• 1:00pm – 6:00pm Registration & Information
• 1:00pm – 6:00pm XDS Connect Zone
• 1:00pm – 6:00pm The Hub
• 1:00pm – 6:00pm NeoBards Tea Station
• 1:00pm – 6:00pm Virtuos Central Bar

This is a one-of-a-kind social to properly welcome first-time XDS attendees to the event! Mingle with veteran attendees, and receive some tips and tricks on ways to make the most of your XDS experience. The XDS NOOBS Social is an invitation-only event to those who are brand new to XDS.

Featured Panel Discussion:

A Noob’s Guide on Infrastructure/Technology When Breaking Through Working with Triple A

As game development becomes increasingly complex and global, co-development has become a cornerstone of modern game production. The shared efforts are performed by service providers but also developers proposing their team to support others team within the same organization.

But do we all mean the same thing when we use this term? What truly defines a co-development partnership? Between enhanced and more integrated art outsourcing, strategic partnerships, shared ownership of some design or engineering elements, where do we draw the line?

Whether you’re a service provider looking to expand your capabilities or an external development manager seeking to better support your internal and external teams, this discussion will provide valuable insights and best practices to help structure and optimize your co-development projects.

Rory McGuire (Blackbird Interactive) hosts a topic where studios discuss supporting and collaborating with studios with who operate in multiple business models, all the way from co-development, to full scale work-for-hire projects, and building their own original games. How does a studio staff and recruit for a multi vector business? What challenges does it present to business development? What are the challenges that studios face in moving staff from original to co-development? What benefits does this flexibility provide during uncertain times? And how can Developers and Publishers leverage the advantages provided by hybrid developer-provider companies?

Attendants will leave with a better understanding of how a multi pipeline business works, how to expand their business into these areas and how to manage them into the future, and how developers can leverage external partners that also create their own IP to create bigger and better games.

As AI tools continue to be leveraged by teams who work in XDEV, so too does the need for all parties to incorporate Emotional Intelligence (EQ) in the process. When navigating tough situations—like repeated bugs, miscommunications, slipping deadlines, ignored feedback, and cultural nuances that aren’t always clear—EQ is the biggest skill that humans need to bring to the table, to bridge the gap of what AI lacks.

In this session, we’ll discuss how AI isn’t ready to be relied upon fully as a replacement for human feedback. However, by combining the power of AI with human EQ, we can create the formula for our “dream teams.” We can lead with EQ, and build our team cultures through open dialogues, problem solving, empathy, peer coaching, and upskilling. AI tools may help us generate data faster, but it’s the human layer that makes the difference.

Attendees of this session will learn how to collaborate better and reduce friction between teams. As we enter a new era of XDEV—one where technical skill is amplified by AI—our real power will come from how we lead, connect, and care. When you think about where to invest your team’s skill in the age of AI, EQ is a safe bet.

Biz Dev isn’t just for “BD’s.” In External Development, it’s often the artists, designers, producers, and engineers who make the strongest connections as they’re the ones in the trenches. This table topic explores how to empower you – or your non-BD team members – to speak to value, spot opportunity, and build trust, without ever feeling like they’re “selling.” Learn how to turn you or your team’s unique skills and attributes into a business development asset while keeping authentic to their craft.

This session is perfect for Studio Leadership, and Biz Dev accountable roles, who want to grow their partnerships without burning out their talent. Also, extremely beneficial for Non-BD roles to learn how they’re already their team’s X Factor. Whether you’re a Service Provider or a Developer/Publisher, join this session to learn how to use your inner secret weapon to grow your influence, embolden your studio representation, and add additional value in securing new partners.

In an industry defined by rapid production cycles, high creative stakes, and growing reliance on external partners, true success no longer comes from scale alone – it comes from trust. Ethical development today means building partnerships rooted in transparency, shared values, and mutual growth. As co-development becomes the norm, studios must learn to foster resilient, human-first relationships that go beyond transactional goals.

In this welcoming and interactive session, we’ll share practical insights on how to build long-term client and partner relationships that are both ethical and strategic. From early conversations to contract design and team alignment, this table topic will explore how empathy, clarity, and culture-fit are just as critical as timelines and budgets. We’ll look at how trust-based relationships improve retention, boost collaboration, and ultimately lead to better games.

