XP26 programming
2026 sessions
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)
Indie Pitch Competition presented by Ubisoft
Building an OP Cashflow Strategy for your Studio to Thrive
Building the Creator Pipeline: How Smart Partnerships Are Scaling Influencer Marketing
Always Playable: The Production Mindset That Survives Reality
Art Direction Is Marketing (You’re Just Calling It the Wrong Thing)
The Innovation Paradox
Closing Deals in 2026
Building a Community for Lifetime Game Projects
How We Rebuilt Our Studio Around AI (And Why You Should Too)
From West to East: How to Make F2P Games Thrive in New Markets
The New Timeline for Indie Success
Game Audio: The Future of Game Audio & Music
What Does Indie Success on Steam Look Like? A Data-Driven Review
Best Practices for Multi-Platform Development
Where Traditional Animation Meets Gaming
What We Got Wrong (And Right) About Game Marketing
Legal Hacks for the Non-Lawyer: Lessons from the Game Lawyer Trenches
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)
Designing Backwards: Creating Cauldrons for ‘Horizon Forbidden West’
IP Teardown: Under the Hood of the Game Worlds We Love
Capacity Planning That Works Across Studios and Titles
Worldbuilding a Generated City
Designing Effective Communication During Game Development
Renaissance of Business in Health Care and the Video Game Sector
Start Up 101 – 20 Years Later
Great Game, Wrong Foundation: A Studio Audit for Indie Founders
When Your Voice Shakes: Building Safety in the Studio Trenches
D2C in 2026: How New Platform Policies Unlock Even Greater Opportunity for Web Stores
How To Achieve High Quality, Performant Lighting in URP and Unity 6
The State of Game Funding: Trends, Tactics, and Opportunities
Responding to Unprecedented Climate
Funding the Future of Canadian Game Development
Advancing AI Game Development with AMD Schola and GPUOpen
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.
8:30 am
9:15 am
9:30 am
11:00 am
1:30 pm
Registration (All Day)
Indie Pitch Competition presented by Ubisoft
Ask Games Lawyers Anything: This Normally Costs Money
Unpacking the OP Financial Strategy: Deep Dive & Open Q&A
8:30 am
9:15 am
11:00 am
1:30 pm
Registration (All Day)
Designing Backwards: Creating Cauldrons for ‘Horizon Forbidden West’
Game Audio Round Table
The AI Adoption Gap: Bridging Strategy and Reality in Games Leadership
IP Teardown: Under the Hood of the Game Worlds We Love
The great game universes feel inevitable. But what’s actually going on beneath the surface? In this session, Christian Fonnesbech shares principles for thinking about game
It Takes a Village: Bringing Narrative to Disney Dreamlight Valley
How do you create a world where Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story can live in harmony with Scar from The Lion King? How do you
John Wick: Immersive Experience using Unreal Engine 5
The John Wick Experience at Area15 features an interactive room equipped with four large screens where players can wield laser guns to shoot at virtual
Legal Hacks for the Non-Lawyer: Lessons from the Game Lawyer Trenches
Getting legal advice can be daunting but is critically important. This talk gives indie and emerging studios a practical legal playbook built from real-world mistakes
Level Up Your IP Strategy
Intellectual property is a term that is used to describe many things in the video game industry, but rarely to describe what it actually is.
Made in Canada: How We Got Here and What Lies Ahead
Canada is a global leader in video game development, known for its innovation, creativity, and world-class talent. How did we get here and where are
Mastering AI for Game Development – From “FGF” to Final Release
Unlock the full potential of AI in your game development pipeline. This talk introduces VibeLogic, a novel descriptive methodology that puts you in control of
Moderate to Modify: Using AI and Psychology to Build Safer, Healthier Gaming Communities
Toxicity is one of the leading reasons players leave online games. It’s more than just a community management issue—it affects player retention, brand perception, and
Opening Remarks
The opening remarks will set the stage for two dynamic days at the XP Game Summit, welcoming attendees from across the game development ecosystem. The
Opening Remarks & Title
Kick off XP26 with Producer Jason Lepine and the premiere of the new opening title sequence created in collaboration with Soft Rains.
Owning the Player Relationship: How Direct-to-Consumer is Reshaping Game Growth
In today’s gaming world, the lines between developers, publishers, and players are shifting fast. No longer is success just about building a great game—it’s about
Play to Speak: How Serious Games Can Help Children Find Their Voice
Serious games have been successfully used to treat a variety of conditions and support behaviour change. This presentation explores how these games may help (and
Producing World-Class Events in the Esports Space
This panel brings together seasoned professionals from Riot Games and OverActive Media to share their experiences behind some of the industry's biggest tournaments and activations.
R&D in Gaming – What’s Next?
This panel highlights the latest scientific advancements driving innovation in gaming. Researchers and technologists will showcase cutting-edge papers, prototypes, and experimental tools pushing the boundaries
Renaissance of Business in Health Care and the Video Game Sector
Technology and video games have long been a space for innovation in health care and continue to be an area of impactful growth in Toronto
Responding to Unprecedented Climate
How Soft Rains leans on our breadth of skills and interests to weather changes. Kaitlin Tremblay and Trang Nguyen of Soft Rains will discuss ways
Start Up 101 – 20 Years Later
In October of 2025 Koolhaus celebrated its 20th year anniversary. With over 95% of new companies closing within 2 years of their start, keeping any
Surviving the Test of Time: Automation in Dead by Daylight
Join us for a session focused on automation strategies that have propelled Dead by Daylight from humble beginnings to a top-performing live game. We will
The AI Adoption Gap: Bridging Strategy and Reality in Games Leadership
The game industry is now past the “wow” factor of generative AI; we’ve all seen the demos. Now comes the hard part, integration at scale.
The Audience Imperative: Building Live Time Value of Indie Game Companies
There are only endings to the story of any company: sale (the good ending) and death (the bad ending). In this session, Kristian Roberts (CEO,
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