By Jon Scarr
Huqiao Games opened its North American office in Burnaby, British Columbia, in October 2026, bringing its China-focused services closer to Canadian game developers. The company helps studios find out whether their games have an audience in China before investing in localisation and marketing.
The Burnaby office is part of Huqiao's plans to work more closely with studios across Canada and the United States. We spoke with Huqiao Games about the expansion, and its marketing director, Blanka Pogrányi, confirmed plans to hire additional Canadian staff. Managing Director John Kavvouras recently participated in XP Game Connect Vancouver, and the company will attend MIGS Montréal in November to meet more developers.
Huqiao's Burnaby Office Connects Developers With China
Huqiao chose Greater Vancouver because of the region's established game development community. Jie (G) Xiong is part of the local team and serves as a contact for studios across North America. Through the Burnaby office, developers can also connect with Huqiao's specialists in mainland China, who work directly with local gaming communities and content creators.
Huqiao's arrival follows other gaming industry expansions in Canada, including Arrival's new studios in Vancouver and Edmonton earlier this year.
Founded by Wojciech Jaworski in 2021, Huqiao began in Poland before moving its headquarters to Hong Kong. Pogrányi said Huqiao has supported more than 150 games and works with over 40 companies. They include Wube, Deep Silver, Toplitz, and Atari.
Its services include market research, localisation, community management, and campaigns on Chinese platforms such as Bilibili and Douyin. Huqiao can also test a game with Chinese audiences before a studio invests in a larger launch campaign.
"Not every game is necessarily the right fit for China," Pogrányi told us. If feedback suggests a game is unlikely to succeed there, Huqiao will tell the developer before they invest further.
For It Works: Electronic Store Simulator, Huqiao arranged Chinese playtesting and worked with a creator on Douyin. For Abyssus, it organized a booth at ChinaJoy and shared feedback from Chinese audiences with the developers.
Huqiao Meets Canadian Industry Representatives in Vancouver
On October 2, Kavvouras joined the Canada ↔ Asia: Finding Opportunity Across Markets panel at XP Game Connect Vancouver. He appeared alongside Morgan Hodkinson of Kabam, Sam Fisher of Hyper Hippo Entertainment, and Jason Lepine of XP Gaming. Xiong also attended on Huqiao's behalf.
The panel discussed opportunities and challenges for gaming companies expanding between Canadian and Asian markets.
On October 22, Huqiao welcomed Jennifer Zhang of Nativex to its Vancouver-area office. They discussed potential ways to help Western game studios reach Chinese audiences. Pogrányi said the company is keeping further details of those discussions private.
Huqiao Heads to Montréal for MIGS 2026
Kavvouras and Key Account Manager Aleksander Ptak will attend the Montréal International Game Summit on November 10 and 11. Ptak is scheduled to present How to Launch in China Without A Crazy Marketing Budget on November 11, from 10:55 to 11:15 a.m. ET on the Green Stage.
He'll use examples from past game campaigns to discuss Steam page adjustments, small in-game changes, Bilibili marketing, and Chinese distribution channels.
Huqiao plans to meet developers working on games at different stages, from early development to games already released. It's also exploring opportunities to attend more North American industry events in 2027.
Jon Scarr
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