Whether you’re a service provider, publisher, or internal studio lead, this session offers frameworks and field-tested tactics to strengthen your external partnerships by focusing on what matters most: people.

As game development becomes increasingly complex and global, co-development has become a cornerstone of modern game production. The shared efforts are performed by service providers but also developers proposing their team to support others team within the same organization.

But do we all mean the same thing when we use this term? What truly defines a co-development partnership? Between enhanced and more integrated art outsourcing, strategic partnerships, shared ownership of some design or engineering elements, where do we draw the line?

Whether you’re a service provider looking to expand your capabilities or an external development manager seeking to better support your internal and external teams, this discussion will provide valuable insights and best practices to help structure and optimize your co-development projects.

Leaders who invest time to interrogate language, unlock the highest levels of efficiency.

We will dismantle the myth that productivity comes from new tools or tighter pipelines; projects slip because teams assume words like “high quality,” “final,” and even “shared vision” mean the same thing to everyone. These buzzwords mask hidden gaps that waste more time than any broken tool, and the fastest route to efficiency is pausing early to define those terms together.

Participants will probe real examples where clarity – or the lack of it – made or broke delivery. In a guided discussion, we’ll surface the language traps that derail projects and spotlight people first tactics that consistently keep work on track.

In this table topic, participants will be able to spot risky buzzwords, ask sharper questions, and champion shared language as their highest return productivity tool within any external development pipeline.

Rory McGuire (Blackbird Interactive) hosts a topic where studios discuss supporting and collaborating with studios with who operate in multiple business models, all the way from co-development, to full scale work-for-hire projects, and building their own original games. How does a studio staff and recruit for a multi vector business? What challenges does it present to business development? What are the challenges that studios face in moving staff from original to co-development? What benefits does this flexibility provide during uncertain times? And how can Developers and Publishers leverage the advantages provided by hybrid developer-provider companies?

Attendants will leave with a better understanding of how a multi pipeline business works, how to expand their business into these areas and how to manage them into the future, and how developers can leverage external partners that also create their own IP to create bigger and better games.

As AI tools continue to be leveraged by teams who work in XDEV, so too does the need for all parties to incorporate Emotional Intelligence (EQ) in the process. When navigating tough situations—like repeated bugs, miscommunications, slipping deadlines, ignored feedback, and cultural nuances that aren’t always clear—EQ is the biggest skill that humans need to bring to the table, to bridge the gap of what AI lacks.

In this session, we’ll discuss how AI isn’t ready to be relied upon fully as a replacement for human feedback. However, by combining the power of AI with human EQ, we can create the formula for our “dream teams.” We can lead with EQ, and build our team cultures through open dialogues, problem solving, empathy, peer coaching, and upskilling. AI tools may help us generate data faster, but it’s the human layer that makes the difference.

Attendees of this session will learn how to collaborate better and reduce friction between teams. As we enter a new era of XDEV—one where technical skill is amplified by AI—our real power will come from how we lead, connect, and care. When you think about where to invest your team’s skill in the age of AI, EQ is a safe bet.

Biz Dev isn’t just for “BD’s.” In External Development, it’s often the artists, designers, producers, and engineers who make the strongest connections as they’re the ones in the trenches. This table topic explores how to empower you – or your non-BD team members – to speak to value, spot opportunity, and build trust, without ever feeling like they’re “selling.” Learn how to turn you or your team’s unique skills and attributes into a business development asset while keeping authentic to their craft.

This session is perfect for Studio Leadership, and Biz Dev accountable roles, who want to grow their partnerships without burning out their talent. Also, extremely beneficial for Non-BD roles to learn how they’re already their team’s X Factor. Whether you’re a Service Provider or a Developer/Publisher, join this session to learn how to use your inner secret weapon to grow your influence, embolden your studio representation, and add additional value in securing new partners.

• 7:00am – 6:00pm Registration & Information
• 8:00am – 6:00pm XDS Connect Zone
• 8:00am – 6:00pm The Hub
• 8:00am – 6:00pm Original Force Booster Bar
• 8:00am – 6:00pm Globant Café
• 8:00am – 6:00pm NeoBards Tea Station
• 8:00am – 6:00pm QLOC Snack Bar
• 11:00am – 6:00pm Virtuos Central Bar

Join industry leaders in a compelling panel discussion, “”External Development Leadership: Setting Teams Up for Success,”” that will redefine the perception and practice of external development within the gaming industry. This isn’t just another talk; it’s a vital conversation designed to empower external development leaders and revolutionize how studios approach scalable content creation.

