Games Industry Events in Canada

The Vancouver International Digital Festival is an event for the top creative minds working in digital media. Attracting visionaries from games and digital entertainment, Web 2.0, interactive design, animation and mobile applications, it is an annual ‘must-attend’ in Vancouver, Canada. The event includes international business matchmaking, ‘big picture’ conference sessions on the latest trends and markets in digital media, a recruiting fair, high-level seminars for creators, designers, and producers, and loads of networking parties.

Now entering its third year, ICE is a partnering forum that seeks to collect and connect players form across the industry: from mobile to games to social media to traditional platforms like television and music. Last March, ICE 2007 played host to 450 delegates from Canada and around the world. With 120 speakers, 34 panels, 2 grand receptions, 4 gourmet meals and 4 networking breaks, ICE is quickly becoming recognized as one of the world's best opportunities to plug-in to the: Most up-to-date insight into the business of interactive entertainment; Contacts to activate new opportunities for creative and commercial success. Attend as a delegate - Discounted Early Bird registration is available until February 21st, 2008!

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Canadian National Gaming Expo is Canada's largest public gaming event and a featured event of FanExpoCanada, with well over 200,000sq ft of gaming space and 43,000 attendees.

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Future Play 2008: The place to discover new directions in computer game technologies and explore groundbreaking visions for the future of game development. This international, three-day conference, hosted by Algoma University and UOIT, is in Toronto Canada Nov 3-5. The spine of the conference is a unique forum for academic researchers to present their rigorously peer-reviewed papers to an audience that includes games developers, investors, government representatives and others engaged in the world of computer games and digital media. The conference experience is rounded out with discussions on technical, programming, and human interaction issues within gaming world.

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Since its conception in 2006, The Elans have stood apart from any other awards show by bestowing accolade to both Animation and Video Gaming, each so very integral to the success of the other. And the Elans have no intention of stopping there: The 3rd Elan Awards 2009 are now preparing for their exciting launch into a fully International Awards Show complete with the addition of Motion Picture Live-Action/Animation, SPFX award categories. By producing one awards show bestowing accolade to three of the most important industries in entertainment, the 3rd Elan Awards 2009 will provide invaluable marketing, media-coverage and business-to-business opportunities to those they honour.

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GDC Canada will provide insight into the thriving Canadian game development community and will serve as an opportunity for developers to share best practices for fostering excellence and quality games within their region and distributed globally. Building on the success of the Vancouver International Game Summit, GDC Canada will feature global perspectives on cross-discipline and cross-platform content, with an eye to serving the increasingly significant Canadian games business sector. To address the growing talent, demand and opportunities within Canada, the Game Developers Conference® Canada will play host to a one day Game Career Seminar. Additionally, for developers looking to address the emerging challenges of game development, the Future Play Conference @ GDC Canada, an annual conference hosted by Algoma University, will enable academic, industry and government interests to present and promote research in the area of video game development.

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MIGS serves members of the video and electronic gaming industries. Geared to industry needs, the MIGS aims to be the annual event for game development specialists from all over the world. Some 1300 members of the game industry are expected for this fifth Edition.

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Canada houses more than 260 videogame and digital entertainment studios and an ecosystem of more than 60 universities focused on gaming studies. With this accomplished community of national and international talent to draw from, Vancouver's GDC Canada is the premier event for professionals to discover new insights into developing popular international titles, managing established franchises and taking advantage of thriving digital distribution models.

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For seven years now, the MIGS, organized by Alliance Numérique, has been offering high level conferences presented by renowned experts in business, arts and visual effects, design, production and tech, as well as a Business Lounge, an Exhibition Zone and various social events. It is the biggest event entirely dedicated to professionals in Canada and on the East Coast. Will you be attending?

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GameON: Finance is Canada's top business forum for the interactive entertainment industry connecting developers, innovators, investors and industry leaders. Now entering its fourth year, GameON: Finance connects the games industry’s leading players around new business opportunities in the interactive entertainment industries.

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INplay 2011 is a unique, international event that connects kids creative industries with insights and opportunities in the interactive space. From the video game business to the broadcast industry, from toys to 'toons, the INplay conference brings together leaders in the kids space to learn, network and be inspired by the future of kids interactive digital media. The conference will feature three major streams each covering a different dimension of working with properties for kids ages 2-12: • Inspiration - creativity and content stream • Investment - business stream • Insights - research and e-learning stream

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The Canadian Games Conference (formerly GDC-Canada) is a two-day conference/exhibition that brings together some of the industry's top innovators, businesses and talent responsible for the explosive growth of the gaming industry, providing a platform to share knowledge and develop industry partnerships while showcasing the beautiful city of Vancouver.

