PG Connects Announces Packed Seminar Lineup and Fringe Events for Montreal International Game Summit 2026

The global games industry is setting its sights on Canada this autumn as the PG Connects Summit prepares to bring its signature mobile games expertise to the Montreal International Game Summit (MIGS) 2026. Scheduled for November 10th, this major collaboration integrates world-class mobile insights directly into one of the region’s most prestigious developer gatherings, promising an extensive program designed to address the modern challenges of game creation, scaling, and studio management.

Following earlier announcements detailing the broad conference tracks for the upcoming event, organizers have pulled back the curtain on a curated selection of standout seminars and panel discussions. Attendees heading to Montreal will find an agenda packed with pragmatic advice from industry veterans who have navigated the highs and lows of commercial game development, live service management, and the unpredictable realities of independent studio ownership.

At the forefront of the seminar schedule is a deep dive into the intricacies of long-term live service management. Lucas Labordiere and Karl Dandan of Ludia are set to take the stage to share the hard-earned lessons behind maintaining a mature live title for a decade. Their session promises to demystify how developers establish sustainable event cadences, manage in-game economies that have absorbed ten years of continuous currency injections, and keep content rotations feeling fresh for a loyal player base that has seemingly experienced every conceivable event type, all without falling into the trap of dangerous scope creep.

Complementing this perspective on longevity, Sean Wylie-Toal of Extra Dimension Games will deliver insights on building resilient live service businesses for both entertainment and financial sustainability. Drawing from a career that spans thousands of updates and hundreds of AB tests—including work at Electronic Arts on The Simpsons Tapped Out and nine years leading Extra Dimension Games—Wylie-Toal will break down the essential components of 4D execution skills. Attendees can expect to learn what it genuinely takes to keep the content furnace fueled and why, in the modern landscape, every game should ideally be designed with live operability in mind.

Moving beyond product management and live operations, the summit will also tackle the foundational realities of entrepreneurship within the interactive entertainment sector. Jon Huffman of Phantom Rowboat is scheduled to deliver a candid appraisal of what founding a studio actually costs in practice. Huffman aims to address the warnings that many first-time founders rarely receive, noting that the hardest part of setting up an independent studio is often not the sheer volume of work, but the realization that every single business, creative, and administrative decision ultimately rests entirely on the founders shoulders, with no safety net or behind-the-scenes support network to clear the hurdles.

Huffman’s session will explore the origin story of their studio’s very first contract and why it initially failed to generate revenue, alongside the calculated risks of self-incorporating against conventional wisdom. By detailing what those decisions ultimately saved and cost the team, Huffman hopes to frame the broader journey of building a sustainable games business as a multifaceted endeavor that extends far beyond the core act of writing code and making games.

User acquisition remains one of the most critical and fiercely contested battlegrounds in the modern games industry, and the upcoming MIGS program addresses this head-on with a dedicated user acquisition playbook panel. Bringing together a roster of specialized growth experts, the session will dissect the latest tactics being deployed to drive efficient audience expansion. Panelists will evaluate which strategies are currently yielding results, examine common pitfalls to avoid, and discuss how modern studios are continuously evolving their methodologies to maintain a competitive edge in acquiring and retaining players.

For narrative designers and writers, the summit offers a focused look at the unique demands of writing for established intellectual property. Crafting compelling stories within pre-existing characters and fictional worlds is an essential competency for many contemporary game writers, yet it presents a distinct set of creative hurdles. This panel brings together respected industry veterans, including Ashley Cooper of Motive Studio, to analyze the professional opportunities and inherent challenges of working with established universes, whether managing those relationships internally within a major publisher or navigating the nuances of licensed properties.

The broader MIGS 2026 conference itself returns with an expanded footprint, featuring more stages, a larger roster of international speakers, and unprecedented opportunities for professional networking and career advancement. This year’s event incorporates three distinct content stages dedicated to business strategies, external development frameworks, and core game development tracks. Together, these tracks are designed to deliver actionable insights, strategic foresight, and compelling case studies that reflect the prevailing trends and future trajectories of the interactive entertainment sector.

In addition to the extensive seminar schedule, attendees will have access to popular fringe events tailored to foster community connection and business development. The renowned Big Indie Pitch returns with a special Mobile, PC, and Console edition, offering independent developers the opportunity to present their projects directly to a panel of industry experts. Each participating creator receives five minutes of valuable face-time, complete with real-time feedback during the session and comprehensive notes delivered via email following the event.

Complementing the pitch competition, the Connector SpeedMatch program will facilitate structured networking by pairing game developers in a fast-paced environment with publishers and actively seeking investors on the hunt for their next breakout project. These specialized programs serve as curated avenues for meaningful introductions, operating alongside the organic networking opportunities available among an anticipated crowd of more than 1,500 international developers, publishers, service providers, and investors.

To encourage broad participation, organizers have arranged a special promotional partnership offering a 15% discount for PG Connects attendees registering for MIGS. Tickets are currently available at Early Bird rates, allowing participants to leverage a combined discount structure for the upcoming conference.