage (Regency B)
President & CEO, ESAC
CEO, Nordicity
Senior Manager, Digital Content, Entertainment Software Association of Canada

When Your Voice Shakes: Building Safety in the Studio Trenches

1:00 pm - 1:20 pm (20 min)
Green Stage (Regency B)
Director of Operations, Nightmarket Games

D2C in 2026: How New Platform Policies Unlock Even Greater Opportunity for Web Stores

1:00 pm - 1:20 pm (20 min)
Blue Stage (Regency C)
Head of Gaming, FastSpring

How To Achieve High Quality, Performant Lighting in URP and Unity 6

1:30 pm - 2:15 pm (45 min)
Red Stage (Regency A)
Sr. Software Development Consultant II, Unity Technologies

Responding to Unprecedented Climate

1:30 pm - 2:15 pm (45 min)
Blue Stage (Regency C)
Head of Operations, Soft Rains
Narrative Director, Soft Rains

Funding the Future of Canadian Game Development

2:30 pm - 3:15 pm (45 min)
Green Stage (Regency B)
Director of Business Development and Partner Licensing, tinyBuild Games
Director of Marketing & Communications, XP Gaming Inc.
Co-Executive Director, Baby Ghosts Studio Development Fund
Deputy Director, CMF Program Administrator, Telefilm Canada

Advancing AI Game Development with AMD Schola and GPUOpen

2:30 pm - 3:15 pm (45 min)
Blue Stage (Regency C)
Staff Software Engineer, AMD
Sr. Developer Product Marketing Specialist, AMD

2026 round tables

XP Curated Expert Roundtables are available to Conference and VIP pass holders. Limited capacity ensures focused discussion.
Advance registration through MeetToMatch is required and seats will fill quickly.

Studio B

8:30 am

9:15 am

9:30 am

11:00 am

1:30 pm

Registration (All Day)

8:30 am - 5:00 pm

Opening Remarks & Title

9:15 am - 9:30 am (15 min)
Founder & CEO, XP Gaming Inc.

Indie Pitch Competition presented by Ubisoft

9:30 am - 10:30 am (60 min)
Co-Founder, Execution Labs
Game Director, Ubisoft Toronto
ID@Xbox Regional Lead - Americas/ANZ, Microsoft - Xbox
Content & Acquisition Lead, Team17
Founder & CEO, Serenity Forge

Ask Games Lawyers Anything: This Normally Costs Money

11:00 am - 12:00 pm (60 min)
Studio B
Partner; Co-Chair of Canadian Intellectual Property & Technology, DLA Piper Canada LLP
Partner; Global Lead, Video Games, DLA Piper (Canada) LLP
Associate - Intellectual Property and Technology, DLA Piper (Canada) LLP

Unpacking the OP Financial Strategy: Deep Dive & Open Q&A

1:30 pm - 2:30 pm (60 min)
Studio B
Co-founder, Insert Coin
Co-founder, Insert Coin
Studio B

8:30 am

9:15 am

11:00 am

1:30 pm

Registration (All Day)

8:30 am - 5:00 pm

Designing Backwards: Creating Cauldrons for ‘Horizon Forbidden West’

9:15 am - 10:00 am (45 min)
Principle Game Designer, Guerrilla Games

Game Audio Round Table

11:00 am - 12:00 pm (60 min)
Studio B
Co-Founder, Managing Director, Interleave

The AI Adoption Gap: Bridging Strategy and Reality in Games Leadership

1:30 pm - 2:30 pm (60 min)
Studio B
Strategic Growth & Developer Relations, Artificial Agency

featured sessions

More to be announced!