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ELITE 2013 will be marked by the introduction of content committees composed of industry experts. ELITE 2013 will remain true to its nature by offering superior master classes in small groups to encourage proximity between speaker and students.

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Fem­i­nists in Games, funded by a Cana­dian SSHRC Grant is an endeavor cre­ated with the pur­pose of assem­bling an inter­na­tional research asso­ci­a­tion of dig­i­tal media researchers from a full range of salient dis­ci­plines to begin build­ing ‘con­nec­tive tis­sue’ between and among them, so as to (a) bet­ter under­stand the ori­gins and con­se­quences of this gen­dered dig­i­tal divide, and (b) inter­vene in its reproduction.

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The Canadian Gaming Summit is Canada’s premier annual conference and exhibition for gaming professionals. The Summit delivers face-to-face interaction between attendees from all gaming sectors, disciplines and regions within Canada and beyond, and is the leading provider of information, education and interaction to the Canadian gaming community. The Summit’s top-notch educational program, expansive exhibition and enjoyable social events provide an invaluable and memorable learning and networking experience.

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In spite of the strong wake of game studies in the last decade, the history of video and computer games is still in its infancy in the academic world. Some significant contributions have been made and continue to emerge. In order to make the most out of these contributions and to reflect on the methodological issues they raise, we have decided to create the first international conference on the history of games. This will be the occasion to bring together academics, curators and museum exhibitors, introduce the general public and students to the history of the medium, and sensitize partners from the game industry to their role in terms of cultural heritage and preservation.

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Unite 2013 is an event for developers, publishers, enthusiasts and others interested in Unity to come together to learn more about the market-leading platform for creating high-quality video games, training simulations, medical and architectural visualizations and other interactive 3D content—and how to get the most out of it.

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MIGS - Montreal International Game Summit - is the largest business game conference on the East Coast. Every year, more than 2,500 game professionals from over 20 countries gather at the Palais des Congrès de Montréal (Quebec, Canada) to find their next clients, partners and service providers.

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As PGC Vancouver is almost upon us, I just wanted to let you all know that submissions for our VBIP competition will be closing on 20th June. VBIP, aka The Very Big Indie Pitch is a massively popular indie developer competition we do at every PG Connects and even at other events. This is a mammoth developer pitching competition open to all types of independent developers working on mobile, VR, wearables, or handheld games, wherever they are. Aside from the chance to get their game in front of the leading media influencers and potential publisher partners like Levi Buchanan (Developer Relations Director at Chillingo), Oscar Clark (Chief Of Curiosity at Rocket Lolly Games, Consultant & Evangelist at Unity Technologies) and your good self, this VERY Big Indie Pitch will also reward the top developers with a share of a promotional prize package worth $7,000.

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The Canadian Videogame Awards (CVA) 2016 takes place at the Unknown in Montreal, Canada on 13th November 2016

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Montreal International Game Summit (MIGS) 2016 takes place at the Palais des Congrès in Montreal, Canada on 13th November 2016

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FITC Toronto 2017 takes place at the Hilton Toronto in Toronto, Canada on 23rd April 2017

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External Development Summit (XDS) 2017 takes place at the The Westin Bayshore in Vancouver, Canada on 6th September 2017

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Game UX Summit 2017 takes place at the Ubisoft Toronto in Toronto, Canada on 4th October 2017

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Montreal International Game Summit (MIGS) 2017 takes place at the Palais des Congrès in Montreal, Canada on 11th December 2017

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The largest international conference for the VFX & Animation industries on the North American East Coast. Featuring an expo, networking events, jobs fair and more.

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SIGGRAPH 2018 takes place at the TBA in Vancouver, Canada on 12th August 2018

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Mobile Growth Canada is a 1-day event filled with insightful content from the best in business such as Facebook, Playtika, and a host of other proven players in the mobile app business. FREE for all mobile marketers thanks to our sponsors of the event. Join this growing mobile marketing community to gain valuable insights, analyze the latest trends from the mobile UA (User Acquisition), Retention, and Monetization worlds to inspire your growth strategies.

