
2020 Speakers
Meet our speakers
Discover the complete speakers list
Conferences' programming
Alexandre Thabet
President
Ludia

Alexandre Thabet
Alexandre Thabet, CEO of the Montreal-based mobile video games studio Ludia, has more than 20 years of experience in the video game industry. Since Ludia’s creation in 2007, he has helped the company grow to reach nearly 400 employees including a portfolio of globally successful games, privileged relationships with renowned licenses, and a solid position as a Canadian leader in the mobile gaming industry.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 14:30
Head of studio Panel: Montreal, Mobile Hub
PRESENTED IN FRENCH - Mobile games represent 50% of the global game market. With more than 1.4 billion players worldwide, the growth of the mobile sector plays a key role in positioning Montreal as an international hub of video game development. Soon all players will be only a tap away from a whole world of console-quality games. Patrick Naud (Square Enix Montréal), Matthieu Dupont (Gameloft Montreal) and Alexandre Thabet (Ludia) will discuss the immense success of mobile games developed in Montreal, the potential for innovation for mobile platforms, major industry trends, and more.

Alma Talbot
Associate Development Manager
EA

Alma Talbot
Alma is an Associate Development Manager at Motive on the Star Wars: Squadrons team. She is the chapter Lead for Women’s Ultimate Team in Montreal. She is a firm advocate that innovation thrives when built on a foundation of diverse perspectives.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 09:45
Allyship: In EA games and in our communities.
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Our diverse group of panelists from across the EA globe are coming together to break down what you need to know about Allyship. Why is it important, and how can you start practicing today? Here’s an age-old secret to how you become a multiplier for success and progress in your workplace, and in your community.

Anamaria Musca
Production Manager
Ubisoft Montréal

Anamaria Musca
With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I am now responsible for the production of all monetization assets and their pipeline on the new Ubisoft Battle Royale, Hyper Scape. These assets include: characters, weapons, vehicles, emblems, logomotes and loading screens.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 10:00
Building Characters in Hyper Scape
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Learn about character design and the production pipeline on Ubisoft’s new Battle Royal game Hyper Scape, and walk through every step of conception and all the different stages of the diverse Monetization assets until it reaches the players hands.

Anne-Marie Collins
Wealth Management Account Manager
Desjardins

Anne-Marie Collins
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 12:30
The transition from employee to entrepreneur
PRESENTED IN FRENCH - Speakers from the Caisse du Complexe Desjardins will present the various financial elements to understand in order to be ready to go into business.

Avery Rueb
Sales Director
Affordance Studio
Avery Rueb
With more than 20 years of classroom experience, Avery brings together a deep understanding of pedagogy and a love of casual games that everyone can fall in love with quickly. His research on games and Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow has been published funded by the SSHRC and published internationally. He is also the co-founder of the Association Edteq which brings together over 80 educational technology companies and non-profits to work directly with the Quebec Ministry of Education to improve access and educational outcomes
Host the following conferences
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25 September 2020 to 12:00
Private: Educational Games, they don’t have to be boring!
Presented in french. Today, games are being used more and more to raise awareness, improve performance and change behaviors in classrooms, companies, governments and hospitals all over the world. Come and check out 5 of the most exciting learning game companies in Quebec and how they are effecting positive change in Canada and internationally. -
13 November 2020 to 10:45
The French language in the video game industry: cultural identity and commercial opportunity
PRESENTED IN FRENCH - L'utilisation du français au travail dans l'industrie du jeu vidéo est une valeur importante pour de nombreux studios. La langue française peut aussi représenter un élément différenciateur pour certains jeux afin d’atteindre de nouveaux joueurs et de nouvelles communautés. Il n’y a qu’à penser à l’énorme bassin que représente l’Afrique. En collaboration avec le Consulat de France à Québec, La Guilde vous invite à découvrir des acteurs engagés dans l’utilisation du français dans le milieu du jeu vidéo. À cette occasion, de nouveaux projets financés par l’Office québécois de la langue française pour encourager l’utilisation du français seront annoncés. Les employés et les cadres de l'industrie seront invités à collaborer afin de mettre à jour la terminologie du jeu vidéo, tandis que les autres encourageront les consommateurs à jouer en français et à leur faire découvrir les terminologies françaises des mots utilisés par l’industrie et ce, de façon ludique.

Ben Mattes
Studio Head
Rovio Entertainment Corporation - Montréal

Ben Mattes
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 11:30
Discover why Quebec is one of the world’s top gaming hubs
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Highly skilled talent, affordable operating expense, booming ecosystem and advantageous tax credits: all the more reasons to make Québec your next destination! * This workshop is aimed at international studios wanting to learn more on expanding to North America.

Berkley Egenes
VP of Marketing
Xsolla

Berkley Egenes
Berkley Egenes is the Vice President of Marketing at Xsolla specializing in creating and marketing solutions aimed at helping our partners reach more players and earn more revenue. He is a creator of successful partnerships, collaborations and campaigns for brands and organizations aimed at elevating their awareness, perception and experience in the global marketplace.
With over 20 years of marketing and product integration experience, he brings his talents to Xsolla from the esports industry where he most recently helped build the Ghost Gaming brand, sponsorship sales, media relations, social presence and online store, prior to its acquisition. As their Head of Marketing // CMO, he built numerous campaigns aimed at engaging with fans and activating brand partnerships featuring gaming pros and creators in Fortnite, PUBG, CS:GO, Gears of War, Rocket League and Apex Legends, across three continents.
An agency and global brand veteran, he has led marketing organizations focused on driving engagement and results at the intersection of brands and technology having represented blue chip organizations including NEXTVR (immersive virtual reality live sports & entertainment experience – acquired by Apple), MERIDIAN (retail-focus SaaS-based augmented reality platform), Alcatel/TCL, VIZIO, Kellogg’s, AB-InBev, NASCAR. IBM, Walmart, and CVS.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 14:30
How to Create Momentum and Revenue for Your Game Pre-Launch
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - As a developer, you are focused on building an incredible game and player experience. Meanwhile, your players are anxiously waiting for the official launch of your much-anticipated title. By developing a pre-launch campaign, you can generate major buzz and anticipation for your game while creating multiple monetization opportunities. Pre-orders can help you not only bring in early revenue, they can help you forecast your future business opportunity and help you build a loyal community for your game. Join the discussion to learn how you can benefit in a big way by creating pre-launch momentum with pre-order campaigns.

Brenda Romero
CEO/Co-founder
Romero Games

Brenda Romero
Brenda Romero is a BAFTA award-winning game director, entrepreneur, artist and Fulbright award recipient and is presently game director and creator of the Empire of Sin franchise. As a game director, she has worked on 50 games and contributed to many seminal titles, including the Wizardry and Jagged Alliance series and titles in the Ghost Recon, Dungeons & Dragons and Def Jam franchises. Away from the machine, her analog series of six games, The Mechanic is the Message, has drawn national and international acclaim, particularly Train and Siochán Leat, a game about her family’s history, which is presently housed in the National Museum of Play. In addition to a BAFTA and a Fulbright, Romero is the recipient of multiple lifetime achievement awards, a Grace Hopper Award, a GDC Ambassador Award, and many of the games she has contributed to have won numerous awards. Romero is CEO and co-founder of Romero Games based in Galway, Ireland.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 12:00
Creativity Chat
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH

Bronson Zgeb
Senior Content Developer
Unity Technologies

Bronson Zgeb
Bronson Zgeb is a Technical Content Developer at Unity Technologies. As a game developer, he’s been using Unity for a decade, first at the artist-owned studio KO_OP and then later at Square Enix Montréal. Now he builds demos and learning material for Unity.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 11:05
Using Unity to create mobile games for everybody
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - If you’re looking for new challenges, why not apply your existing Unity expertise towards making mobile games? From interaction models to business models, mobile games offer more variety than any other gaming platform. This talk dives into game categories that showcase the many possibilities of the mobile game space including, Premium games, free-to-play games, freemium games, innovative touch controls, gyro games, AR games, hypercasual games, single player games, and competitive multiplayer games.

Carl Thibeault
Artiste Technique
Stadia Games and Entertainment

Carl Thibeault
Carl Thibeault is a Technical Artist in video games, currently working at Stadia Games and Entertainment. During his 8 years of experience as a developper, he started his career at Ubisoft Montréal on the Assassin’s Creed franchise, then moved to Typhoon Studios in 2017 on Journey to the Savage Planet. Generalist in 3D art, Carl has done work on modeling, texturing, shading and optimization of graphic performances, shipping 6 main titles along the way. Gaming at an early age, he grew up renting video games at his local rental shop , playing Nintendo and wishing to make one some day.

Carl-Edwin Michel
Founder/CEO
Northern Arena

Carl-Edwin Michel
Carl-Edwin Michel is a tech and video game enthusiast. He is the founder and CEO of Northern Arena, an esports production company.
He’s been also reporting on the high-tech industry since 2009 as a freelance journalist, lecturer and TV personality. His specialties lie in consumer electronics, computers, Internet trends and interactive entertainment. He has been working in broadcasting, being a host of tech segments and correspondent for various TV shows but also hosts the Cineplex pre-show. Besides his work as a host, he is a prolific producer and has created multiple TV shows, popular websites and esports events.
His interests and experience in the field led him to create his own company and partner with some of the country’s leading companies and iconic brands to deliver projects that have an impact. Carl is also the creator and executive producer of the Canadian Game Awards, which recognizes the immense talent in the Canadian Video Game industry.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 15:15
Leadership Panel
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Building and Managing Teams in 2020. -
12 November 2020 to 16:45
Leadership Chat
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH

Caroline Boucher
Director, International Mobility
Montréal International

Caroline Boucher
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 11:00
The Dos and Don’ts of Opening a Studio in Québec
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - From international recruitment to tax credits, come ask your questions to the experts. This workshop will bring together experts in taxation, immigration, international recruitment and economic development. Come discover how to access Quebec’s competitive tax credits as well as taping into local and international talent to build your dream team in one of the world’s biggest and most dynamic gaming hub: Québec! * This workshop is aimed at international studios wanting to learn more on expanding to North America.

Cassia Curran
Adviser
WINGS Interactive

Cassia Curran
Cassia Curran is an adviser at WINGS Interactive, a fund that invests in games by female game developers and diverse teams. She was Head of Business Development at Jagex in Cambridge, UK, where she developed deals in M&A, publishing and IP licensing, as well as founding the company’s first Diversity & Inclusion group. Prior to Jagex, she worked in Business Development and Investor Relations at NetEase in Hangzhou, China.
Host the following conferences
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11 November 2020 to 14:30
Investment Summit Chat
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH

Chad Comeau
Independent video game designer
Studio Fring Frang (Nova Scotia - Canada)

Chad Comeau
Chad Comeau is an independent game designer from Nova Scotia currently studying at the Cologne Game Lab in Germany.
His passion for video games started at age four when his grandma introduced him to Nintendo games. Years later, he started making games with friends as a hobby, often incorporating themes of language and identity. This focus on cultural elements is reflected in his company’s name, Fring Frang, which is a local dish.
His last major project was Clarevoyance, an adventure game about the folklore of his hometown, created in direct collaboration with over one hundred members of his Acadian community and funded by three levels of government. Another recent project, Local Paper Small Town, is a nominee at the Deutscher Entwicklerpreis 2020.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 10:45
The French language in the video game industry: cultural identity and commercial opportunity
PRESENTED IN FRENCH - L'utilisation du français au travail dans l'industrie du jeu vidéo est une valeur importante pour de nombreux studios. La langue française peut aussi représenter un élément différenciateur pour certains jeux afin d’atteindre de nouveaux joueurs et de nouvelles communautés. Il n’y a qu’à penser à l’énorme bassin que représente l’Afrique. En collaboration avec le Consulat de France à Québec, La Guilde vous invite à découvrir des acteurs engagés dans l’utilisation du français dans le milieu du jeu vidéo. À cette occasion, de nouveaux projets financés par l’Office québécois de la langue française pour encourager l’utilisation du français seront annoncés. Les employés et les cadres de l'industrie seront invités à collaborer afin de mettre à jour la terminologie du jeu vidéo, tandis que les autres encourageront les consommateurs à jouer en français et à leur faire découvrir les terminologies françaises des mots utilisés par l’industrie et ce, de façon ludique.

Charles-Antoine Richard
Monetization Director
Ubisoft Québec

Charles-Antoine Richard
Charles-Antoine, Monetization Director for Ubisoft Quebec, is passionate about creating, operating, and optimizing video game revenue streams. He has participated in the conception and launch of over 12 new products, brands, and businesses. A gamer at heart, he focuses on strategies where strong ROI can be synonymous with a positive player experience.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 11:30
The Right Business Model for Your Game
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - We are all passionate about making games, but at the end of the day, we need to bring home the bacon. Mixing business and fun can sometimes seem counterintuitive. On one hand, we aspire to create engaging experiences and on the other, there is a need for commercial viability. How can we strike a balance? Join us to discover how to build your game’s business model from the ground up. In this conference Charles-Antoine Richard, Monetization Director at Ubisoft Quebec will break down different models, how they operate, and how they will evolve within the next 5 years.

