The day opens in plenary, then splits into two parallel tracks: panels on one side, workshops on the other. You choose your track for each time slot.
9:00 AM: Opening remarks
9:30 AM: Keynote – From Prototype to Production: ML at Studio Scale (FR)
According to La Guilde’s survey, 62% of Quebec studios already use machine learning, but in a third of cases, no one is driving its adoption. Leaders driving this shift share their decisions, their missteps, and what they’d do differently.
With Stéphanie Marchand (BHVR), Brian McWilliams (Wild Blueberry Games). Moderated by Julien Bouvrais (pragmaFrame)
Starting at 11:00 AM, there are two parallel tracks:
Panels
11:00 AM: Sound Propagation: Technical Innovations for Interactive Audio (EN)
Dynamic reverberation, occlusion, spatialization: new approaches to sound simulation that are transforming interactive audio, and the trade-offs they bring to production.
With Louis-Xavier Buffoni (Audiokinetic), Hugo Seuté (Ubisoft La Forge), and Nikunj Raghuvanshi (Xbox). Moderator: TBA
1:15 PM: Neural Rendering: Current Applications and Future Directions for Real-Time Rendering (EN)
Neural rendering is redefining real-time graphics: recent innovations, concrete production applications, and an honest look at its current limitations.
With Andrea Weidlich (NVIDIA) and Georges Nader (Ubisoft La Forge). Moderated by Adrien Grusson (ÉTS)
2:45 PM: Testing and Balancing Through Reinforcement Learning: State of the Art and Use Cases (FR)
Agents trained through reinforcement learning are speeding up QA cycles and catching imbalances at scale, with an honest look at the limitations and resources this requires.
With Frédérique Robichaud (Gearbox), Mahzad Kalantari (Wizards of The Coast), and François Pelland (LocusX). Moderated by Nicolas Eypert (Netflix)
4:15 PM: UX and Accessibility: Design Principles and Applicable Standards (FR)
Innovations in UX design and emerging approaches to accessibility: two areas that, each in their own way, are expanding the reach and experience of games.
Panelists and moderator to be announced.
Workshops
Registration is required, space is limited to 15 people per activity, maximum 2 workshops per person.
11:00 AM: Designing for Motivation: Using Player Profiles to Guide Strategic Decisions (EN)
Rather than asking “is this game fun?”, this workshop asks: why, and for which players? How do player profiles guide design choices and become a shared language across teams?
With Pejman Mirza-Babaei (Ontario Tech University)
1:15 PM: Managing Co-Development, Part 2: A Deeper Look at Multi-Studio Collaboration (FR)
The follow-up to last year’s workshop, this time with two voices, offering concrete tools to structure, align, and make multi-studio collaboration work.
With Isabelle Bismuth (IBIS Partnerships) and Sabrina Jacques (Warner Bros. Montréal)
2:45 PM: Innovation Clinic: How Do You Give Yourself Permission to Innovate? (FR)
What allows an idea to move from concept to action? A participatory clinic mixing personal stories and peer discussion, you’ll leave with a concrete next step.
With Léo Carnaut-Delord (Polymorph) and Carle Côté (Paralog). Moderated by CDRIN
4:15 PM: Claude Code in Practice: Beyond the Code (FR)
What can you really delegate to an agent today? An hour of live demos (development, test automation, log analysis) with real, immediately applicable use cases, including other agentic environments.
With Julien Bouvrais (pragmaFrame)
5:30 PM: Closing remarks and networking
Networking breaks are woven throughout the day. Lunch and evening cocktails are included.
