By Jon Scarr
MIGS 2026 begins today, November 10th, in Montréal. Video Games Canada, formerly the Entertainment Software Association of Canada (ESAC), has two speakers at this year's summit: president and CEO Paul Fogolin and director of policy and government relations Josh Logue.
The 23rd annual Montréal International Game Summit runs November 10th and 11th at Grand Quay in the Old Port. La Guilde du jeu vidéo du Québec presents the conference in partnership with XP Gaming. Alongside talks about game development, publishing and AI, MIGS has an Indie Zone and business showfloor where studios can meet potential partners.
Video Games Canada Is Now Using Its New Name
Back in October, we covered plans to rename ESAC as Video Games Canada. That change has now happened, and the organization released its 2026 Essential Facts report under the new name on November 9th.
Paul Fogolin is scheduled to speak on November 10th at 4:35 p.m. about Canada's video game industry and its global competitiveness. His appearance comes one day after the association released new research about gaming in Canada. In a survey of 250 teens aged 13 to 17 who had played video games in the preceding four weeks, 54% expressed interest in industry careers.
Following September's Video Games on the Hill event in Ottawa, Paul Fogolin raised the idea of developing a National Video Game Strategy. The Ottawa discussions also covered competitiveness, talent development and commercialization.
Online Safety and Studio Challenges Are on the Agenda
Studio Paralives founder and lead developer Alex Massé will present Paralives: From Solo Dev to Competing with The Sims at 9:30 a.m. on November 11th. He'll discuss how the life simulation game grew from a solo project into a small team, including the challenges of crowdfunding, development and releasing the game.
Josh Logue is scheduled to join Marc-Antoine Therrien of Public Safety Canada for an online safety discussion on November 11th at 10:55 a.m. It's another subject Canadian game companies and government representatives discussed in Ottawa earlier this year.
At 11:30 a.m., Climate Change: Structuring Studios for Success in Todays Environment brings together representatives from Invoke Studios, Warner Bros. Games Montréal and IO Interactive. They'll discuss how game studios are adjusting their staffing and working with external development partners.
At 2:15 p.m., AI – The Reality & Impact So Far features Behaviour Interactive, Virtuos, Keywords Studios and Winking Studios. The discussion will cover how AI is affecting game production, from asset creation and quality assurance to studio operations.
Huqiao Games is also taking part in MIGS. We spoke with the company in October about its new office in Burnaby, British Columbia, and its work helping game developers reach China. On November 11th, key account manager Aleksander Ptak will discuss how developers can enter that market without a large marketing budget.
The full two-day program is available on the official MIGS website.
Jon Scarr
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