Chelsea Blasko
Co-CEO
Iron Galaxy

Chelsea Blasko
As Iron Galaxy’s Co-CEO, Chelsea Blasko is the “Wizard of Oz” who runs the company’s day-to-day operations and makes all of the magic happen from behind the curtain. She oversees Information Technology, Human Resources, Finance and Product Development for Iron Galaxy’s portfolio of games.
Chelsea was the company’s 13th employee and has been instrumental in Iron Galaxy’s growth and high employee retention. While she was initially brought on to produce and run the studio, she proactively took the reins on the hiring, expansion and development of the studio’s culture to help elevate and shape the company to what it is today. Chelsea mentored the studio’s leaders by overseeing product development and teaching others the process along the way. Additionally, she created Iron Galaxy’s career coaching program that assigned every employee with a more senior staff member to ensure they were offered opportunities to continue to support their growth and areas of interest. Iron Galaxy now has offices in Chicago, Orlando and even a virtual Austin location.
A Notre Dame graduate, Chelsea was a high school German teacher, and managed an H&M and high-end boutique before finding her start in games at Electronic Arts in Chicago, where she was enticed by the ability to flex her creative and artistic muscles. While there, she served as the assistant to the GM and a Production Coordinator on a variety of titles and then spent a few years at Robomodo as a Producer and Project Manager. She was finally convinced by Iron Galaxy’s Founder Dave Lang to share her production expertise at Iron Galaxy and quickly took over the entire company’s production department and internal operations before becoming the COO.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 15:15
Leadership Panel
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Building and Managing Teams in 2020.

Chris Petrovic
SVP and Head of Corporate Strategy, M&A and Business Development
Zynga

Chris Petrovic
Mr. Petrovic is a games, technology and digital media veteran, with over 20 years of global experience in the sector. He currently serves as SVP and Head of Corporate Strategy, M&A and Business Development for Zynga, a leading developer of the world’s most popular mobile games that are played by millions of customers worldwide. Chris is responsible for driving the company’s growth through strategic M&A, partnerships and market expansion efforts. Chris has deployed over $3 billion in capital during his time at Zynga for the acquisitions of Rollic Games, Peak Games, Small Giant Games, Gram Games, Peak Games board and card studio, Harpan and Puzzle Social. He has also secured licensing partnerships with Disney (Star Wars), Warner Brothers (Harry Potter), NBC/Universal (Fast & Furious), HBO (Game of Thrones) and World Poker Tour and in responsible for the company’s Asia market strategy.
Prior to joining Zynga, Chris served as SVP and Head of Corporate Strategy & Development at Kabam, another leading mobile gaming company. During his time at Kabam, he led Kabam’s international growth strategy efforts, with a particular focus on Asia, and also was responsible for a number of key licensing deals with Disney, Marvel, Warner Bros. and Lionsgate. In addition, Chris oversaw Kabam’s M&A activity as well as its 3rd party publishing business, which was sold to Chinese publisher Gaea Mobile.
Prior to Kabam, Chris served as the global GM of GameStop Digital Ventures, the digital strategy, corporate development and incubation arm for GameStop, the world’s largest provider of video game products and services. As a member of the company’s senior management team, Chris served as the principal leader of GameStop’s global digital strategy and was responsible for building on the company’s ongoing efforts to integrate digital initiatives and business lines into the company’s multi-channel strategy, as well as overseeing the development and execution of new organic growth and product development, acquisitions, strategic partnerships and investments. As a result of these efforts, digital revenues grew from $100MM to over $600MM during Petrovic’s tenure.
Prior to joining GameStop, Chris held senior level digital positions at Playboy, AG Interactive (a division of American Greetings), drkoop.com and theglobe.com. He began his career in the late 90’s as an entrepreneur, serving as the CEO of Internet start-up BannerGreetings.com. From there he went on to become COO of Buzztone.com, a leading interactive marketing agency, before joining Prime Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm based in Santa Monica, California.
Host the following conferences
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11 November 2020 to 12:15
What Does the Future Hold?
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - This year has been an unprecedented one in our industry in so many ways, from the potentially permanent state of the remote workforce to the solidification of gaming as the leading entertainment category in the world to the record levels of capital flowing through the ecosystem through investments, acquisitions and IPOs (and yes, including SPACs!). If there's one thing we know for sure, the games sector will continue to evolve, grow and even consolidate globally for many years to come.

Chris Swan
Publishing & Live Game Director
Unit 2 Games

Chris Swan
Chris started in the games industry as a programmer at Big Red Software in 1994. Moving to Blitz Games Studios in 1999, he led the technical teams for a number of PC and console titles including Fuzion Frenzy, and the award-winning Xbox Burger King games. Moving from frontline game development, he became Business Development Director for the studios’ Blitz 1Up publishing programme, helping indie developers access publishing and distribution support across a range of platforms, before leading the creation and launch of pre-Steam Greenlight indie developer distribution portal IndieCity. In 2013 he joined Radiant Worlds, initially as Web Systems Director and then Publishing Director, for UGC sandbox adventure SkySaga. Since 2017 he has been the Publishing & Live Game Director for game creation and publishing platform Crayta, currently available exclusively on Google Stadia.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 10:30
Creativity Panel
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Presented by Electronic Arts (EA). Breaking the barriers of creativity with innovation.

Christina Liu
VP Product
AppLovin

Christina Liu
Christina Liu is currently VP of Product for AppLovin’s games and hails from an impressive gaming background that includes prior roles with Scopely, Glu Mobile, and Zynga. She was responsible for leading and owning the product for Zynga titles including Wheel of Fortune and FarmVille 2 across various development cycles. As VP of Product, Christina is a cross-functional leader that brings AppLovin’s teams together to ultimately deliver high-impact mobile games for millions of players around the world.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 11:45
Secrets to Clipwire Games’ Success
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Get to know Clipwire Games' CEO and founder Ritesh Khanna, who shares his studios' rise to success. Khanna, who was an early employee at Zynga, talks about what it takes to make a massive hit game like Bingo Story while fostering a positive culture at his Toronto-based company. Find out what it takes to run a high-growth game studio that consistently builds impactful and engaging games.

Christopher Chancey
Chief Executive Officer
ManaVoid Entertainment
Christopher Chancey
Christopher Chancey is a CEO who specializes in the financing and marketing of video games. In 2015, he ran crowdfunding campaigns for himself and clients totalizing over half a million dollars. In 2014, he founded ManaVoid Entertainment and raised over 3 million dollars for the studio’s second game Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan (to be released Q2 2021). Early collaborator in La Guilde and the Indie Asylum, today Chris is a partner and investor in many video game studios. Since 2017 he also teaches game design, programming and marketing at the University of Montreal (UdeM) and the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT), on top of being one of the founders of the indie game microprogram at UQAT, making sure the gaming entrepreneurs of tomorrow are up to the task.
Host the following conferences
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25 September 2020 to 16:00
Private: Discover the “other” jobs in video games
Presented in french. The development of video games requires the collaboration of many specialties. These are not all directly linked to the game projects and sometimes evolve in the periphery. Come and discover jobs related to game promotion, motion capture and game engines. -
25 September 2020 to 14:00
Private: First steps in the video game industry
Presented in french. -
11 November 2020 to 15:00
Financing or selling your studio – Be prepared!
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Do you own a studio or are you thinking of starting your own? Maybe as a creative genius , your games have huge success, but do you have the right strategy to maximize the value of your business? The video game industry is trending upward for private equity firms and other investors. You must be prepared to either respond or solicit an offer. The discussion will be led by Michel Gélinas, a partner at Davies who has solid experience in sales & acquisitions in the video game and technology industry. -
12 November 2020 to 11:30
Discover why Quebec is one of the world’s top gaming hubs
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Highly skilled talent, affordable operating expense, booming ecosystem and advantageous tax credits: all the more reasons to make Québec your next destination! * This workshop is aimed at international studios wanting to learn more on expanding to North America.

Christopher Dragert
Team Lead Programmer, Game Systems
Ubisoft Toronto

Christopher Dragert
Christopher Dragert has worked on the Watch Dogs series for five years and at Ubisoft Toronto for 6. On the recently released Watch Dogs: Legion, he acted as a Team Lead Programmer focusing on Game Systems and the core ‘Play as Anyone’ functionality. Before that, Christopher worked on Watch_Dogs 2 where he acted as principal programmer for the ‘Invasion of Privacy’ missions. He received his Ph.D. from McGill University in 2015 where he studied Model-Driven Development of AI for Games and has presented work on the topic at various academic conferences along with GDC in 2016.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 14:30
The design and tech behind Play As Anyone in Watch Dogs: Legion
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Play As Anyone is a breakthrough feature in Watch Dogs: Legion developed by the team at Ubisoft Toronto in which players can recruit any character in the game’s open world. Christopher Dragert, team lead programmer, and Liz England, team lead game designer, break down the design and tech challenges behind how Play As Anyone was conceived, and how their teams brought this innovative feature to life.

Damian Sommer
Co-founder
GLOAM

Damian Sommer
Damian Sommer is a Toronto-based game designer best known for his IGF-nominated experimental multiplayer narrative game, “The Yawhg”. In 2016, Damian helped co-found GLOAM, a game studio committed to bold, uncompromising aesthetics, and bold, uncompromising game design. Together, GLOAM is finishing up their first commercial work, “Bravery Network Online”, a competitive battle RPG taking place in the post-post-post-post apocalypse. Damian spends most of his days trudging through the mire that is narrative and game design, and he likes it that way.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 16:00
INDIE SERIES: Panel – Hope in the time of dystopia
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - How can games share compassion and hope during a difficult time shared by many people around the world? Indie games can immerse us in tales full of personality that are humanising and memorable, while engaging with complex ideas such as death, alienation, loneliness, and political chaos. Join indie game devs as they talk about their different design directions that explore dystopias, post-apocalypses, and life after death in uniquely resonant and sublime ways. From a battle RPG to management games to cyberpunk interactive fictions, this talk helps you discover indie titles that will inspire you and touch your heart. Ubisoft Indie Series presented by National Bank.

Dan Bernardo
CEO/Game Director
Playtra Games

Dan Bernardo
Born a games geek and design nerd, Dan has degrees in Anthropology and Graphic Design. Working as a creative for over 17 years for a range of start-ups and large businesses, most recently Unruly Group where he was instrumental in developing it from a one-room startup to a global company with 20 offices in 4 continents and sold for an excess of $150m. He then decided to use his experience creating talented teams and efficient products in pursuit of his childhood dream of creating games.
In 2018, Dan founded Playtra, an independent game studio, which quickly grew into a team of 9 diverse staff, winning the ROKiT Global PitchFest where they came up at first place among more than 400 game projects.
Playtra is currently working on its first game for PC and Consoles called Grid Fight – Mask of the Goddess, a fast-paced action/strategy game where you control a squad of powerful heroines in the all-female universe of Gora.
Dan is an advocate of alternative narrative structures and cultural diversity in games, giving talks on those subjects during game events around the world, including PAX, PGC, CGC, BFI and DEVCOM.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 15:15
Leadership Panel
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Building and Managing Teams in 2020.

Danny Lew
Legal Counsel
EA

Danny Lew
Danny works as Legal Counsel at EA in Montreal. He is a lead on both the Asian and Pacific Islanders and PRIDE Employee Resource Groups in Montreal, and is a strong believer that allies play a crucial role in ensuring greater diversity and inclusion in the workplace and in our games.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 09:45
Allyship: In EA games and in our communities.
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Our diverse group of panelists from across the EA globe are coming together to break down what you need to know about Allyship. Why is it important, and how can you start practicing today? Here’s an age-old secret to how you become a multiplier for success and progress in your workplace, and in your community.
Dean Zhao
Perfect World Games
Dean Zhao
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 11:30
Overview of China’s Cloud Gaming Market
With the commercialization of 5G technology, China is expected to have more than 600 million cloud gamers by the end of 2023. Recognizing the growing potential of the cloud gaming market, Chinese game publishers are making moves into the sector. 5G Cloud Game Industry Alliance was formed to carry out research and development in cloud games, and digital transformation of the gaming industry. The trade commissioner service in coordination with Perfect World Games, will provide a market briefing session on China’s cloud gaming market during MEGA+MIGS 2020.

Debbie Bestwick
CEO
Team 17
Debbie Bestwick
Debbie Bestwick MBE, is Chief Executive Officer of award-winning veteran games developer and international games label, Team17. Debbie joined the games industry at the age of 17, starting out in indie retailing where she won ‘Indie Retailer of the Year’ at just 18; she then co-founded Team17 in 1990 at the age of 20. Team17 is a leading international games label with award-winning franchises including The Escapists, Overcooked!, Yooka-Laylee, Worms, and many more titles from developers around the world. Most recently, two critically acclaimed titles – Blasphemous and Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair – joined an impressive roster of over 100 games released by Team17 across PC, console and mobile platforms over the past 30 years. Since becoming CEO in 2010, Debbie has focused on transforming Team17 into a global games publishing label with strong year-on-year growth, bringing expertise gleaned from decades of games development to support independent development studios in taking their IP to market. In order to broaden Team17’s profile globally and to support further growth, Team17 successfully completed its admission to the London Stock Exchange in 2018. Debbie Bestwick received an MBE in 2016 for services to the video games industry and was awarded ‘Business Leader of the Year’ at the Yorkshire Business Awards 2018. Previously, Bestwick was recognised as making an ‘Outstanding Contribution to the UK Games Industry’ at the 2017 Golden Joystick Awards, ‘Businesswoman of the Year’ at the 2016 Women in Games Awards, won the ‘Hall of Fame’ award at the European Women in Games Conference 2015, and MCV’s ‘Person of the Year’ in 2015.
Host the following conferences
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11 November 2020 to 13:00
Investment Summit Panel
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH

Denis Talbot
Host and video games/techno reviewer
Denis Talbot

Denis Talbot
Denis Talbot is a leading figure in the video game and technology industry. Over 17 years, he hosted and produced more than 2,409 live episodes of M.Net. Today, his Twitch channel has become a must-watch for video game and technology enthusiasts. Denis Talbot is also a regular columnist for Planète Techno on Explora (Radio Canada).
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 11:45
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius: A Global Success Story
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Since its launch in 1987, Final Fantasy has become one of the most iconic names in video games. In this session, hear the story behind global success Final Fantasy Brave Exvius from the creative process to production challenges. Also gain insights on the future of mobile games, the potential offered by tactile screens, and what's to come for the Final Fantasy license on mobile.

