PGC Summit Montréal Officially Kicks Off at the Grand Quay in Partnership with MIGS

The gaming industry has turned its focus to Canada’s vibrant economic and cultural hub as the Pocket Gamer Connects (PGC) Summit Montréal has officially commenced. Taking place at the scenic Grand Quay of the Port of Montreal, this year’s conference marks a major milestone for the organizers as they run their very first event in the city. Rather than standing alone, the summit is being held directly inside Montreal International Games Summit (MIGS), Canada’s biggest and longest-running business-to-business (B2B) games conference. The collaborative effort has drawn developers, publishers, investors, and industry veterans from around the globe, buoyed by the support of global sponsor Xsolla and silver sponsor Ludia.

If a unifying theme could be drawn from the opening hours of the conference, it is undoubtedly the concept of longevity. Throughout the packed schedule of panels, keynotes, and fireside chats, speakers have repeatedly returned to the challenges and triumphs of keeping games operational for years, undertaking massive architectural rebuilds when systems break down, or founding entirely new independent studios after weathering corporate restructurings and studio closures.

Global Trends and the Economics of Game Development

The morning proceedings opened with a flagship keynote moderated by Pocket Gamer Biz’s Mariam Ahmad. She was joined on stage by a panel of industry leaders including Blair Dolson of Xsolla, Wolfgang Hamann of Koolhaus Games, and Ryan Holowaty of Noodlecake. Together, the panel dove deep into the current macroeconomic climate of the games industry, focusing heavily on how studios can identify sustainable growth pathways at a time when player acquisition costs continue to climb to unprecedented heights. The conversation also centered on player retention, exploring practical methodologies for keeping existing communities engaged and returning to live-service titles over the long haul.

Following the opening keynote, Rhys Dekle of Strategic Alternatives took the stage to address a pressing, existential question keeping many studio founders and executives awake at night: If artificial intelligence tools make your game cheaper and faster to build, does that actually make your studio more valuable from an investment and acquisition standpoint? Drawing on his day-to-day experience handling studio sales, mergers, and acquisitions, Dekle offered a nuanced and cautious perspective, challenging the widespread assumption that reduced development budgets automatically translate to higher equity valuations in the current market.

The morning track then shifted toward practical post-launch resilience. Alexandre Denault of Hyper Hippo took the audience through the dramatic and risky process of tearing down their hit idle game, Adventure Capitalist, after nine years of continuous operation, and rebuilding it entirely from scratch. Denault detailed the technical hurdles, strategic missteps, and eventual lessons learned from the massive overhaul. Rounding out the morning session, Ludia’s Lucas Labordiere and Karl Dandan offered an unfiltered look at the realities of managing a live-service game that has successfully maintained an active player base for more than a decade.

The Growth Track and Community Building

As the schedule progressed into the afternoon, the focus expanded toward community infrastructure and player engagement through the dedicated growth track. Anthony Teı́ja of Discord delivered an insightful presentation on how modern development teams can leverage a Discord server not just as a standard community hangout, but as a core development and live-ops tool. Teı́ja outlined how studios should approach opening, nurturing, and scaling a server from the early alpha testing phases all the way through to mature live operations.

Following the Discord session, Robert Warren of LoopLight Studios took the stage to dissect the elusive psychological mechanics of retention. Warren explored why certain video games manage to capture lightning in a bottle, maintaining an almost magnetic hold on players that makes them exceptionally difficult to put down, while others struggle to retain baseline engagement past the first week.

Game Maker Insights and Indie Realities

The remainder of the afternoon was dedicated to the lived experiences of studio leaders navigating the turbulent waters of the modern games industry. Adam Clare of Wero, Frederic Tremblay of ALTKEY, and Jon Huffman of Phantom Rowboat participated in a frank discussion detailing what it genuinely looks like to run an independent studio in the current climate. Huffman shared compelling context regarding the formation of Phantom Rowboat, which was launched by team members after their previous studio closed its doors. He brought hard numbers to the conversation, openly discussing the financial realities of running an indie startup, including the sobering experience of dealing with a first contract that ultimately failed to pay out.

The afternoon also featured Sean Wylie-Toal, formerly of EA, who shared valuable lessons learned from his time working on The Simpsons: Tapped Out. Wylie-Toal emphasized to the audience that successfully shipping a video game is merely the starting line rather than the finish. Following this, a panel of narrative writers hailing from prominent studios including Motive Studio, Reflector Entertainment, Tribute Games, and Ubisoft Montreal discussed the unique creative challenges of writing compelling characters and rich worlds within established intellectual properties created by others.

The Big Indie Pitch and MIGS Synergy

As the sun began to set on the first day of the summit, attention turned to the signature closing event: the Big Indie Pitch. In this fast-paced, high-stakes competition, independent developers pitched their mobile, PC, and console games to a discerning panel of industry judges. Operating under a strict quick-fire format, each developer was given a mere five minutes per table to pitch their project and answer rapid-fire questions from the judges. The coveted first-place prize comes with the traditional golden bat trophy, while second and third-place finalists receive official certificates recognizing their creative efforts.

Meanwhile, attendees had the flexibility to explore the broader MIGS conference running concurrently across its Red, Blue, and Green stages. Among the standout sessions happening across the broader venue, IO Interactive discussed how their overarching studio strategy directly shaped the development and vision of 007 First Light.

Ghost Ship Games took to the stage to offer attendees an honest look at the highs and lows of developing Deep Rock Galactic entirely in public alongside an active community. Additionally, Tanya Short of Kitfox Games and Clint Hocking of Build Machine Games shared strategic advice on how newly formed indie studios can manage their finances and resources effectively enough to survive the perilous early years and successfully pitch to publishers.

Looking Ahead to Day Two

With the conclusion of a packed opening day, anticipation now shifts to the second day of MIGS and the summit. The morning will open with a keynote from Alex Massé, who famously began developing Paralives entirely on his own and is now positioning the project to challenge established giants like The Sims. Day two will also feature the official MIGS Indie Pitch Competition, alongside a robust slate of panels centered heavily on co-development strategies. Key speakers from major regional players including Behaviour Interactive, Gameloft Montreal, Virtuos, and Keywords Studios are slated to share their expertise on collaborative development models.

Organizers have confirmed that following the conclusion of the event, comprehensive write-ups covering the conference’s most compelling talks and panels will be published. These will be accompanied by exclusive interviews with key industry figures from IO Interactive, Gameloft Montreal, and other participating studios.