Discover actionable strategies for cultivating thriving team cultures and effectively bridging the gap between external and core development teams. Our expert panelists will challenge prevailing biases and offer insights into fostering a more influential role for external development within your studio—covering everything from staffing and roadmaps to execution and processes.

Be part of this essential dialogue to move beyond the “”staff up… then layoff”” cycle and champion sustainable, strategic external development. This unique moderated format ensures a dynamic exchange of diverse perspectives, providing invaluable takeaways you won’t find anywhere else.

We killed boredom. As a society we’re all culpable. Although our intentions were good, there have been unforeseen consequences.

How did it happen and what does its demise mean for the games industry? More importantly, what does it mean for us in the external development world tasked with creating and supporting content in a shifting reality?

In this session, we’ll dive into what’s changed and the potential side effects for an IP driven industry. We’ll also analyze how this loss collides with the unpredictable impact of AI’s emerging influence on production. From there we’ll examine the evolution of content, its delivery, and the opportunities, so we can successfully adapt to a new generation of consumers and creators.

Join us in this thought-provoking session to explore possible scenarios, examine the psychological angle, and combine data along with a dose of theory to kick-start conversations on the future of external game development.

In today’s economic climate, both game developers and service providers face mounting pressure and uncertainty. Traditional external development models are no longer as effective or sustainable. Service providers struggle to stand out in a market full of polished portfolios, while high-output business models often strain internal teams. At the same time, developers are being asked to do more with less—fewer people, tighter budgets, and rising expectations—many of whom haven’t had the chance to build games from the ground up under such intense conditions.

This presentation aims to bring our external development community closer during these challenging times. By sharing insights, experiences and values, we will redefine external development as a long-term, trust-based partnership that strengthens our industry and helps us weather the storm—together.

The year is 2030 and, during the great cascading layoffs of the early 20’s, companies started using external, specialized teams more and more. Now about half of all teams are composed of internal experts who know the game inside and out, alongside external, specialized experts who have been there from the start as an extension of the team.

For this workshop, you will be assigned to a table where each of you will have a role to play in the creation of a brand new video game. Your table will need to work together to hit budgets and deadlines, work well with your external partners, and get this game released into the world! There will be curveballs throughout the process, inspired by your real-world experiences, so you’ll need to switch up plans, rework your creative idea, create a balance between internal and external teams, and go gold before the time is up!

Attendees of this engaging, interactive session will gain insight into how games could be collaboratively developed in 2030, and learn more about how different roles and responsibilities play into creating the best games, all whilst making new, invaluable connections with your group!”

Join Story Kitchen co-founders Dmitri M. Johnson and Mike Goldberg, producers behind Sonic the Hedgehog, Tomb Raider, and more, alongside BAFTA North America board member and games committee chair Julia Bianco, for a focused round-table on expanding game IP into film, television, animation, and emerging platforms.

This interactive session brings together developers and service providers looking to expand their studios into new mediums, comparing practical approaches to what Story Kitchen calls “franchise farming.” We’ll tackle:

• Considering Adaptation Discussing how to judge whether an IP is right for adaptation and what creative, strategic, and operational factors to consider before taking the leap.
• Choosing Partners What to look for in an external partner or how to position yourself as a service provider, and how to build partnerships that protect the core vision while enabling healthy collaboration.
• Best Practices Insight into rights, revenue splits, contracts, and production workflows that keep adaptations on track – with a focus on building sustainable pipelines between game teams and external partners.

Collaborate with industry-leading experts to discover the essential considerations for authentically adapting IP across media.

Outsourcing has evolved, we are no longer just sending a list of assets to be done, Co-development is becoming the standard. This brings a new set of challenges such as fully allowing external teams into your ecosystem and being a part of your team. How do we help externals work alongside internal teams and become drivers of features?

One thing that has always improved the quality of work is for the external teams to fully own their work. Improving collaboration between teams allows for new ideas to come up and creativity to flow, which can lead to a trust being built between teams and forging long lasting relations that can go across multiple projects and sometimes even across studios.