Ed Fries
Founder
1Up Ventures

Ed Fries
Ed Fries created his first video games for the Atari 800 in the early 1980s. He joined Microsoft in 1986 and spent the next ten years as one of the early developers of Excel and Word. In 1996 he left the Office team to pursue his passion for interactive
entertainment and created Microsoft Game Studios. Over the next eight years he grew the team from 50 people to over 1200, published more than 100 games including more than a dozen million sellers, co-founded the Xbox project, and made Microsoft one of the leaders in the video game business. In 2004, Ed retired as a Microsoft Vice President and began working as a board member and advisor with entrepreneurs in the video game business as well as serving on the board of many non-profit organizations including the International Game Developers Association, the Pacific Science Center and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. In 2019 Ed joined with some friends to launch 1Up Ventures, a venture fund to support independent game developers around the world.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 12:00
Next Gen Tech Chat
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH

Emily Greer
CEO/Co-founder
Double Loop Games

Emily Greer
Emily is the co-founder & CEO of Double Loop Games, a new mobile game studio. Previously she was the co-founder & CEO of Kongregate, leading its rapid rise as a free-to-play web destination before expanding into mobile publishing, launching hits such as AdVenture Capitalist and Animation Throwdown. A data geek at heart, Emily is well-known in the game industry for her presentations on the economics and psychology of free-to-play games.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 14:30
Building Team Performance Through Trust
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Research has shown the most important factor in high performing teams is psychological safety. What is psychological safety, why does it matter, and what can leaders do to develop it in a team?

Emily Short
Creative Director
Failbetter Games

Emily Short
Emily Short is Creative Director at Failbetter Games. Her AI-related experience includes three years as a product manager and then CPO at Spirit AI, where she worked with natural language processing and generation, character moods and social behavior, and conversation modelling. She was previously the creative director of the Versu project, building interactive iPad stories around AI character agents. She has an extensive background in games writing and narrative design as well as tooling for writing interactive fiction.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 10:30
Next Gen Tech Panel
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Building the future of gaming through tech.

Eric Kucharsky
Director, Business Development –London
Investissement Québec

Eric Kucharsky
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 11:30
Discover why Quebec is one of the world’s top gaming hubs
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Highly skilled talent, affordable operating expense, booming ecosystem and advantageous tax credits: all the more reasons to make Québec your next destination! * This workshop is aimed at international studios wanting to learn more on expanding to North America.

Erin Hoffman-John
Creative Lead
Sense of Wonder

Erin Hoffman-John
Erin Hoffman-John is a game designer, author, and speaker. She is currently on baby bonding leave but most recently led creative for Google Stadia’s R&D team. She is also creative lead at Sense of Wonder, an independent maker of digital games with a social good mission. Erin began her design career as an Assistant Worldbuilder for Simutronics on Dragonrealms in 1999, and has worked in a series of game sub-industries in their emerging technology phases, including free-to-play virtual worlds, international MMOs, social games, handheld games, virtual worlds for kids, and games for education. Prior to joining Google, she was a teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s ETC program, and led design at GlassLab, a three-year project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation with the mission of bringing AAA development to educational games, and to pioneer realtime game data analysis for learning. Select game credits include Kung Fu Panda World, SimCity EDU, Mars Generation One, and Doki-Doki Universe. She is also an author of science fiction, fantasy, and nonfiction, with the Chaos Knight fantasy series published by Pyr Books, and short fiction, nonfiction, and poetry at an assortment of other markets.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 16:45
Leadership Chat
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH

Frédéric Sanchez
Consul General
Consulate General of France in Québec City

Frédéric Sanchez
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 10:45
The French language in the video game industry: cultural identity and commercial opportunity
PRESENTED IN FRENCH - L'utilisation du français au travail dans l'industrie du jeu vidéo est une valeur importante pour de nombreux studios. La langue française peut aussi représenter un élément différenciateur pour certains jeux afin d’atteindre de nouveaux joueurs et de nouvelles communautés. Il n’y a qu’à penser à l’énorme bassin que représente l’Afrique. En collaboration avec le Consulat de France à Québec, La Guilde vous invite à découvrir des acteurs engagés dans l’utilisation du français dans le milieu du jeu vidéo. À cette occasion, de nouveaux projets financés par l’Office québécois de la langue française pour encourager l’utilisation du français seront annoncés. Les employés et les cadres de l'industrie seront invités à collaborer afin de mettre à jour la terminologie du jeu vidéo, tandis que les autres encourageront les consommateurs à jouer en français et à leur faire découvrir les terminologies françaises des mots utilisés par l’industrie et ce, de façon ludique.

Gabriel Ware
Technical Architect

Gabriel Ware
Gabriel joined Google in November 2019 as a technical architect to work at Stadia Games and Entertainment Montreal. Previously, Gabe worked for more than 13 years in the game industry before co-founding a tech start-up in the travel industry.
In the game industry Gabe worked on many game engines and pipeline systems, including code generation systems, animation, networking, navigation, streaming and low level optimizations amongst other things. Nowadays, he spends most of his time in the cloud: working with infrastructure as code systems and distributed systems.

Gemma Stewart
Producer
Ludia

Gemma Stewart
Gemma is a games producer with experience in Triple A, indie PC and mobile platforms. She is passionate about not only building great games and experiences, but great teams as well. At Ludia since 2018, she launched Ludia’s first own IP called Lovelink, a first of its kind Interactive Dating Mobile Game.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 09:45
Applying key learnings to inspire innovation
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Launched worldwide in September 2020, with a brand-new take on the interactive story game genre, Lovelink - successful first Interactive Dating Mobile Game - is a virtual dating simulation that lets the player match with exciting characters and navigate thrilling storylines. Players can build and nurture relationships in real time with characters of any gender, sexuality and identity, offering a new form of dating and romance altogether. Gemma Stewart, Lovelink’s producer, will share in this presentation how the project sprang from lessons learned in previous projects, spurring creativity and a desire to iterate and benefiting from those key learnings, She will show that not only technology and innovation are key in order to launch a successful product, but also that leadership, inclusivity and trust in the team are as important, if not more.

Guha Bala
President
Velan Studios

Guha Bala
Guha Bala is President of Velan Ventures, Inc. an innovation investment company with a focus on video games and game related technology companies, and Velan Studios, Inc., a game studio that focuses on the discovery of new play patterns. Velan Studios recently announced its debut title, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, a new kind of mixed reality racing experience to be released by Nintendo in October 2020.
Previously, Guha co-founded Vicarious Visions with his brother, Karthik, in 1991. Vicarious has since grown to become an industry-leading game developer, helping to shape popular culture around the world. The company has grown into one of the most prolific creators of video games in North America, accounting for over $4 billion in sales and 45 million units of software spanning entertainment franchises such as Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Guitar Hero, Skylanders, and Crash Bandicoot. After leading Vicarious Visions for 25 years, the brothers transitioned out of the company in 2016 to become entrepreneurs again. Guha enjoys mentoring start-up ventures and was honored as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s “Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2013. He is a Board Member of St. Peter’s Health Partners, and the Albany Symphony. Guha holds an AB in Chemistry from Harvard College, and an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 09:45
From Insight to Blockbuster: Creating Breakthrough Games That are Magic
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Ever had that cool idea for a video game? The one that could change entertainment? Here’s Velan Studios plan to translate simple insights into blockbusters through its four-step strategic plan. Easier said than done!

Guillaume Lapôtre
Game Security Manager
Ubisoft Montréal

Guillaume Lapôtre
Guillaume Lapôtre is a Game Security Manager at Ubisoft. He started 6 years ago as a Security Analyst helping multiple Ubisoft games improve their security stances on various topics. He now leads a team which mainly focuses on protecting players’ experience for most of the Ubisoft games worldwide for the past 4 years.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 15:30
How we secure games at Ubisoft
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - This talk will give you a sneak peek at how a wide variety of security actors work behind the curtain to ensure the safest player’s experience in all our games. From the conception of a fictional game to its production and live operations, we will describe various threats that need to be addressed along the way. Is Game Security a witch-hunt against cheaters?

Haley Uyrus
Head of Brand Communications
Mediatonic

Haley Uyrus
Haley is the Head of Brand Communications at Tonic Games Group (Mediatonic, The Irregular Corporation, and Fortitude Games). Previously she’s worked on over 35 indie titles at a boutique games PR agency, and as an in-house marketing manager on Sunless Skies, Sunless Sea and Fallen London at Failbetter Games. Haley also is a proud Limit Break and NYU Games Incubator mentor, Game Dev Heroes award winner and is a co-founder of the UK Games Marketer London meetup.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 14:30
Channeling Chaos: The Strategic Decisions Behind Silly Simplicity
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - A look into the complexities of creating the illusion of a simple game for maximum approachability and mainstream appeal. Mediatonic's Head of Brand Communications reflects on the key moments and marketing strategy that lead to the successful launch of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, and how fifteen years of game development learnings culminated into a breakout game.

James Gwertzman
General Manager of Gaming Cloud
Microsoft

James Gwertzman
James Gwertzman is the CEO & Co-Founder of PlayFab and now
General Manager of Gaming Cloud
at Microsoft where he leads the Gaming Cloud business.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 10:00
Future of Cloud in Gaming
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - James Gwertzman is the CEO & Co-Founder of PlayFab and now General Manager of Gaming Cloud at Microsoft where he leads the Gaming Cloud business. Explore how Microsoft views the future of the cloud in gaming and how gaming technologies are set to become ever more important outside of the game industry. Learn how some of the leading gaming studio’s around the world are leveraging the cloud to be on the edge of innovation and producing better outcomes.

Jamie Sefton
Organizer
GamesIndustry.biz Investment Summit

Jamie Sefton
Jamie Sefton began his career in the games industry more than 20 years ago as a writer and editor of magazines and websites such as Arcade, Official PlayStation Magazine and PC Zone. Jamie is now the Managing Director of Yorkshire and Northern England games network Game Republic with more than 900 games industry members, including Sumo Digital, Team17 and Revolution Software, hosting events with publishers, platform-holders and investors such as Microsoft, Kowloon Nights, Sony and Ubisoft. In addition, Jamie co-organises events with the world’s biggest games business website GamesIndustry.biz including the Investment Summit, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. As well as bringing a physical Investment Summit to PAX East in Boston, USA in February and delivering two successful online global versions in May and September, Jamie is delighted to now host a special GamesIndustry.biz Investment Summit at MEGAMIGS.
Host the following conferences
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11 November 2020 to 14:30
Investment Summit Chat
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH -
11 November 2020 to 13:00
Investment Summit Panel
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH

Jean-Christophe Sandoval
Business Member Service Advisor
Desjardins

Jean-Christophe Sandoval
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 12:30
The transition from employee to entrepreneur
PRESENTED IN FRENCH - Speakers from the Caisse du Complexe Desjardins will present the various financial elements to understand in order to be ready to go into business.

Jean-François Dugas
Product Manager
Square Enix Montréal

Jean-François Dugas
As Product Manager on Square Enix Montréal’s Hitman Sniper franchise, Jean-François Dugas is responsible for shepherding the game’s Live-Ops operation. With more than 10 years in the F2P market, starting from kids’ Browser Games to Social Casinos on Facebook, he worked on renowned games such as Jurassic Park Builder and Jurassic World: The Game.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 15:30
Hitman Sniper : From Premium to Freemium
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Hitman Sniper began as a traditional mobile game before dominating Premium Stores all over the world four years after its launch. This session covers the evolution of Hitman Sniper and delves into the story of the game’s development. Discover how acquisition and retention optimization helped the expansion of the game far beyond its initial scope - greatly improving players satisfaction and engagement - and set the scene for the expansion of the licence.

Jean-Philippe Beck
Community Manager
Norsfell
Jean-Philippe Beck
Jean-Philippe Beck is a community manager on Tribes of Midgard, a Co-op survival game developed by Norsfell and published by Gearbox. He graduated in communication and economic and social sciences. He has accumulated more than 6 years of experience in the fields of online reputation, marketing and social networks before entering the video game industry. He now focuses on implementing strategies to maximize community growth and involve players in the development of projects.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 16:30
INDIE SERIES: How to develop your community to sign a publisher
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Convincing a publisher is the objective of many developers.It can be a long and difficult process, however, strategies exist to maximize your chances of success. Here you will find out how Norsfell managed to sign Tribes of Midgard with one of the most recognized publishers, Gearbox Publishing, by focusing mainly on community development. During this conference, Jean-Philippe Beck will present the key steps and marketing strategies implemented to promote Tribes during its development. The conference is for anyone looking for concrete examples of how to grow a community with a very small budget. Ubisoft Indie Series presented by National Bank.

