XP26 programming
2026 sessions
| Time | Red Stage (Regency A) | Green Stage (Regency B) | Blue Stage (Regency C) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:30 am | Indie Pitch Competition presented by Ubisoft
Jason Della Rocca
Co-Founder, Execution Labs
Stefan Jewinski
Game Director, Ubisoft Toronto
Chloé Giusti
ID@Xbox Regional Lead - Americas/ANZ, Microsoft - Xbox
Allan Adham
Content & Acquisition Lead, Team17
Zhenghua (Z) Yang
Founder & CEO, Serenity Forge
| ||
| 11:00 am | Always Playable: The Production Mindset That Survives Reality
Matt Lee
Executive Producer, Gameloft Montréal
| Building the Creator Pipeline: How Smart Partnerships Are Scaling Influencer Marketing
Scott Christian
Studio Director, Hilltop Studios
John Nguyen
Regional Vice President - Canada, Xsolla
Brayden MacKinnon
Senior Brand Manager, Fixated
| |
| 12:00 pm | Art Direction Is Marketing (You’re Just Calling It the Wrong Thing)
Dalisay MT
Founder, DMTC
| The Innovation Paradox
Chris Bateman
Founder and Chief Consultant, International Hobo Ltd
| Closing Deals in 2026
Pontus Mahler
Co-Founder, Agora Gaming Partners
|
| 1:00 pm | Building a Community for Lifetime Game Projects
Alexandra Orlando
Community Director, Kitfox Games
| How We Rebuilt Our Studio Around AI (And Why You Should Too)
Shawn Fischtein
CEO, Gaggle
| |
| 1:30 pm | From West to East: How to Make F2P Games Thrive in New Markets
Angel Fraser
Lead Product Manager, Scopely Inc
| The Great Games Reset: From “Bigger Is Better” to Lean Teams, Smarter Tools, and Real Fun
Darryl Long
Managing Director, Ubisoft Toronto
| |
| 2:00 pm | The New Timeline for Indie Success
Jason Della Rocca
Co-Founder, Execution Labs
| The Business of UX
Ruwan Fernando
Founder, Go Boldly Design
| |
| 3:00 pm | Start Up 101 – 20 Years Later
Wolfgang Hamann
Pres./CEO/Founder/Owner, Koolhaus Games Inc.
| Best Practices for Multi-Platform Development
Andrew Carvalho
Co-Founder and Technical Director, Laundry Bear Games
| Inside the Booth: Bringing Professional Performances to Your Next Project
Scott Christian
Studio Director, Hilltop Studios
Myles Dobson
Actor, ACTRA
|
| 4:00 pm | Where Traditional Animation Meets Gaming
Agustin Valcarenghi
Executive Director, 2veinte
Pablo Gostanian
Creative Director, 2veinte
| Two Truths & A Lie: Ontario Video Games Edition
Agusia Krzywinska
Technical Director & Co-Founder, Adjective Noun Studios
Ryan Miller
Managing Director, Ontario Game Testers
| |
| Time | Red Stage (Regency A) | Green Stage (Regency B) | Blue Stage (Regency C) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:15 am | Designing Backwards: Creating Cauldrons for ‘Horizon Forbidden West’
Dennis Micka
Principle Game Designer, Guerrilla Games
| ||
| 10:30 am | Capacity Planning That Works Across Studios and Titles
Matt Lee
Executive Producer, Gameloft Montréal
Emil Vanjaka
Senior Operations Manager, 2K
Rafael Mayor-Mora
Director of Operations (Shared Development Studios), 2K Games
Gordana Vrbanc Duquet
Production & Planning Director, Ubisoft Toronto
| Worldbuilding a Generated City
Tanya Short
Captain, Kitfox Games
| |
| 11:30 am | Renaissance of Business in Health Care and the Video Game Sector
Eda Shere
VP, Business Development and Partnerships, Surrey Place
Ivona Novak
Development Director, Electronic Arts
Christina Hoy
Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer, Lumenus Community Services
Anthea Foyer
Sector Development Officer, IDM Office, City of Toronto
| The State of Game Funding: Trends, Tactics, and Opportunities
Luiz Vianna
Strategic Advisor | Games, Partnerships, & Investments
Shum Singh
Managing Director, Agnitio Capital
Pontus Mahler
Co-Founder, Agora Gaming Partners
Joe Yuan
Managing Director / Venture Partner, Double Black Capital / 1AM Gaming
| Designing Effective Communication During Game Development
Rebecca Brooker
Lead Game Designer, Behaviour Interactive
|
| 1:00 pm | The Retention Layer: The Hard Truth About Community and Social
Mike Gallagher
Founder, Untitled Advertising
| When Your Voice Shakes: Building Safety in the Studio Trenches”
Emily Vulama
Director of Operations, Nightmarket Games
| D2C in 2026: How New Platform Policies Unlock Even Greater Opportunity for Web Stores
Chip Thurston
Head of Gaming, FastSpring
|
| 1:30 pm | How To Achieve High Quality, Performant Lighting in URP and Unity 6
Ryan Warner
Sr. Software Development Consultant II, Unity Technologies
| Responding to Unprecedented Climate
Trang Nguyen
Head of Operations, Soft Rains
Kaitlin Tremblay
Narrative Director, Soft Rains
| What Does Indie Success on Steam Look Like? A Data-Driven Review
Kristian Roberts
CEO, Nordicity
|
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.
| Time | Studio B |
|---|---|
| 11:00 am | Legal Hacks for the Non-Lawyer: Lessons from the Game Lawyer Trenches
Sangeetha Punniyamoorthy
Partner; Co-Chair of Canadian Intellectual Property & Technology, DLA Piper Canada LLP
Ryan Black
Partner; Global Lead, Video Games, DLA Piper (Canada) LLP
David Lafontaine
Associate - Intellectual Property and Technology, DLA Piper (Canada) LLP
|
| Time | Studio B |
|---|---|
| 1:30 pm | The AI Adoption Gap: Bridging Strategy and Reality in Games Leadership
Russell Sng
Strategic Growth & Developer Relations, Artificial Agency
|
Two Truths & A Lie: Ontario Video Games Edition
Two-truths, one lie. Key lessons and well-earned tips. Get your yay or nay paddle ready and learn something real about Ontario games.
What Does Indie Success on Steam Look Like? A Data-Driven Review
In 2025, headlines consistently touted the success of indie games sold on Steam – titles like PEAK, Hollow Knight: Silksong, R.E.P.O and Clair Obscur: Expedition
When Your Voice Shakes: Building Safety in the Studio Trenches”
In an industry defined by rapid iteration and high-stakes launches, a blame culture can be as destructive as a game-breaking bug. This session explores why
Where Traditional Animation Meets Gaming
Frame by frame hand-drawn animation is as strong as ever, and today it’s having a major impact across the video game industry. From gameplay to
Worldbuilding a Generated City
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,
featured sessions
- Building a Community for Lifetime Game Projects
- The Retention Layer: The Hard Truth About Community and Social
- From West to East: How to Make F2P Games Thrive in New Markets
- The Innovation Paradox
- Best Practices for Multi-Platform Development
- Always Playable: The Production Mindset That Survives Reality
- Worldbuilding and Procedural Generation
- Responding to Unprecedented Climate
More to be announced!