So I’m happy to share my learnings from being an artist in an outsourcing studio to an Outsource Manager in development studios. Together we’ll discuss the best ways to give teams ownership of their work, build trust so they can achieve creative freedom and find areas where their expertise might raise your own internal quality bar.

External development is no longer just about outsourcing—it’s about building strategic, long-term partnerships that drive innovation and production stability. Emerging markets, such as Southeast Asia, have evolved beyond cost-efficient labor pools to become essential co-development partners in engineering, QA, and live operations. Studios that invest in long-term relationships with external teams in emerging regions are discovering firsthand that they can gain more than just efficiency—they gain creative and technical collaborators who contribute to product success.

This session will explore how vendors and buyers can transition from transactional outsourcing to sustainable co-production models in emerging regions, ensuring stability in an industry prone to disruption. We’ll discuss how service providers can offer strategic value beyond cost savings, the role of emerging markets in strengthening the XDEV ecosystem, and the future of co-development, including co-IP creation and deeper integration of external teams. Attendees will to assess their own XDEV strategies, debunk common misconceptions, and explore practical approaches to building high-impact, long-term partnerships in emerging regions.

In an era of increasingly complex pipelines and distributed teams, AI isn’t just a buzzword, it’s a competitive advantage. This session explores how External Development Managers and Directors can harness AI tools to streamline vendor collaboration, enhance asset quality control, accelerate iteration, expedite and track legal documents (such as invoices and MSAs), and improve cross-functional communication. From practical case studies to recommended tools, the discussion will be on actionable strategies to lead smarter, scale faster, and deliver stronger results without adding headcount.

The focus of this table topic will be on tools that most organizations already have access to, like Co-pilot (Microsoft), Gemini (Google), ChatGPT(OpenAI), and Iris (DocuSign), so that strategies are immediately actionable in organizations of any size.

Over the past decade, the appetite from traditionally underrepresented players to see characters like them in the games they play has grown. As studios and their Ex Dev partners look to meet this need by adapting this diverse reality into their games, they increasingly encounter new barriers and issues to doing so authentically.

This table talk will explore issues and unique considerations that emerge during the development of diverse characters, and discuss potential strategies for how to address and improve development processes for the future. In particular, this discussion will focus on issues specific to Ex Dev and the unique challenges and opportunities within the space – as so far, most discussions on this topic have been limited to processes within studios without considering external partners who handle critical parts of the character pipeline like Localization, VO/Casting, Concept/Character Art, Narrative/Writing, Animation (and more).

Participants will leave this talk with new insights into issues within inclusive character development across a variety of disciplines, and will be better able to adapt their creative and development pipelines to avoid the most common pitfalls. Participants will also learn more about the benefits to an informed and prepared approach, and how it creates a smoother development process as well as characters that truly resonate with players.

Whether you’re a large publisher working with multiple external partners or a small studio offering specialized development services, effectively evaluating, engaging, and managing external development is both an art and a science.

In this practical session, we’ll collaboratively build a comprehensive checklist that spans the entire lifecycle of the business — from initial vetting and contracting to production, communication, and offboarding. The checklist will be organized into four key phases:

1. Pre-Business Best practices for scouting, pitching, evaluating, and selecting partners. Establishing sustainable, long-term business relationships with the right strategic fit.
2. Pre-Production / Onboarding Defining engagement requirements, RFPs, test projects, legal and procurement essentials. Creating clear roles, onboarding plans, successful kickoffs and milestone alignment.
3. Production Pipelines, workflows, tools, and communication frameworks. Feedback cycles, KPI tracking, risk management, and regular health assessments to keep production on track.
4. Post-Production / Offboarding Navigating renewals, ramp-ups and ramp-downs, contract closures, post-mortems, documentation, and knowledge transfer to ensure clean transitions and continuity.

Our goal is a foundational document of recommended business practices, and a structured, actionable checklist designed to reduce risk, improve collaboration, and ensure high-quality outcomes across all stages of external development.

In an industry where large-scale co-development is often entrusted to even larger studios, we’re asking a simple but disruptive question: Can a carefully coordinated collective of small, expert studios actually do it better? This Table Topic challenges the assumption that size equals stability, arguing instead that specialization, flexibility, and the right kind of glue… especially in the form of a dedicated production service and streamlined tools, could unlock a new, sustainable model for delivering complex, multi-discipline projects.