Jennifer Pierre
User Experience Researcher

Jennifer Pierre
Jennifer Pierre is a user experience and human-computer interaction researcher with expertise in social, digital, and interactive media, computer-mediated communication, critical data studies, and social informatics. Her research interests center on how people use various forms of media and data to form and maintain communities. She is currently working as a User Experience Researcher at Google, conducting research on games and gaming communities as part of the Stadia team.
She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Information Studies at UCLA, where she focused her dissertation on how youth use social media for social support. She holds a Masters of Library & information Science from the same department, and a Bachelor of Science in Communication from Cornell University.
Her work has been published in HICSS, PACM HCI CSCW, Big Data & Society, and InterActions, and has been recognized by ACM SIGCHI, the Ford Foundation, and the Bouchet Honor Society. In addition to her research, she has worked as an instructional designer with the UCLA Library WI+RE team, and has fueled her passion for inclusion in STEM, higher education, and tech as a member in several diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Jenny McBean
Associate Director
Bryter

Jenny McBean
Jenny McBean is Associate Director at Bryter, a market research agency specialising in gaming research. She works with a variety of companies in the gaming industry, helping to understand player experiences and perceptions across a range of platforms and titles. Alongside regular client work, she is also the driver of Bryter’s Female Gamers Study – an independent annual study, exploring gaming behaviours, as well as experiences of abuse and discrimination, and perceptions of the industry.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 10:30
Female Gamers Study 2020
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Bryter’s annual Female Gamers Study explores the behaviours and experiences of female gamers in the US & UK. As well as looking at how and why gamers game, the study also explores toxicity in gaming and the impact it has on players, across gender.

Joann Pollard
Global Brand Manager
EA

Joann Pollard
Joann is a Global Brand Manager for Madden NFL in Orlando, FL. She is a lead on the Women’s Ultimate Team, the development pillar lead for BEAT! (Black EA Team) and an active member of SOMOS EA. She has seen firsthand how allyship, inclusion, and diversity have aligned to offer true representation in our games.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 09:45
Allyship: In EA games and in our communities.
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Our diverse group of panelists from across the EA globe are coming together to break down what you need to know about Allyship. Why is it important, and how can you start practicing today? Here’s an age-old secret to how you become a multiplier for success and progress in your workplace, and in your community.

John Linden
CEO
Mythical

John Linden
John Linden is the CEO of Mythical Games, a video game platform company focused on building player-owned economies using blockchain technology with top game developers and publishers. Prior to Mythical Games, Linden was the President of Seismic Games which developed Marvel Strike Force, Blade Runner: Revelations, and an unannounced TCG game. Seismic Games was acquired by Niantic Labs in June 2018. Prior to Seismic Games, he was a Studio Head at Activision Blizzard leading the Call of Duty and Skylanders franchises.
Before working in the video game industry, Linden was the Co-Founder / CTO at Adknowledge and at OpenX. He also built his own startups, Planet Alumni (acquired by Reunion.com) and Litmus Media (acquired by Think Partnership).
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 10:30
Creativity Panel
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Presented by Electronic Arts (EA). Breaking the barriers of creativity with innovation.

Julie Roy
Advisor - International Talent Attraction
Québec International
Julie Roy
Julie Roy has worked for Québec International since 2018. As an Advisor – International Talent Attraction, her role consists mainly in advising employers and human resources professionals in the Québec region, and supporting them in their efforts to attract and retain international talents. She previously held various positions in international relations, human resources and communications.
Host the following conferences
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25 September 2020 to 13:00
Private: International Recruitment
Presented in french. An informal Q&A session including Québec International and Montréal International representatives in the same virtual room. The session will be open to everyone, whether you are worker, student or company representative. Participants will be able to come and ask their questions about international student and worker recruitment and learn about our respective services. A lawyer specialized in immigration law will also be present to answer questions on the current situation related to international talent recruitment. -
13 November 2020 to 11:00
The Dos and Don’ts of Opening a Studio in Québec
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - From international recruitment to tax credits, come ask your questions to the experts. This workshop will bring together experts in taxation, immigration, international recruitment and economic development. Come discover how to access Quebec’s competitive tax credits as well as taping into local and international talent to build your dream team in one of the world’s biggest and most dynamic gaming hub: Québec! * This workshop is aimed at international studios wanting to learn more on expanding to North America.

Julien Cuny
Portfolio Director

Julien Cuny
Julien Cuny joined Google as Portfolio Director for Stadia Games and Entertainment in 2018. Prior to Google, he worked at Ubisoft for 10+ years and has worked on many major video game franchises.
With a dual background in marketing and production, Julien has held various roles over the years such as Head of Content for Assassin’s Creed and Global Brand Director for Far Cry.
Julien has also developed an expertise in the indie, mobile, and PC space thanks to various ventures he’s been involved over the years.
After living in Monaco, Paris, Montreal, and Toronto, Julien currently resides in Mountain View, California.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 14:30
Stadia
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Year in the life of a Stadia Game Developer. What can you expect as a developer looking to make a game for Stadia? Join us in this talk to learn how Stadia workflows compare to other platforms from Stadia Games and Entertainment developers who made the leap from traditional consoles in the past year. Drawing on our experience which spans AAA to indie development, we'll share tips, quirks, and cool new features arising when developing a game for Stadia. An Introduction to Stadia Games & Entertainment. Curious about how Stadia can help fund and publish your game? This is the talk you’re looking for: who are we, what are we looking for and how to work with Stadia Games & Entertainment. What is Stadia Makers? At Stadia, we are passionate about indie games, but when we initially launched Stadia last year, we had more studios apply to be a Stadia developer than we could work with at the time. So we focused on improving our tools and building programs like Stadia Makers to allow us to work with more developers and bring your awesome games to Stadia. In this talk, we'll give an overview of the Makers program, the benefits for developrs, criteria for having your game considered, share feedback from our first Stadia Makers devs, and tell you how to apply and have your game considered.

Julien Lallevé
Software Developer
EA

Julien Lallevé
Julien is a Software Developer at Motive. Passionate about the collaborative & creative craft of making games, he currently specializes on art workflows with the goal to empower team members to focus on their craft. He is a lead with the PRIDE Employee Resource Group in Montreal.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 09:45
Allyship: In EA games and in our communities.
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Our diverse group of panelists from across the EA globe are coming together to break down what you need to know about Allyship. Why is it important, and how can you start practicing today? Here’s an age-old secret to how you become a multiplier for success and progress in your workplace, and in your community.

Julien Lassonde
National Incentives Leader
PwC Canada

Julien Lassonde
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 11:00
The Dos and Don’ts of Opening a Studio in Québec
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - From international recruitment to tax credits, come ask your questions to the experts. This workshop will bring together experts in taxation, immigration, international recruitment and economic development. Come discover how to access Quebec’s competitive tax credits as well as taping into local and international talent to build your dream team in one of the world’s biggest and most dynamic gaming hub: Québec! * This workshop is aimed at international studios wanting to learn more on expanding to North America.

Karim Mounaim
Business Member Service Advisor
Desjardins

Karim Mounaim
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 12:30
The transition from employee to entrepreneur
PRESENTED IN FRENCH - Speakers from the Caisse du Complexe Desjardins will present the various financial elements to understand in order to be ready to go into business.

Kei Hirono
Series Producer of FINAL FANTASY BRAVE EXVIUS
Square Enix

Kei Hirono
Kei Hirono is the Producer of FINAL FANTASY BRAVE EXVIUS series.
Kei began his career at Bandai Namco Entertainment in 2002 as a publishing producer of DARK SOULS and has worked on many other games since then. In 2012, Kei joined SQUARE ENIX to produce the PC game Imperial SaGa and the live action TV show, JITSUZAI-SEI MILLION ARTHUR in addition to FINAL FANTASY BRAVE EXVIUS and WAR OF THE VISIONS FINAL FANTASY BRAVE EXVIUS. Kei also takes the role of Division Director of Division I, Creative Business Unit IV of SQUARE ENIX.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 11:45
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius: A Global Success Story
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Since its launch in 1987, Final Fantasy has become one of the most iconic names in video games. In this session, hear the story behind global success Final Fantasy Brave Exvius from the creative process to production challenges. Also gain insights on the future of mobile games, the potential offered by tactile screens, and what's to come for the Final Fantasy license on mobile.

Kirk Lakes
Business Development Manager for Stadia Games

Kirk Lakes
As a Business Development Manager for Stadia Games at Google, Kirk Lakes works with publishers and developers to build partnerships, maximize opportunities within Google, and bring awesome games to Stadia. Gaming has been a lifelong passion, and Kirk is driven by wanting to help creators find as large an audience as possible for their games. Since joining the industry, Kirk has worked on several major product launches and generation-defining game partnerships for platform holders. His first major role was working with Xbox and was there for the launch of Kinect and Xbox One. He then moved to PlayStation’s Third Party Relations team, where he managed publishers’ portfolios, AAA game partnerships, and worked on the launch of PlayStation VR, PS4 Pro, and the PlayStation Now streaming service. Prior to joining Google, Kirk was at Twitch, where he managed BD and strategy for platform studios (Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo) and global publishers.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 15:15
What is Stadia Makers?
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - At Stadia, we are passionate about indie games, but when we initially launched Stadia last year, we had more studios apply to be a Stadia developer than we could work with at the time. So we focused on improving our tools and building programs like Stadia Makers to allow us to work with more developers and bring your awesome games to Stadia. In this talk, we'll give an overview of the Makers program, the benefits for developrs, criteria for having your game considered, share feedback from our first Stadia Makers devs, and tell you how to apply and have your game considered.

Kjartan Emilsson
CTO/Co-founder
Mainframe Industries

Kjartan Emilsson
Kjartan Pierre Emilsson is the CTO and co-founder of cloud-gaming company Mainframe Industries. He previously was CEO and co-founder of Solfar Studios, a VR game company following his12 year long stint at CCP Games where he held various roles through the years from Lead Game Designer of EVE Online at its launch, Principal Game Designer and Studio Director at CCP Shanghai. Prior to that he was the CTO of OZ.com. He holds a Phd in Chaos Physics.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 10:30
Next Gen Tech Panel
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Building the future of gaming through tech.

Laurène Betard
Marketing Manager
Innoprofits Solution

Laurène Betard
After completing her B.A.A. in marketing and management, Laurène is in the process of completing her M.Sc. (management) in marketing at HEC Montreal. Passionate since her youth about the world of entertainment and more specifically video games, she decided to carry out her graduation project in a developing company that works with entrepreneurs in these fields. Her role as digital marketing manager complements her university experience and her associative implications by pushing her to go beyond the limits of her current academic knowledge and by teaching her more every day about innovative industries in Quebec. In her perpetual quest for new opportunities, she is involved in inspiring projects such as the MegaMigs conference and is not afraid to take up the challenges she or her company faces. Her adage: Together we go further because collaboration is the key to success.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 13:30
Craftsman or entrepreneur, why not both?
PRESENTED IN FRENCH - One observation was made, Quebec independent video games are of exceptional quality, but they don't always sell as well as expected. This conference aims to explore the reasons for this observation as well as to find possible solutions. -
13 November 2020 to 10:30
Craftsman or entrepreneur, why not both?
PRESENTED IN FRENCH - One observation was made, Quebec independent video games are of exceptional quality, but they don't always sell as well as expected. This conference aims to explore the reasons for this observation as well as to find possible solutions.

Laurent Mercure
Communications Manager
Chainsawesome Games
Laurent Mercure
Laurent Mercure has been working in the gaming industry in Quebec City for 7 years. He was first a community manager at Genia and then at Frima and is currently the communications manager at Chainsawesome Games. As such, he plans and executes all communication, community and marketing operations and works actively to finance the studio’s projects. Since their debut in 2013, Chainsawesome Games has already developed and marketed three games and is currently working on their fourth, Knight Squad 2. Laurent is a game enthusiast who is interested in all aspects of game creation from art direction to marketing strategy.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 11:00
INDIE SERIES: Please Wishlist : One click to rule them all
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Il y a une mégatonne de nouveaux jeux qui sortent chaque semaine. Si vous voulez avoir une chance de vous battre sur ce marché, vous devez avoir précommercialisé votre jeu, vous avez besoin que les gens sachent qu'il s'en vient. Quel est l’indicateur le plus important que vous ayez géré? Numéros des réseaux sociaux? Activité sur Discord? Non, ce sont les chiffres des listes de souhaits… et j'aurais aimé le savoir il y a deux ans. Ubisoft Indie Series presented by National Bank.