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Computer Graphics, Animation & Game Design 2018 (CGA2018) takes place at the TBA in Montreal, Canada on 26th September 2018

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MIGS - Montreal International Game Summit - is the largest game conference on the East Coast. Every year, more than 3000 game professionals that are passionate with their jobs gather at the Palais des Congrès de Montréal.

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SHUX returns Oct. 4-6 with the very best of board games and board game culture! Stage shows, massive social games, special events, over 50 publishers, 1,000+ Title Game Library, RPG and Dexterity gaming spaces, and more open gaming than any other show in Canada make these 3 days you?ll never forget. Meet your favourite designers, reviewers, entertainers, and your new best friends; play loads of games, and try and buy the newest unreleased hotness just in time for Christmas.

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EGLX is a celebration of all things gaming. What started out as a small get-together has grown into Canada's largest video game event. Look forward to exciting displays from your favourite game developers, an expanded kids zone with plenty of games for the younger set and massive stages for amazing esports events such as Ubisoft's Rainbow Six Siege Canada Nationals and EGLX's Rising Stars series. Whatever your game is, come play at EGLX this October in downtown Toronto!

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For its 8th year, XDS has adapted its format into a full virtual experience that brings together hundreds of professionals to advance the practice of external development for the games industry. XDS20 Adapt provides four days of expert content and structured networking. Attendees include Developers/Publishers and Service Providers from over 45 countries. Passes for XDS have sold out year over year due to high demand.

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Banff is one of the iconic, breathtaking nature resorts of the world under protection of UNESCO. The conference will take place at one of the most unique and luxurious venues that both Canada and North America have to offer – Fairmont Banff Springs conference resort. In it’s first year already the conference is setting it’s goals extremely high, expecting to attract between 1000 and 2000 international attendees while featuring 100+ incredible speakers during 3 days at 6 tracks. Reboot Develop Red 2019 in it’s premier year will also host as it’s key parts a B2B expo and indie expo areas.

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The largest game conference on the East Coast. Every year, more than 3000 passionate video game industry professionals gather in Montréal. This year, it merges with MEGA (Montreal Expo Gaming Arcade)

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MEGAMIGS 2020 will be a very special edition with our online format and will be broadcast in two parts, on September 25-26 and November 12-13. September is all about the training and careers section. All this with live programming, a networking platform and a variety of activities. The event brings together hundreds of video game creators from around the world every year. Website https://megamigs.com/

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Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo (EGLX) has flourished from humble beginnings as casual gatherings in local bars to Canada?s largest video game expo, uniting 30,000 gamers in 2019. EGLX brings together gamers, creators, and developers for 3 days of non-stop gaming excitement. A premiere Canadian esports destination, a hub for fan-favourite content creators, and a space for incredible unreleased games, EGLX truly has it all.

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SIGGRAPH is a conference and exhibition dedicated to computer graphics and interactive techniques -- both in person in Vancouver and in our virtual venue.

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Making The Games Industry A Better Place To Work

The 2022 edition focuses on discovery and playability. Welcoming exhibitors from around the world, general admission ticket holders will be able to explore the many booths and showcases of our exhibitors as well as attend their conferences in the Expo Hall. Play the latest releases in the Gaming Zone and discover the impressive talent of independent studios in the Indie Zone. Meet representatives from the best training programs in the province in the Education Zone. Visit the pavilions of the international delegations present. And much more.

Second year of the Canadian edition of world renown Reboot Develop boutique games industry and game developers conference, famous for unbeatable speaker lineups and huge attendance. Set at one of the most beautiful places on earth, breathtaking national park Banff in Alberta, Canada, at luxurious and iconic Fairmont Banff Springs conference resort.

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Established in 2013, External Development Summit (XDS) is the only annual, international games industry event with a primary focus on external development for art, animation, audio, software engineering, QA and localization.

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Serious Play offers a full track of sessions serving every major application for the use of serious games and simulations in training or education, as well as a full track on instructional/game design. Harness the strength of game-based learning for your school or organization and gain skills that will advance your career.

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GameDev Atlantic is an opportunity to network, share knowledge, support emerging talent, expand the industry, and present Atlantic Canada's rapidly expanding sector on a global stage.

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The 2024 edition of XP Game Summit will centre on the critical role of Intellectual Property (IP) in video games, with a series of insightful presentations aimed at identifying, developing, and exporting Canadian gaming IP.

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Now in its 21st year, MIGS continues its mission to further develop Québec and Canada’s video game industry through global networking opportunities, speakers, and a B2B exhibit space.

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