Ontario’s Biggest Video Game & XR Industry Week

Ontario’s biggest week in video games and XR has come to a close. Featuring dozens of events, hundreds of games, and thousands of industry professionals, Interactive Ontario was proud to work alongside XP Gaming and Toronto Games Week to bring this innovative and inspiring week to life. For all the details, please visit here to read our full press release.
Thank you to all who attended throughout the week!

The Indie Superboost program is introducing two new initiatives around Toronto Games Week 2024 and XP Game Summit 2024. Included in this latest expansion are:

IO Connect: Summer Mixer 2024 brought in the summer in style! As the official afterparty of XP Game Summit, kickoff for Toronto Games Week 2024, and industry favourite, IO Connect was a rousing success!

Taking place at Toronto’s The Great Hall, and featuring a fun and vibrant summer theme, IO Connect included delectable food, video game demo stations, networking opportunities, and much more. We were proud to welcome over 500 video game and XR professionals from around the world for a night to remember.

IO Connect: Summer Mixer 2024 was only made possible with the collaboration of all our partners XP Gaming, Toronto Games Week, FITC, City of Toronto, Toronto Film School, DJXL, Insert Coin, JALI, London Economic Development Corporation, Xsolla, Triple Dragon, Lucky VR, PR Moisan, Ontario Creates, i3D.net, AMD, Vito’s Pizza & Ubisoft Toronto.

For all those who attended, please check your inbox for photos!

The Indie Superboost program is introducing two new initiatives around Toronto Games Week 2024 and XP Game Summit 2024. Included in this latest expansion are:

Interactive Ontario hosted its annual in-person Impact Forum, bringing together our Expand and Torchbearer members and board directors to explore the financing outlook and opportunities for Ontario’s video game and XR sector, as well as to discuss policy priorities for Interactive Ontario. This annual initiative sets the tone for the coming year in our video game and XR sector, helping shape IO’s priorities and the future of our leading-edge techno-creative industry in Ontario.

Thank you to all participants and to our presenters and panelists Kristian Roberts, Mary Sorrenti, Ritesh Thadani, Pierre Moisan, Alina Soltys for kicking off the Impact Forum with their insightful perspectives on economic outlook and financing.

This policy forum was followed by the IO Impact Forum Cocktail Mixer, where we were delighted to welcome the Honourable Stan Cho, the newly appointed Ontario Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Gaming, as our special VIP guest. Minister Cho inspired the crowd with his impactful remarks and engaged in meaningful discussions with industry leaders. Thank you to all of our industry stakeholders and studios who attended this event.

And a special shoutout to our IO Impact Forum Cocktail Mixer sponsors City of Toronto, Xsolla, Nordicity, Insert Coin, i3D.net, PR Moisan, and Triple Dragon.

The Indie Superboost program is introducing two new initiatives around Toronto Games Week 2024 and XP Game Summit 2024. Included in this latest expansion are:

IO’s Indie Superboost program hosted its first in-person workshop event, featuring prolific industry experts Angela Mejia, Chris Zukowski, Jenny Windom, Krysta Yang, and Will Perkins, who truly went above and beyond to share their best tips and tricks for marketing, branding, and community management for studios in the video game sector.

Shoutout to our participants who traveled from near and far to attend this all-day event, and we look forward to bringing you more from Indie Superboost very soon!

Thank you to the Canada Media Fund, Ontario Creates, Ubisoft Toronto, Trade Commissioner Service, Xsolla & TMU’s Innovation Studio for making this ambitious initiative a wonderful reality.

XP Game Summit 2024 brought together hundreds of industry leaders and decision-makers for North America’s second-largest video game knowledge-sharing conference.

With the generous support of Ontario Creates and Ubisoft Toronto, Interactive Ontario’s Indie Superboost brand was front and center throughout the conference with 14 Indie Superboost panels and talks, which featured over 30 different speakers covering a wide range of topics including a special focus on issues commonly faced by independent studios.

Interactive Ontario and its peers at the Canadian Interactive Alliance also brought a highly sought-after selection of publishers, including  Devolver Digital, Digital Bandidos, Plug In Digital, Tiny Build, Xbox and Meta for dozens of meetings with Ontario and Canadian studios.Thank you to Ontario Creates and CanExport Association for supporting this inbound mission to XP Game Summit.

A special thank you to the ISB Committee for your continued dedication to our industry. Please look forward to more from Indie Superboost coming soon!”

Interactive Ontario was proud to partner with Toronto Games Week 2024 (TGW), an annual collection of events organized independently by dozens of organizations, curators, companies, creators, and communities. TGW is unique in North America and featured programming that included IO Connect Summer Mixer, XP Game Summit, game jams, esports tournaments, workshops, and much more, TGW showcased the heart, soul, and creativity that our industry has to offer. We look forward to seeing what TGW will look like in 2025!

If you are an Ontario video game or XR studio, PLEASE fill out your survey for the ESAC/CIAIC studies run by Nordicity on the economic impact of our sector. It is impossible to overstate the importance of the information gathered during this process, as it directly impacts the ability of O and its peers across Canada to advocate on your behalf. Please do your part and take the time to equip us with the data we need. If you have already filled yours out, THANK YOU.