Leah Hoyer
Project Lead, Incubation
Bungie

Leah Hoyer
Leah Hoyer leads an incubation project at Bungie, and is Founder of Level Headed Games. She has developed and produced television series, video games, and interactive experiences for some of the world’s most successful companies (Disney, Xbox, Telltale Games) for nearly twenty years. She is passionate about supporting diverse voices in entertainment, and helping to make everyone feel that gaming is for them.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 09:45
Creating Creativity: Establishing an Environment for Innovation
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH

Liam Flookes
Programmer
Google Stadia

Liam Flookes
15 years of programming in the games industry, spanning AAA, indie, mobile, PC and console. Often affiliated with llamas.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 14:30
Stadia
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Year in the life of a Stadia Game Developer. What can you expect as a developer looking to make a game for Stadia? Join us in this talk to learn how Stadia workflows compare to other platforms from Stadia Games and Entertainment developers who made the leap from traditional consoles in the past year. Drawing on our experience which spans AAA to indie development, we'll share tips, quirks, and cool new features arising when developing a game for Stadia. An Introduction to Stadia Games & Entertainment. Curious about how Stadia can help fund and publish your game? This is the talk you’re looking for: who are we, what are we looking for and how to work with Stadia Games & Entertainment. What is Stadia Makers? At Stadia, we are passionate about indie games, but when we initially launched Stadia last year, we had more studios apply to be a Stadia developer than we could work with at the time. So we focused on improving our tools and building programs like Stadia Makers to allow us to work with more developers and bring your awesome games to Stadia. In this talk, we'll give an overview of the Makers program, the benefits for developrs, criteria for having your game considered, share feedback from our first Stadia Makers devs, and tell you how to apply and have your game considered.

Lindsey Rostal
Partner
Kowloon Nights

Lindsey Rostal
Partner at Kowloon Nights and Founder/Game Director at Timberline Studio, Lindsey Rostal has knowledge and experience on both sides of the table. She seeks to empower developers with unique voices and a cohesive vision by providing production advice and funding. Her background includes having produced and co-written the King’s Quest Episodic series and her studio’s upcoming dog-sledding survival game: The Red Lantern.
Host the following conferences
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11 November 2020 to 13:00
Investment Summit Panel
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH

Liz England
Team Lead Game Designer
Ubisoft Toronto

Liz England
Liz England is a Team Lead Game Designer at Ubisoft Toronto working on Watch Dogs: Legion. She specializes in bringing together game systems and narrative, and using the power of procedural generation to help create the “Play as Anyone” fantasy of the game. Prior to Ubisoft she’s worked on games such as Scribblenauts and Sunset Overdrive.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 14:30
The design and tech behind Play As Anyone in Watch Dogs: Legion
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Play As Anyone is a breakthrough feature in Watch Dogs: Legion developed by the team at Ubisoft Toronto in which players can recruit any character in the game’s open world. Christopher Dragert, team lead programmer, and Liz England, team lead game designer, break down the design and tech challenges behind how Play As Anyone was conceived, and how their teams brought this innovative feature to life.

Louis-Félix Cauchon
President and Founder
Boréalys

Louis-Félix Cauchon
Trained in communication and interactive media as well as in game design, Louis-Félix has worked in several professions including DJ, radio host, music director, web designer and event producer.
In 2010, he co-founded the video game company Artifice Studio which gave birth to the very first title based on Quebec culture and folklore, Sang-Froid, whose story was written by Bryan Perro and the music signed by the Charbonniers de l’Enfer and Nicolas Pellerin in particular. The title was a success selling over 300,000 copies all over the world.
In 2014, he co-founded the company Jeux Borealys which launched in 2017 its first game Mages of Mystralia, which is the first Quebec title to be distributed in China on the platform of the largest video game company in the world, Tencent. The story was written by Ed Greenwood who sold over 240M books all over the world and the soundtrack was performed and recorded by the Video Game Orchestra who recorded the music for titles such as Final Fantasy XV.
In 2015, he co-founded and became president of The Guild of Independent Video Game Developers which is a non-profit cooperative of producers. From its foundation, the group became the largest official group of independent video game developers in the world with more than 189 member companies in Quebec. Through La Guilde, Louis-Félix created the MÉGA festival, The Musical Odyssey of Video Games and JamNATION.
Louis-Félix has been teaching at university since 2008 and is currently working on the next Borealys Games game which is yet to be announced.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 10:45
The French language in the video game industry: cultural identity and commercial opportunity
PRESENTED IN FRENCH - L'utilisation du français au travail dans l'industrie du jeu vidéo est une valeur importante pour de nombreux studios. La langue française peut aussi représenter un élément différenciateur pour certains jeux afin d’atteindre de nouveaux joueurs et de nouvelles communautés. Il n’y a qu’à penser à l’énorme bassin que représente l’Afrique. En collaboration avec le Consulat de France à Québec, La Guilde vous invite à découvrir des acteurs engagés dans l’utilisation du français dans le milieu du jeu vidéo. À cette occasion, de nouveaux projets financés par l’Office québécois de la langue française pour encourager l’utilisation du français seront annoncés. Les employés et les cadres de l'industrie seront invités à collaborer afin de mettre à jour la terminologie du jeu vidéo, tandis que les autres encourageront les consommateurs à jouer en français et à leur faire découvrir les terminologies françaises des mots utilisés par l’industrie et ce, de façon ludique.

Louise Bonnamy
User Research Manager
Square Enix Montréal

Louise Bonnamy
Louise Bonnamy is the User Research Manager at Square Enix Montréal.
For over 15 years she has worked to improve the User Experience (UX) by integrating them as early and as often as possible into the product and game design process. She is interested in the many and exciting challenges that mobile gaming offers.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 09:45
Seeing Beyond Data: How to Really Understand your Players
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - This talk will demystify the limits and potential of user data. Having plenty of data about players activity does not necessarily uncover the blockers that prevent players from fully enjoying your game. Analytics provide tons of information about what is happening, but not about how or why it happens. Data also won’t reveal how players perceive and live the experience. Running a diary study is one of the (many) possible ways to better understand players and make informed decisions. Learn about this effective approach and the value it can bring to any user. research or development team.

Luc Beaulieu
Head of Games, America
Unity Technologies

Luc Beaulieu
Head of Games at Unity, my main mission is to drive the democratization of video game development across America. From building relationships with the largest studios from the industry and sharing their expertise to supporting indies in their creations across all platforms.
Fueled by 25 years of experience in technologies, I’ve collaborated with the main actors in the video game industry for more than 10 years as the CTO at Frima Studio and now at Unity.
As a passionate gamer as well, my values allowed me to build lasting relationships that have stood the test of time.

Maize Longboat
Game Developer
Maize Longboat

Maize Longboat
Maize Longboat is Kanien’kehá:ka from Six Nations of the Grand River and was raised on the unceded territory of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nation near Vancouver, BC. He holds an MA in Media Studies from Concordia University where he studied Indigenous videogame development and created Terra Nova, an award-winning cooperative platformer with an interactive narrative.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 12:30
PATHWAYS: Working with Indigenous Cultures and Content
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - This roundtable discussion from imagineNATIVE centers on best practices for creators when depicting Indigenous content on screen, and how communities can be collaborative partners.

Manea Castet
Lead Producer
Gameloft Montréal

Manea Castet
Producer & Entrepreneur with 10 years of expertise in the mobile game industry, Manea Castet is the Lead Producer and Senior Producer at the Gameloft Montreal studio.
Originally from Tahiti and an avid player since his youth, he is passionate about games and their ability to tell stories and bring joy to players. In high school, it became evident to him to make a profession out of his passion.
Manea started his career in 2006 as a Game Designer in Belgium and then in France. He then co-founded with two collaborators BYOOK, a company specializing in mobile games and apps. He would also teach mobile game design at the renowned French video game school Rubika.
In 2016, Manea joined the Gameloft Montreal studio as Senior Game Designer. Since his arrival, he has contributed to many major projects, including Gameloft’s biggest titles.
Now working on a new thrilling cross-platforms game with some of the world’s biggest franchises, Manea has a central role in producing our games where he advises and supports the various producers and game teams.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 16:00
Cross-platform games: The production challenges
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - This panel will discuss the subject of cross-platform games, their advantages for the player, the differences in planning and production processes compared to 'classic' games as well as the best practices to be implemented.

Marilou Loncol Daigneault
Analyst
Telefilm Canada

Marilou Loncol Daigneault
Every year, Marilou evaluates about sixty project proposals submitted to the CMF’s Experimental Stream. She brings nearly 15 years of consulting analysis and project management in the creative industries. Her project financing experience spans over a dozen financing programs from Ontario’s Ministry of Culture, Creative Ontario and now the CMF. She also managed mobile and web productions for Turbulent Media.
Host the following conferences
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11 November 2020 to 13:00
A practical approach to completing a compelling CMF funding application
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - With an emphasis on the CMF’s Experimental Stream, Prototyping Program, our most popular and competitive program for video games creators, this session aims to deliver practical guidance and tips to studios preparing to submit a funding application. Hear from the CMF team on ways to ensure your project stands out!

Marwan Bitar
Partner
Innoprofits Solution

Marwan Bitar
A converted technology entrepreneur, founder of Innoprofits, lecturer in financing and entrepreneurship at the École Polytechnique and lecturer, Marwan Bitar understands and optimizes the financial aspect of technology companies. He acts alongside entrepreneurs to give them the means to achieve their goals. He has made his mark by creating significant leverage for a large number of Quebec start-ups and indie studios. With his team specializing in tax credits and grants, he has to his credit the largest number of tax credit claims for indie studios in Quebec.
Innoprofits is the only firm that knows how to brilliantly maximize Multimedia, SR&ED tax credits with the CMF with amounts claimed much higher than the competition and an unequalled success rate of 100%.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 14:00
How to multiply your studio’s money to go far?
PRESENTED IN FRENCH - This conference focuses on public funding in the Quebec video game industry. It aims to explain how to use funding to propel your studio even further.

Matthieu Dupont
Studio Manager
Gameloft Montréal

Matthieu Dupont
Since he arrived at the beginning of 2019 as studio manager, Matthieu Dupont has devoted his energy to creating all the necessary conditions for Gameloft Montreal to flourish and for its products to succeed. Before crossing the Atlantic, he worked in several important positions at Gameloft’s headquarters in Paris and was actively involved in the success of the company’s games, particularly the Dungeon Hunter franchise. Matthieu currently leads the production several games, some of which are Gameloft originals while others are partnerships with top licensors.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 14:30
Head of studio Panel: Montreal, Mobile Hub
PRESENTED IN FRENCH - Mobile games represent 50% of the global game market. With more than 1.4 billion players worldwide, the growth of the mobile sector plays a key role in positioning Montreal as an international hub of video game development. Soon all players will be only a tap away from a whole world of console-quality games. Patrick Naud (Square Enix Montréal), Matthieu Dupont (Gameloft Montreal) and Alexandre Thabet (Ludia) will discuss the immense success of mobile games developed in Montreal, the potential for innovation for mobile platforms, major industry trends, and more.

Maxime Raynaud
Game Security Programmer
Ubisoft Montréal

Maxime Raynaud
Maxime Raynaud is a Game Security Programmer at Ubisoft Montréal. Prior to joining Ubisoft, he worked for 7 years in the defense industry as a Security Software Engineer where he acquired an expertise in C++ programming, operating system internals and malware threats. He is now applying his knowledge and experience to the video game industry challenges, in anti-piracy and anti-cheat.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 15:30
How we secure games at Ubisoft
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - This talk will give you a sneak peek at how a wide variety of security actors work behind the curtain to ensure the safest player’s experience in all our games. From the conception of a fictional game to its production and live operations, we will describe various threats that need to be addressed along the way. Is Game Security a witch-hunt against cheaters?

May Ling Tan
Game Designer
Stadia

May Ling Tan
Game designer with a passion for social and inclusive design. Previously worked on titles like Ghost Recon Phantoms, Watch Dogs 2, Star Wars: Battlefront 2, and Hyper Scape.

Melissa Johns
Coordinator
imagineNATIVE

Melissa Johns
Melissa Johns is from a mixed Mohawk (Turtle Clan) and French Canadian background, and is currently based in Toronto ON. She is an multimedia visual artist and educator specializing in virtual reality installations, digital painting, and video art. Having completed her B.A in Fine Arts & Business at the University of Waterloo, as well as an Advanced Diploma in 3D Animation from Humber College, she is pursuing a Master’s in Interdisciplinary Art from OCAD University. Melissa’s visual practice manifests at the convergence of contemporary media, using interdisciplinary methods to collect, preserve, and transform fragments of the stories around her. At imagineNATIVE, she is passionate about making new media accessible to audiences, and delights in introducing viewers to interactive experiences for the first time.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 12:30
PATHWAYS: Working with Indigenous Cultures and Content
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - This roundtable discussion from imagineNATIVE centers on best practices for creators when depicting Indigenous content on screen, and how communities can be collaborative partners.

Melissa Prophète
Director, Fiscal Measures – Montreal
Investissement Québec

Melissa Prophète
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 11:00
The Dos and Don’ts of Opening a Studio in Québec
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - From international recruitment to tax credits, come ask your questions to the experts. This workshop will bring together experts in taxation, immigration, international recruitment and economic development. Come discover how to access Quebec’s competitive tax credits as well as taping into local and international talent to build your dream team in one of the world’s biggest and most dynamic gaming hub: Québec! * This workshop is aimed at international studios wanting to learn more on expanding to North America.

