Since coming back to Ontario after completing my Masters of Management Dual Degree with Sauder, I came to the realization that I know practically nothing about the game development scene in my home province. This is ironic for two reasons: I have lived here all my life so surely I must have come across something before, and secondly: my dream industry is the game development industry – so how could I not know anything about Ontario? With all my years at UBC, I came to intimately know what Vancouver's game industry is like and have had the pleasure of hosting and attending some conferences at UBC. I've met amazing students, faculty, and industry folks who are all passionate about games in Vancouver, so what about Ontario?
I'm so fortunate that a couple weeks ago I stumbled across a conference hosted in Toronto. I had the pleasure to be an attendee for two days at the XP Game Developer Summit 2023. I truly wish I learned about this conference years ago, because I could have learned about Ontario's gaming scene sooner. The founder of the event essentially started XP in 2020 because of the lack of social events he noticed in Ontario. I'm super grateful for all the effort, organizing and the wealth of knowledge that came together during the event. This event couldn't have happened without the founder and the countless hours organizing from the event staff.
One thing to know is that I attended this conference knowing absolutely no one. My past 6 years of education were spent in British Columbia, where I learned about the gaming industry there and came to know a couple of industry folks, as well as fellow students passionate about video games. No one I know came all the way out to Ontario to this event. I had no connections at this conference, and as an introvert, attending events alone is something that intimidates me, even if I know I'll find a lot of value from attending.
Nevertheless, I went on my own after a couple days of deliberation over buying a ticket. I have to say, I have zero regrets.
It was such a blast getting to play numerous demos that creatives came to show off, and ask them questions to learn more about what inspired them and how they manages to do the things they do. The vast amount of panels and interviews happening every hour, made it an extremely educational event as well. I would love to share my goals I had in attending the event, and what the key insights were from the talks I watched.
Goals
1. Find a buddy I could cling to during the conference ️
This happened relatively quickly, as a co-attendee Steven locked eyes with me and we instantly bonded over the free merch table set up on the first day. Having someone to navigate a busy event, always makes for a better experience at an event I find.
2. Show off my new business card ️
I always get super excited to design new things, and business cards are no exception. I booked my ticket over week prior to the event and spent my time designing and ordering a business card just for it. I always feel a little bit awkward handing out business cards, even if an event is designed just for that. So, I made sure to make a joke about "shamelessly plugging" myself at every opportunity when the conversation lulled a bit. I got a couple of laughs and people telling me "That's what this event is for!", so I would say mission accomplished 🥰
3. Learn more about the Ontario Game Development scene ️
I can safely say that this was a resounding success. People were super helpful and I have received a lot of names of other events happening within Ontario, and even newsletters to sign up to for more information of upcoming events. I don't think events I've gone to in the past for game dev has given me quite the same feeling of "coming home" or "kindred spirits" as I've felt the entire two days of the XP Conference, which honestly has made me treasure the moments, the new friends and connections, and all of the amazing, creative and inspiring people and games I have come across because of the conference.
Key Takeaways
Both days were jam packed with panels, interviews, lectures and insights into game development. I would have loved to attend every one, but unfortunately I can't infinitely clone myself to attend everything. There were five standout talks that resonated with me where I'll share some of the key takeaways I had from them.
Inside the Unreal Ecosystem by Samuel Bass
There aren't enough words to share the amount of enthusiasm and excitement that I had when UE5 came out. This talk had me fangirling over everything that's available for free developers. A lot of powerful and cool tools within Unreal were spoken about and showcased. It makes me want to get my hands on a new computer that can run it and play around with it. Fun fact: You can make python scripts for Unreal.
Takeaway: Unreal is making AAA game making accessible to the indie studios who want quality.
The Future of Game Audio Panel
This was a very fascinating panel to watch. The host Tom Frencel impressively navigated Simon Ashby, Matthieu Lavoie, and Eduardo Vaisman to speak about concerns regarding the future of audio with the rise of AI tools and technology.
It was a great panel to listen to and there was amazing humour and banter all the while shedding light on the specificity within an expertise that makes games hit emotional marks.
Takeaway: AI are simply tools utilized to shorten workflows so artists can do what they do best: create. Nothing can replace the human touch.
The Ultimate Unity Developer's Toolkit by Antonio Miceli and Russel Sng
It's impressive with the amount of innovation that can be made with game engines, and this was another showcase of such. From community made tools and plugins to those available freely or paid from Unity Tools itself, Antonio and Russel made a comprehensible list of important workflow timesaves. Using the tools they listed, which some of them were absolutely mindblowing, there's weeks of effort developing that can be saved through the simple solutions they offered. Less hassle dealing with Unity's quirky self essentially, haha.
Takeaway: Work smarter, not harder. Utilize key tools that improve your workflow.
Indie Survival Guide by Austin Yarger
Austin presented an amazing masterclass diving into the many ways an indie game dev or indie studio can use to keep the lights on while pursuing their creative expression. The reality he spoke about was that unless you can make money, it's going to be hard to stay afloat when your indie games get lost in obscurity from the amount of indie games posted every minute. He offered a collection of various ways to go about ensuring you have enough money to live, and used some great examples to illustrate the points he was making.
Takeaway: Investigate multiple revenue streams as you pursue the passion of your dreams.
Discoverability by Design by Jason Della Rocca
This talk I thought paired extremely well after hearing about indie survival tips. Jason brought up the marketing 4P's, and how as an indie studio, discoverability can be baked into a game in one of four ways. I really enjoyed this talk because he illustrated that while PR's traditions of advertisements, billboards, etc – you don't need to be a AAA game studio with $100M budget to become known within a community and to get your game sold. The different tactics and techniques with the four pillars he listed, really felt like a TedTalk on how to make your game catch the eyes of the general public. It was a great talk to listen to, and brought up examples from all kinds of genres and what they did to become notorious.
Takeaway: Capitalize off of word of mouth to ensure your game becomes a success.
All in all, the XP Game Development Summit 2023 had me brimming with excitement over the various studios that exist, and the amazing work they have been doing. I've been injected with so much inspiration and I aspire to one day, be able to attend and officially have a booth for myself and a game of my own to show off and demo. I'm sure I'll bore the ears of my friends and family from how excited this event made me, and I'm so thankful I took the shot in the dark to buy myself a ticket.
My best word of advice is if you can go to an event, buy yourself a ticket and go. No matter if you know a handful of people, you convince someone to go with you, or you know no one at all (like me) – you'll have an amazing time and come away with a lot of valuable experiences. If you find my way of handling networking in a crowd of strangers helpful, please utilize it! It's how I try and not overwhelm myself when it comes to busy events and crowded places.
When you give yourself a goal, you can focus your mind on something and then the event becomes less overwhelming and more of an experience that you can freely enjoy. Especially if that event is for something that you truly love, like game development is for me.
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