Michael Cheung
General Partner
Makers Fund

Michael Cheung
Michael is a General Partner at Makers Fund. He helped to found Makers in 2017, a fund dedicated to investing in and supporting creators who are building the future of Interactive Entertainment.
Michael previously spent the last decade helping companies grow and scale internationally in the Interactive Entertainment sector. An engineer at heart, he was a Senior Director at Tencent and before that a Data Scientist working with companies in the Entertainment and Gaming industry.
Host the following conferences
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11 November 2020 to 13:00
Investment Summit Panel
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH

Michel Gélinas
Partner
Davies

Michel Gélinas
Michel Gélinas is a partner at Davies. He focuses on domestic and cross-border M&A, private equity, venture capital and corporate finance transactions, especially in the video game and technology industry.
Michel has extensive experience representing U.S., European and other international clients investing in Canada, as well as Canadian clients investing abroad. Earlier in his career, Michel practised corporate and securities law in New York.
Michel also serves as de facto general counsel to Canadian privately held companies providing general business law advice, including on raising capital and financing, licensing and distribution, negotiating commercial agreements, executive employment law, and IP.
Host the following conferences
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11 November 2020 to 15:00
Financing or selling your studio – Be prepared!
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Do you own a studio or are you thinking of starting your own? Maybe as a creative genius , your games have huge success, but do you have the right strategy to maximize the value of your business? The video game industry is trending upward for private equity firms and other investors. You must be prepared to either respond or solicit an offer. The discussion will be led by Michel Gélinas, a partner at Davies who has solid experience in sales & acquisitions in the video game and technology industry.

Nadine Gelly
Executive manager
La Guilde du jeu vidéo du Québec
Nadine Gelly
Working in Quebec’s tourism and cultural industries for more than 20 years, Nadine was the general manager of La Vitrine culturelle de Montréal for more than 10 years and participated in the creation of an environment conducive to the development and influence of Montreal entrepreneurs in the fields of content creation and technology in the creativity and entertainment sector as the general manager of Hub créatif Zú, Guy Laliberté’s flagship Montreal project. She now holds the position of Executive Director of the La Guilde du jeu vidéo du Québec, which has more than 245 members and whose mission is to promote the video game industry locally and internationally and to support its development as a global hub. Quality of the workforce, training, recruitment, diversity, creativity, innovation, support for entrepreneurship, export, outreach and member growth are her leitmotifs.
Concerned about all opportunities for arts-business networking and actively involved in various creative projects and the place of women in key positions, Nadine sits on the board of directors as vice-president of the Festival international de la chanson de Granby, on the board of directors of Concertation Montréal as treasurer, is president of the governance committee of the Synthèse project, pôle image Québec, acts as a director on the boards of La Ruche, CEGEP du Vieux-Montréal and Antenne créative and also sits on various committees, including the Cravates Roses.
Host the following conferences
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25 September 2020 to 14:00
Private: How to create your own studio
Presented in french. Whether you're just graduating or have been working in a AAA studio for ten years, the thought of opening your own studio has been with you for quite some time. But if knowing how to play good games is your cup of tea, knowing how to do business is another matter. CEIM and La Guilde du jeu vidéo du Québec invite you to a webinar that will give you an overview of the multiple facets to consider in order to make your business a success: • Legal structure and contracts (Incorporation? Why? Employees or contractors?) • Financing (Tax credits, VCs, NRC, FMC, R&D...Who is it? Servicing or not?) • Human resources (Who do we pay, how much? How and where do we find the dream team? Company culture? Work climate?) • Production management (Are you looking for feature creeping? How do you deliver on time and within budget?) • Sales and marketing (To drink you have to sell: know your target customers...and your competitors. And the publishers?) You will have the opportunity to ask all the questions that are burning your lips! This virtual training will take place during the MEGAMIGS - careers and training on September 25th at 2pm - free entrance - duration 1h30. Book now! -
13 November 2020 to 10:45
The French language in the video game industry: cultural identity and commercial opportunity
PRESENTED IN FRENCH - L'utilisation du français au travail dans l'industrie du jeu vidéo est une valeur importante pour de nombreux studios. La langue française peut aussi représenter un élément différenciateur pour certains jeux afin d’atteindre de nouveaux joueurs et de nouvelles communautés. Il n’y a qu’à penser à l’énorme bassin que représente l’Afrique. En collaboration avec le Consulat de France à Québec, La Guilde vous invite à découvrir des acteurs engagés dans l’utilisation du français dans le milieu du jeu vidéo. À cette occasion, de nouveaux projets financés par l’Office québécois de la langue française pour encourager l’utilisation du français seront annoncés. Les employés et les cadres de l'industrie seront invités à collaborer afin de mettre à jour la terminologie du jeu vidéo, tandis que les autres encourageront les consommateurs à jouer en français et à leur faire découvrir les terminologies françaises des mots utilisés par l’industrie et ce, de façon ludique. -
11 November 2020 to 15:00
Financing or selling your studio – Be prepared!
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Do you own a studio or are you thinking of starting your own? Maybe as a creative genius , your games have huge success, but do you have the right strategy to maximize the value of your business? The video game industry is trending upward for private equity firms and other investors. You must be prepared to either respond or solicit an offer. The discussion will be led by Michel Gélinas, a partner at Davies who has solid experience in sales & acquisitions in the video game and technology industry.

Neil Alphonso
Studio Creative Director
Splash Damage

Neil Alphonso
Neil Alphonso is the Studio Creative Director at Splash Damage in London, and plays a key role in nurturing the studio’s home-grown games, such as Outcasters, a brand-new title coming to Stadia. During Neil’s successful 12-year career at Splash Damage he has been integral in bringing titles like Dirty Bomb, Batman: Arkham Origins multiplayer and BRINK to fruition. Neil’s globe-trotting career actually started in Montreal with the original Tom Clancy’s: Splinter Cell at Ubisoft, eventually crossed an ocean to work on Killzone 2 at Guerrilla Games, before finally heading to London.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 10:30
Creativity Panel
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Presented by Electronic Arts (EA). Breaking the barriers of creativity with innovation.

Nick Mitchell
Vice President of Legal
Wizards of the Coast

Nick Mitchell
Nick Mitchell is the Vice President of Legal for Wizards of the Coast, the tabletop and digital publisher for Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons.
Nick oversees Wizards’ global legal operations including IP management, litigation, corporate governance, esports, and data security, privacy and compliance.
In his prior life, Nick represented game developers, publishers and content creators. He also did a stint at Xbox where he supported inbound licensing initiatives for 1st party games and Xbox Live and the launch of Xbox 360.
When not fighting dragons, Nick has been known to teach law and occasionally speak on legal issues and the game industry.
Host the following conferences
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11 November 2020 to 15:00
Financing or selling your studio – Be prepared!
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Do you own a studio or are you thinking of starting your own? Maybe as a creative genius , your games have huge success, but do you have the right strategy to maximize the value of your business? The video game industry is trending upward for private equity firms and other investors. You must be prepared to either respond or solicit an offer. The discussion will be led by Michel Gélinas, a partner at Davies who has solid experience in sales & acquisitions in the video game and technology industry.

Nikolas Duval-Gagnon
Project Manager
Innoprofits Solution

Nikolas Duval-Gagnon
Holder of a M.Sc. (management) in strategy, a B.A.A. in marketing and a technique in music. Nikolas is particularly interested in experience and innovation in the fields of entertainment, multimedia, art and culture. Nikolas has been mandated by the FRQRS to work on a research project on the impact of digital in the cultural sector. After conducting several case studies on the sociofiancing in independent music groups, he presented his findings as a speaker at the 87th edition of the Acfas congress. Focused on performance and creativity, winner of several mentions for academic excellence, and an idealist for multiple events, he uses this knowledge as a project manager at Innoprofits to push the limits of companies in the same industry.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 13:30
Craftsman or entrepreneur, why not both?
PRESENTED IN FRENCH - One observation was made, Quebec independent video games are of exceptional quality, but they don't always sell as well as expected. This conference aims to explore the reasons for this observation as well as to find possible solutions. -
13 November 2020 to 10:30
Craftsman or entrepreneur, why not both?
PRESENTED IN FRENCH - One observation was made, Quebec independent video games are of exceptional quality, but they don't always sell as well as expected. This conference aims to explore the reasons for this observation as well as to find possible solutions.

Olivier Groulx
Graphics Programmer

Olivier Groulx
Olivier is a graphics programmer at Stadia Games & Entertainment. Prior to joining Google, he works at Typhoon Studios, where he takes part in the development of Journey to the Savage Planet. Previously, he worked at Eidos Montreal on a few projects, one of which being Deus Ex : Mankind Divided, and at Behaviour Interactive.
He was also a Flash programmer during its golden era, working notably with Mecano and Sidlee on various games and interactive websites.

Oskar Guilbert
CEO
Dontnod
Oskar Guilbert
Oskar Guilbert is the CEO and founder of DONTNOD Entertainment, the studio that created Life is Strange, Vampyr and Remember Me and is releasing two new productions this year, Twin Mirror, the first self-published game by the studio, and Tell Me Why published by Microsoft. Oskar founded the studio twelve years ago and floated it on the stock market in May 2018. Prior to DONTNOD, he worked at Ubisoft and Criterion (EA). These studies led to a PhD thesis in Computer Science. He also taught at university before joining the video game industry.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 15:15
Leadership Panel
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Building and Managing Teams in 2020.

Pascal Forget
Journalist / Tech Reporter
Freelance

Pascal Forget
Pascal Forget is a tech columnist. For more than twenty years, he has been seen, heard, and read on La revanche des nerdz, Les affaires, pascalforget.com and the podcast Une tasse de tech.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 14:30
Head of studio Panel: Montreal, Mobile Hub
PRESENTED IN FRENCH - Mobile games represent 50% of the global game market. With more than 1.4 billion players worldwide, the growth of the mobile sector plays a key role in positioning Montreal as an international hub of video game development. Soon all players will be only a tap away from a whole world of console-quality games. Patrick Naud (Square Enix Montréal), Matthieu Dupont (Gameloft Montreal) and Alexandre Thabet (Ludia) will discuss the immense success of mobile games developed in Montreal, the potential for innovation for mobile platforms, major industry trends, and more.

Patrick Naud
Head of Studio
Square Enix Montréal

Patrick Naud
Patrick Naud has over 20 years of video game industry experience. Today, as Head of Mobile for the Square Enix Group and Head of Studio for Square Enix Montréal, he helms mobile development for Square Enix in Canada, the US, and Europe, overseeing product and business strategies. Under Patrick’s leadership, Square Enix Montréal launched the highly successful and award-winning GO trilogy (Lara Croft GO, Hitman GO, Deus EX GO) and Hitman Sniper.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 14:30
Head of studio Panel: Montreal, Mobile Hub
PRESENTED IN FRENCH - Mobile games represent 50% of the global game market. With more than 1.4 billion players worldwide, the growth of the mobile sector plays a key role in positioning Montreal as an international hub of video game development. Soon all players will be only a tap away from a whole world of console-quality games. Patrick Naud (Square Enix Montréal), Matthieu Dupont (Gameloft Montreal) and Alexandre Thabet (Ludia) will discuss the immense success of mobile games developed in Montreal, the potential for innovation for mobile platforms, major industry trends, and more.

Paula Neves
Senior Product Manager
Square Enix Montréal

Paula Neves
Paula Neves is a gamer turned psychologist turned UA specialist turned Product Manager. She has 12 years of experience leading user acquisition for different products, out of which 7 in the gaming industry. In her current role, she leads the management of 2 products at Square Enix Montréal, from their pre-concept phase to launches to production and live-ops phases.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 16:15
Behavioral Economics in Free to Play Games
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - In this talk you will learn what are decoy pricing, anchoring and priming and how can these concepts be applied in your Free to Play game. You will also gain insights on the endowment effect and need for reciprocity. Find out which well known (and lesser know) pricing techniques you should apply to your IAP shop or subscription model.

Pauline Zampolini
Game Community Manager
WB Games Montréal

Pauline Zampolini
Pauline joined WB Games Montreal in February 2020 and is deploying all her community management know-how on the studio’s next AAA, Gotham Knights, announced in the summer of 2020.
Originally from Amiens, France and living in Montreal since 2015, Pauline is a recent graduate of UQAM where she has just completed her Master’s degree in Communication, focusing on video games with her thesis on “Gender Dynamics and the Place of Women in the Video Game Community of Meltdown Montreal”.
Passionate about games, cinema and all the social issues related to diversity, her approach to communications in our industry is resolutely inclusive.
Prior to joining WB Games Montreal, Pauline contributed to Multijoueur.ca for 3 years as a writer and social network manager. She then worked as a freelancer for RDS Jeux Vidéo, then as a community manager and communications manager at Gameloft.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 10:00
Engage with the community: Appropriation of pop-culture characters by fans
Pauline Zampolini, our Community Manager, will present her background and her approach to building a community and interacting it following the announcement of the new AAA, Gotham Knights, from WB Games Montreal, last summer. Pauline will be focusing on Fan Art and how fans interpret characters with strong identities like Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing and Redhood.

Philippe Nadeau
Director - Private Investments
Distinction Capital

Philippe Nadeau
Philippe Nadeau is Director – Private Equity at Distinction Capital. He joined the team in October 2018 to define, implement and execute a private equity strategy. Prior to that, he spent more than six years in the Private Equity group at Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, where he was instrumental in the completion of a number of initiatives, including the opening of the London office and the European expansion of the Quebec institution’s activities.
Host the following conferences
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11 November 2020 to 15:00
Financing or selling your studio – Be prepared!
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Do you own a studio or are you thinking of starting your own? Maybe as a creative genius , your games have huge success, but do you have the right strategy to maximize the value of your business? The video game industry is trending upward for private equity firms and other investors. You must be prepared to either respond or solicit an offer. The discussion will be led by Michel Gélinas, a partner at Davies who has solid experience in sales & acquisitions in the video game and technology industry.

Philippe Valentine
Project Director, Europe - Foreign Investments
Montréal International

Philippe Valentine
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 11:30
Discover why Quebec is one of the world’s top gaming hubs
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Highly skilled talent, affordable operating expense, booming ecosystem and advantageous tax credits: all the more reasons to make Québec your next destination! * This workshop is aimed at international studios wanting to learn more on expanding to North America.

Pierre André Gervais
Conseiller en assurances et rentes collectives
Avec Assurance

Pierre André Gervais
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 13:30
La Guilde du jeu vidéo du Québec’s Group Benefits plan
PRESENTED IN FRENCH AND IN ENGLISH - Learn more about the Group Benefits plan sponsored by La Guilde! This presentation will describe how the plan works, the benefits offered and provide a cost illustration. Meant for studios established in the province of Quebec or those planning on hiring in Quebec. Presentation in French first, then in English from 2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Rebekah Saltsman
CEO/Co-founder
Finji

Rebekah Saltsman
Rebekah is the CEO and co-founder of Finji, an independent development studio and publisher. Finji has published several award-winning indie games including ‘Canabalt’, ‘Hundreds’, ‘Feist’, ‘Panoramical’, Night in the Woods and ‘Overland’, and are currently hard at work supporting Andrew Shouldice’s ‘Tunic and Chicory: A Colorful Tale, as well as, several unannounced projects. Rebekah is a co-designer on Overland and manages all of the console and storefront relationships and initiatives for Finji’s internal and partner publishing projects. Rebekah’s career began in media relations before working as a technical writer and product manager in the photography software industry. She moved into games in 2008 with the support of her husband and Finji co-founder, Adam, and she managed the finances and porting partnerships for Semi Secret Software. Rebekah loves to write, run long distances, and spend as much time as possible at Lake Michigan every summer with her and Adam’s two beautiful chaotic boys.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 15:15
Business And Marketing Panel
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Developing community as your engine for success.

Renee Gittins
Executive Director
IGDA

Renee Gittins
Renee Gittins is the Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) from July 2019, succeeding Jennifer MacLean. She also serves as Creative Director at her indie game studio, Stumbling Cat, which is developing the game Potions: A Curious Tale. Renee Gittins is the daughter of Carol Gittins and the Olympian, Boyd Gittins. She received her degree in engineering from Harvey Mudd College in May 2012 and worked in biotechnology prior to joining the game industry. Prior to her appointment as Executive Director, Gittins served on the IGDA’s executive board as secretary and started her company, Stumbling Cat, in 2014. As Executive Director, Gittins promised to focus on sustainable careers and inclusion within the game industry, and has taken a strong stance against the significant overtime hours worked within the game industry. Gittins was named as part of the Forbes 30 Under 30 class of 2020 in Games.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 12:00
Creativity Chat
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH -
12 November 2020 to 10:30
Creativity Panel
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Presented by Electronic Arts (EA). Breaking the barriers of creativity with innovation.

Richard Henkel
CEO
Odyssey Interactive

Richard Henkel
Richard is the CEO of Odyssey Interactive, a new Canada based game dev studio that he founded with 3 former peers & friends from Riot Games. Richard spent a little over 5 years at Riot, 4 years serving as the product lead of the Summoner’s Rift Gameplay Team on League of Legends, and then as the co-product lead for the game “Teamfight Tactics” from ideation > live ops. After experiencing the power and magic of working on a small high powered team with a clear goal to shoot for, Richard dreamed of replicating the best parts of Riot in a smaller studio setting, and thus the dream for Odyssey Interactive was born.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 15:15
Business And Marketing Panel
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Developing community as your engine for success.

Ritesh Khanna
Chief Executive Officer and Founder
Clipwire Games

Ritesh Khanna
Ritesh Khanna is Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Clipwire Games, a fast growing mobile games studio in Toronto. Ritesh is responsible for leading the design and engineering teams — facilitating the ideation, building, and growth of Clipwire’s high-performing mobile games. Prior to Clipwire Games, Ritesh was an early employee at Zynga, where he ran the MMO games division and founded the original office in Toronto.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 11:45
Secrets to Clipwire Games’ Success
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Get to know Clipwire Games' CEO and founder Ritesh Khanna, who shares his studios' rise to success. Khanna, who was an early employee at Zynga, talks about what it takes to make a massive hit game like Bingo Story while fostering a positive culture at his Toronto-based company. Find out what it takes to run a high-growth game studio that consistently builds impactful and engaging games.

Robin Hunicke
CEO/Co-founder
Funomena

Robin Hunicke
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 09:45
Creating Creativity: Establishing an Environment for Innovation
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH

Sabrina Bouchard
Business Development Director – Foreign Investment,
Québec International

Sabrina Bouchard
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 11:30
Discover why Quebec is one of the world’s top gaming hubs
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Highly skilled talent, affordable operating expense, booming ecosystem and advantageous tax credits: all the more reasons to make Québec your next destination! * This workshop is aimed at international studios wanting to learn more on expanding to North America.

Sabrina Carmona
Executive Producer
King

Sabrina Carmona
Sabrina Carmona has been a producer for over 10 years and is now the Executive Producer, Senior Director at Farm Heroes Saga at King. From having her own studio back in Sao Paulo, where she is originally from, she has led the development of games from mobile to console, from companies like Square Enix to King, in a total of 6 countries: Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Germany Sweden and now the UK. Whether it is in Portuguese, English or Spanish, she is passionate on creating the right environment to enable culturally diverse teams to do what they do best: make games.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 15:15
Leadership Panel
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Building and Managing Teams in 2020.

Sebastien Nadeau
Head of technology
Breaking Walls

Sebastien Nadeau
Sebastien is an experienced entrepreneur and technology manager with over 15 years of experience in domains such as video games, film and healthcare. He kicked off his career working on game cinematics for a number of AAA games including Prince of Persia and Assassin’s Creed. His next endeavor was in the field of medical imaging simulation with the development of the Vimedix, which, following its success, was soon acquired by CAE. He went on to launch several other projects, during the course of which he has raised capital with various public and private funds. Today, he is one of the founders and the Head of Technology at Breaking Walls, an indie game development studio that is currently working on AWAY: The Survival Series, and has overseen the development and funding efforts for the company.
Host the following conferences
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11 November 2020 to 09:30
Public and private money for indie games project financing
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Breaking walls, a Montréal based indie studio will describe how they managed to successfully bind together a private project financing investor and a CMF-FMC investment for their upcoming title Away: the survival series.

Seth Sivak
CEO
Proletariat

Seth Sivak
Seth is the CEO of Proletariat Inc., a 100 person strong independent studio in Boston focused on building innovative multiplayer games. Over the last 8 years Proletariat has built and released several games, starting in mobile with World Zombination in 2015 to most recently releasing Spellbreak in September, 2020. Prior to Proletariat, Seth started in the industry as a gameplay engineer but has been a product manager, lead designer, and executive producer on various projects.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 16:45
Business And Marketing Chat
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH

Sidick Bakayoko
Founder
Studio Paradise Game/ festival FEJA in Ivory Coast

Sidick Bakayoko
Sidick Bakayoko is the Founder and CEO of Paradise Game, an Ivorian company with a mission to Entertain, Educate and Empower young Africans. Paradise Game’s vision is to engage and influence 200 Million young Africans using video games in the next 5 years.
Paradise Game is the beacon for esports and video games in West Africa. Paradise Game presents activity centers in significant malls, hosts video game events & festivals, produces gaming multimedia content and supports African game developers across the continent. In 2017, Paradise Game started FEJA, one of the biggest video game event in Africa offering business conferences and major esports tournaments to participants from 10+ countries. In 2018, Paradise Game initiated the “Africa Corner” a space to promote 15+ African video game studios at major events such as Paris Games Week.
Sidick is on the board of the African Game Developers Association. Earlier in his career, he led the sales and marketing efforts of mobile value-added service provider DIGITAL AFRIQUE TELECOM (DAT) in 27 African countries. He also led the marketing efforts of the revolutionary mobile backup application ClickOVA alongside SCANBUY founder Olivier Attia in New York city back in 2007.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 10:45
The French language in the video game industry: cultural identity and commercial opportunity
PRESENTED IN FRENCH - L'utilisation du français au travail dans l'industrie du jeu vidéo est une valeur importante pour de nombreux studios. La langue française peut aussi représenter un élément différenciateur pour certains jeux afin d’atteindre de nouveaux joueurs et de nouvelles communautés. Il n’y a qu’à penser à l’énorme bassin que représente l’Afrique. En collaboration avec le Consulat de France à Québec, La Guilde vous invite à découvrir des acteurs engagés dans l’utilisation du français dans le milieu du jeu vidéo. À cette occasion, de nouveaux projets financés par l’Office québécois de la langue française pour encourager l’utilisation du français seront annoncés. Les employés et les cadres de l'industrie seront invités à collaborer afin de mettre à jour la terminologie du jeu vidéo, tandis que les autres encourageront les consommateurs à jouer en français et à leur faire découvrir les terminologies françaises des mots utilisés par l’industrie et ce, de façon ludique.

Sophie Guindon
Multimedia Project Manager
Bibliothèque nationale de France - Publishing Department

Sophie Guindon
Sophie Guindon is Multimedia Project Manager at the Bibliothèque nationale de France for “”The Kingdom of Istyald””, the first video game published by the BnF.
“”The Kingdom of Istyald”” is a richly illustrated, narrative and immersive adventure video game. Available online on the BnF website devoted to Fantasy (“”Fantasy, A Once and Future Genre””), it offers the player the opportunity to explore a fantastic universe. Accompanied by a mysterious witch, the player makes numerous encounters, finds wonderful objects, and solves puzzles to meet a huge challenge: The Tree of Knowledge, the source of all wisdom, is dying. With him, the very equilibrium of Istyald’s world is threatened. And it’s up to the player to find a way to save him. Doors to open, enemies to defeat, objects to collect and reuse later, sentences written in strange languages that must be translated, enchantments to be lifted … The solution of a riddle posed in a place is almost always found in another place, and you have to strike up a conversation with the locals to get valuable clues and other information.
https://fantasy.bnf.fr/en/play
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 10:45
The French language in the video game industry: cultural identity and commercial opportunity
PRESENTED IN FRENCH - L'utilisation du français au travail dans l'industrie du jeu vidéo est une valeur importante pour de nombreux studios. La langue française peut aussi représenter un élément différenciateur pour certains jeux afin d’atteindre de nouveaux joueurs et de nouvelles communautés. Il n’y a qu’à penser à l’énorme bassin que représente l’Afrique. En collaboration avec le Consulat de France à Québec, La Guilde vous invite à découvrir des acteurs engagés dans l’utilisation du français dans le milieu du jeu vidéo. À cette occasion, de nouveaux projets financés par l’Office québécois de la langue française pour encourager l’utilisation du français seront annoncés. Les employés et les cadres de l'industrie seront invités à collaborer afin de mettre à jour la terminologie du jeu vidéo, tandis que les autres encourageront les consommateurs à jouer en français et à leur faire découvrir les terminologies françaises des mots utilisés par l’industrie et ce, de façon ludique.

Stefan Beauchamp-Daniel
Producer
Behaviour Interactive

Stefan Beauchamp-Daniel
Stefan Beauchamp, producer at Behaviour Interactive, has over ten years of experience in game development. He is currently overseeing all aspects of production on Dead By Daylight, having the joined the project shortly before its launch in 2016. Having seen the game evolve from a single platform launch (Steam) to the cross-platform monster it has become over the years, he has a good understanding of the challenges & complexity involved in multi-platform development. Prior to this, while still at Behaviour Interactive, he had worked with multiple external partners on various development and co-development projects, on titles such as FarCry 3 (Ubisoft), Halo Waypoint (Microsoft) & Star Citizen (Cloud Imperium Games).
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 16:00
Cross-platform games: The production challenges
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - This panel will discuss the subject of cross-platform games, their advantages for the player, the differences in planning and production processes compared to 'classic' games as well as the best practices to be implemented.

Stéphane Cosentino
National Executive Director, Experimental Segment, CMF Program Administrator
Telefilm Canada

Stéphane Cosentino
Stéphane Cosentino has been working in the film, television and digital-media sector for more than 20 years. He has substantial experience in financing as well as in entertainment law. Stéphane spent the first part of his career as a lawyer in Telefilm’s Legal Services department, where he served for more than 15 years. In 2006, he was appointed Deputy Director within the French market television team. In 2010, he was appointed National Deputy Director of the Experimental Stream. He manages a national multidisciplinary team whose mandate is to select and invest in innovative new-technology projects.
Host the following conferences
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11 November 2020 to 13:00
A practical approach to completing a compelling CMF funding application
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - With an emphasis on the CMF’s Experimental Stream, Prototyping Program, our most popular and competitive program for video games creators, this session aims to deliver practical guidance and tips to studios preparing to submit a funding application. Hear from the CMF team on ways to ensure your project stands out!

Steve Sobel
Global Industry Leader for Media & Entertainment
Databricks

Steve Sobel
Steve Sobel is the Global Industry Leader for Media & Entertainment at Databricks where he is charged with solution development, customer/partner engagement and account support and for some of the world’s most prominent media & entertainment organizations spanning agencies & advertising, broadcasting & film, publishing, gaming, sports & entertainment and new media. Steve works closely with strategic customers across the globe to translate what Databricks does and closely align platform use cases to help industry customers drive revenue and operational efficiency through more efficient use of their big data with Databrick’s Unified Data Analytics Platform
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 10:30
Azure Databricks – Better Gaming Outcomes
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Learn how some of the top names in gaming are using Azure Databricks to leverage more data faster for better AI outcomes from Steve Sobel, Databricks Global Industry Lead for Media and Entertainment.

Tanya Kan
Executive Producer and Director
Vivid Foundry

Tanya Kan
Tanya Kan is the Director and Executive Producer of Vivid Foundry. It is a studio in Toronto, Canada focusing on developing dramatic games that reflect the social issues of our time. Vivid Foundry is diversity-led and comprise of majority under-represented genders. Tanya has been working in the Interactive Digital Media industry for 8 years, and has created digital media for amusement park rides, fashion storefronts, real estate, Autodesk, and has contributed to game prototypes, teaching game arts pipeline at the University level, and as a narrative consultant on Celeste. Nowadays, she spends much of her time developing Solace State, an award-winning 3D cyberpunk visual novel about a young hacker, Chloe, who comes to her political awakening as she seeks her friends in a biotech surveillance society.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 16:00
INDIE SERIES: Panel – Hope in the time of dystopia
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - How can games share compassion and hope during a difficult time shared by many people around the world? Indie games can immerse us in tales full of personality that are humanising and memorable, while engaging with complex ideas such as death, alienation, loneliness, and political chaos. Join indie game devs as they talk about their different design directions that explore dystopias, post-apocalypses, and life after death in uniquely resonant and sublime ways. From a battle RPG to management games to cyberpunk interactive fictions, this talk helps you discover indie titles that will inspire you and touch your heart. Ubisoft Indie Series presented by National Bank.

Teddy Kossoko
Entrepreneur and Founder
Masseka Game

Teddy Kossoko
Teddy Kossoko is a space engineer and founder of Masseka Game Studio, the first studio in Europe to create content exclusively on African myths and legends. Masseka Game Studio is also working on a store of apps, games and ebook adapted to the realities of the African market.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 10:45
The French language in the video game industry: cultural identity and commercial opportunity
PRESENTED IN FRENCH - L'utilisation du français au travail dans l'industrie du jeu vidéo est une valeur importante pour de nombreux studios. La langue française peut aussi représenter un élément différenciateur pour certains jeux afin d’atteindre de nouveaux joueurs et de nouvelles communautés. Il n’y a qu’à penser à l’énorme bassin que représente l’Afrique. En collaboration avec le Consulat de France à Québec, La Guilde vous invite à découvrir des acteurs engagés dans l’utilisation du français dans le milieu du jeu vidéo. À cette occasion, de nouveaux projets financés par l’Office québécois de la langue française pour encourager l’utilisation du français seront annoncés. Les employés et les cadres de l'industrie seront invités à collaborer afin de mettre à jour la terminologie du jeu vidéo, tandis que les autres encourageront les consommateurs à jouer en français et à leur faire découvrir les terminologies françaises des mots utilisés par l’industrie et ce, de façon ludique.

Thierry Boulanger
CEO and Creative Director
Studio Sabotage (Quebec - Canada)

Thierry Boulanger
Après avoir travaillé pendant 8 ans à titre de chef d’équipe de programmation, il co-fonde Sabotage en 2016 pour devenir directeur créatif et créer les jeux qu’il a en tête depuis le primaire.
Sabotage mélange l’esthétique rétro avec le game design moderne pour créer des jeux qui parlent à l’enfant en nous, et en utilisant l’apparente simplicité comme outils de storytelling, où les attentes des joueurs sont l’ingrédient clé. Le premier jeu de Sabotage est un platformer rétro, The Messenger, sorti en 2018 et qui a gagné le Game Awards pour “Meilleur Premier Jeu”. L’équipe travaille maintenant sur son deuxième titre, Sea of Stars, un RPG tour par tour inspiré de l’ère 16-32bits.
Thierry croit beaucoup en la vulnérabilité comme vecteur principal du processus créatif, et utilise généralement le micro pour parler de croissance personnelle à travers les réalisations professionnelles.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 10:45
The French language in the video game industry: cultural identity and commercial opportunity
PRESENTED IN FRENCH - L'utilisation du français au travail dans l'industrie du jeu vidéo est une valeur importante pour de nombreux studios. La langue française peut aussi représenter un élément différenciateur pour certains jeux afin d’atteindre de nouveaux joueurs et de nouvelles communautés. Il n’y a qu’à penser à l’énorme bassin que représente l’Afrique. En collaboration avec le Consulat de France à Québec, La Guilde vous invite à découvrir des acteurs engagés dans l’utilisation du français dans le milieu du jeu vidéo. À cette occasion, de nouveaux projets financés par l’Office québécois de la langue française pour encourager l’utilisation du français seront annoncés. Les employés et les cadres de l'industrie seront invités à collaborer afin de mettre à jour la terminologie du jeu vidéo, tandis que les autres encourageront les consommateurs à jouer en français et à leur faire découvrir les terminologies françaises des mots utilisés par l’industrie et ce, de façon ludique. -
12 November 2020 to 10:30
Creativity Panel
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Presented by Electronic Arts (EA). Breaking the barriers of creativity with innovation.

Tony Zhu
Senior Project Manager
CMI

Tony Zhu
Tony Zhu has been worked over ten years and specialized in telecommunication area as a network designer. His background includes expertise in carrier-class network design and operation, transmission, Cloud and network security.
Currently, Tony works as a senior project manager in CMI HQ, being responsible for supporting CMI’s key projects. He is also a major contributor to CMI gaming cloud solutions, and has hosted many sales training webinars. In the previous years, Tony had been worked for NSN for many years as a research and development engineer, and provided technical and compliance support in the area of Transmission network equipment R&D.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 11:45
Network, Cloud, and How They Impact Game Experience- Welcome you to discover our global solutions
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - China Mobile International – Canada, offers a variety of communications services worldwide, with specific focus on network, cloud and next gen services. We are proud to have some of the largest gaming companies in our customer portfolio We offer solutions specific to VFX, Gaming and its complimentary industries.

Tülay McNally
Director of Inclusive Design & Product Development

Tülay McNally
As Director of Inclusive Design & Product Development at EA Studios, Tülay Tetiker McNally is responsbile for steering vision, establishing strategy and execution of EA’s approach to creating inclusive products and experiences that put all our players first. In collaboration with EA Studios leadership and developers, Tülay is responsbile for establishing what inclusive design excellence looks like across EA’s product portfolio.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 09:45
Allyship: In EA games and in our communities.
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Our diverse group of panelists from across the EA globe are coming together to break down what you need to know about Allyship. Why is it important, and how can you start practicing today? Here’s an age-old secret to how you become a multiplier for success and progress in your workplace, and in your community.

Veronica Glémaud
Senior Project Director - Americas
Investissement Québec

Veronica Glémaud
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 11:00
The Dos and Don’ts of Opening a Studio in Québec
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - From international recruitment to tax credits, come ask your questions to the experts. This workshop will bring together experts in taxation, immigration, international recruitment and economic development. Come discover how to access Quebec’s competitive tax credits as well as taping into local and international talent to build your dream team in one of the world’s biggest and most dynamic gaming hub: Québec! * This workshop is aimed at international studios wanting to learn more on expanding to North America.

Walid Sultan Midani
Founder and CEO
Digital Mania (Tunisia)

Walid Sultan Midani
Founded in 2011, Digitalmania is the first video game studio in Tunisia. In 9 years, its multidisciplinary team of twenty people has developed more than 125 games: Social games, advergames, and serious games. And this on almost all existing platforms: mobile, desktop, VR, console, and browser. DigitalMania’s vision is to create games that bring real added value to players and that is why since 2018 www.theinfniteloop.net has been developed; a virtual reality and online video game dedicated to experiential learning and team-building sessions.
In 2019 The infnite Loop VR was the most played video game for team building in the world and 2020 and with the COVID The infinite Loop Online was used by hundreds of companies on Zoom to entertain, unite and train their teams. In 2021 DigitalMania plans to release several new games dedicated to team building and team training.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 10:45
The French language in the video game industry: cultural identity and commercial opportunity
PRESENTED IN FRENCH - L'utilisation du français au travail dans l'industrie du jeu vidéo est une valeur importante pour de nombreux studios. La langue française peut aussi représenter un élément différenciateur pour certains jeux afin d’atteindre de nouveaux joueurs et de nouvelles communautés. Il n’y a qu’à penser à l’énorme bassin que représente l’Afrique. En collaboration avec le Consulat de France à Québec, La Guilde vous invite à découvrir des acteurs engagés dans l’utilisation du français dans le milieu du jeu vidéo. À cette occasion, de nouveaux projets financés par l’Office québécois de la langue française pour encourager l’utilisation du français seront annoncés. Les employés et les cadres de l'industrie seront invités à collaborer afin de mettre à jour la terminologie du jeu vidéo, tandis que les autres encourageront les consommateurs à jouer en français et à leur faire découvrir les terminologies françaises des mots utilisés par l’industrie et ce, de façon ludique.

Yannick Simard
Technical Director
Stadia Montréal

Yannick Simard
Yannick Simard is a Technical Director at the Stadia Games & Entertainment Montreal studio.
Since 2005, he has played different technical roles at Electronic Arts, Eidos, Ubisoft and more recently Typhoon Studios, acquired by Google in December 2019, thus joining the Stadia family.
Leveraging his academic background in computer sciences (MS) and physics, his experience over the last 15 years covers topics such as physics simulation, animation, computer graphics and gameplay systems. He is credited for his contribution on many successful titles, including Army of Two (2008), Army of Two: the 40th Day (2010), Watch Dogs (2014), Watch Dogs 2 (2016), and Journey to the Savage Planet (2020).
During the last 10 years, he has gradually converged toward software developer management roles.
Host the following conferences
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12 November 2020 to 14:30
Stadia
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Year in the life of a Stadia Game Developer. What can you expect as a developer looking to make a game for Stadia? Join us in this talk to learn how Stadia workflows compare to other platforms from Stadia Games and Entertainment developers who made the leap from traditional consoles in the past year. Drawing on our experience which spans AAA to indie development, we'll share tips, quirks, and cool new features arising when developing a game for Stadia. An Introduction to Stadia Games & Entertainment. Curious about how Stadia can help fund and publish your game? This is the talk you’re looking for: who are we, what are we looking for and how to work with Stadia Games & Entertainment. What is Stadia Makers? At Stadia, we are passionate about indie games, but when we initially launched Stadia last year, we had more studios apply to be a Stadia developer than we could work with at the time. So we focused on improving our tools and building programs like Stadia Makers to allow us to work with more developers and bring your awesome games to Stadia. In this talk, we'll give an overview of the Makers program, the benefits for developrs, criteria for having your game considered, share feedback from our first Stadia Makers devs, and tell you how to apply and have your game considered.

Yossarian Yggy King
Chief Technical Officer
Blackbird Interactive

Yossarian Yggy King
Yossarian King is CTO and co-founder of Blackbird Interactive, where he was lead programmer for Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak and now runs the engineering team and guides technical decision-making for the company. Prior to Blackbird he spent 15 years at Electronic Arts as a systems and render programmer and technical lead on FIFA soccer, Fight Night, Facebreaker, Warcraft II, and various sports titles for PC, Sega Saturn, 3DO, Nintendo 64, Playstation 1 and 2, and other platforms. He first made games on his Commodore 64 in high school and has loved programming ever since. Yossarian has a master’s degree in computer vision from the University of British Columbia. In his spare time he runs, plays ultimate, and occasionally rides a unicycle.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 10:30
Next Gen Tech Panel
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - Building the future of gaming through tech.

Zac Antonaci
Director of Publishing
Frontier Developments

Zac Antonaci
Zac Antonaci is the Director of Publishing at Frontier and has been working in the games industry for nearly 15 years. Frontier are based in Cambridge, in the United Kingdom with a highly passionate and dedicated team of over 590 people. They’re best known for developing and publishing titles such as Elite Dangerous, Planet Coaster, Jurassic World Evolution and Planet Zoo. They’ve also recently announced their all-new Games Label, Frontier Foundry, where they are funding and publishing games from bold and innovative studios from around the world!

Zhuo Liu
Head of Product Support
CMI Americas Region

Zhuo Liu
LIU Zhuo is a Telecommunication and Data communications professional with over 10 years of industry experience. His background includes expertise in telecom carrier level IP/Data Network Engineering and Operation, Routing and Switches, SD-WAN and Network Security. Currently LIU works as head of product support in CMI USA, where he manages front line support and CMI’s global network construction. He is also a key contributor to CMI’s Application Acceleration Service development, and has given numerous sales training webinars events. Formerly, LIU worked years for another Asian carrier as lead sales/network engineer, and provided technical and business strategy support in the area of IP and data transport.
Host the following conferences
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13 November 2020 to 11:45
Network, Cloud, and How They Impact Game Experience- Welcome you to discover our global solutions
PRESENTED IN ENGLISH - China Mobile International – Canada, offers a variety of communications services worldwide, with specific focus on network, cloud and next gen services. We are proud to have some of the largest gaming companies in our customer portfolio We offer solutions specific to VFX, Gaming and its complimentary industries.