We’ll explore the operational and strategic realities of working with multiple small providers, drawing on the group’s collective experience to identify where the model breaks, and where it might outperform the status quo. From risk perception to delivery coordination, this session will dig into what it would take for a distributed service ecosystem to succeed, and how we might build it.

Whether you’re a developer, a service provider, or somewhere in between, join us to unpack the potential (and the pitfalls) of a new approach to external development.

One of Hollywood’s biggest models – such as the Marvel model – focuses on large, IP-centric creative teams at the core, surrounded by specialized units that help deploy content across formats and markets.This structure is now mirrored in the game industry, where major IP holders are no longer trying to keep everything in-house like a “universal studio” of the 1960s. Instead, they are increasingly focusing internal teams on core IP and vision, while outsourcing execution to trusted, highly skilled external partners, and external teams are increasingly expected to reflect internal studio workflows, culture, and standards.

This table topic explores how the Marvel-style model offers a functional blueprint for external development: centralized IP leadership, distributed execution, and creative “mirroring”, enabling better alignment, faster delivery, and stronger long-term collaboration without sacrificing ownership or quality.

Join us for a candid, off-the-record conversation on how studios and service partners are already adopting this model in practice—and how naming and defining this shift can help developers and service providers alike work more strategically in a rapidly evolving production landscape.

Join us on Wednesday for an unforgettable kickoff to the evening: The Collider Rooftop Mixer – Argentina Night.

We’re serving up a hot empanadas bar, fine imported Argentine wines, and an open bar with everything else you might want.

DJ JUICE will be spinning live as the sun sets over Vancouver…

Expect delicious bites, warm conversation, and an energy only Argentina can bring – all from the rooftop deck of Apartment 108 at The Douglas.

Empanadas, fine beverages, and a golden-hour skyline – what could be better?

Join us for Bites & Banter, an exclusive XDS experience designed to bring the community together over what we all love—delicious food and good conversation. This curated dinner series invites you to choose from one of six handpicked local restaurants, each offering a unique atmosphere and menu, perfect for informal networking and authentic connection. You’ll be seated at a table of 10 people, including one member of the XDS Advisory Committee, offering a great opportunity for meaningful dialogue and insight.

Whether you’re looking to talk shop or just enjoy a great meal with new faces, this is your chance to dine with fellow attendees in a relaxed, intimate setting outside the buzz of the conference floor. Limited spots available.

Click HERE for more info.

Click HERE to secure your tickets.

• 8:00am – 6:00pm Registration & Information
• 8:00am – 6:00pm XDS Connect Zone
• 8:00am – 6:00pm The Hub
• 8:00am – 6:00pm Original Force Booster Bar
• 8:00am – 6:00pm Globant Café
• 8:00am – 6:00pm NeoBards Tea Station
• 8:00am – 6:00pm Kudos 3D Snack Bar
• 11:00am – 6:00pm Virtuos Central Bar

In the Video Game Development Industry, we all became familiar with the phrase “Survive to 2025” being passed around through 2023 and 2024. This was followed by an arduous first half of the year for many in 2025. And now posing the question through the mid to end of the year, “If you survived TO 2025, will you survive THROUGH 2025?”

This panel of industry leaders will reflect on how seasoned game developers and service providers are “surviving” these challenging and unpredictable times.

We come together as veterans in the industry, peers, and collaborators, to discuss common themes we are seeing, and discuss the new normal in the industry as we adjust to new market demands post the pandemic and in the midst of global changes. Join us in our discussion as we pass on our experience, and incite some hope in a crucial and prolific moment in time for the Industry.

This collaborative, audience-driven workshop is about sharing candid stories of mistakes made and lessons learned – and levelling each other up in the process.  Hosted by Dave Sanderson in his 10th year at XDS and 5th year on the XDS Advisory Committee, the session will kick off with ten insights he has learned the hard way over the last ten years.

Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or completely new to ExDev, Service Provider or Developer, this workshop is for anyone at XDS interested in learning from their peers.  Covering everything from relationship management to scaling ExDev teams to building better pipelines, this workshop is about improving at our craft and connecting with other people who care about External Development.  It’s not a list of best practices; it’s a collection of stories, stumbles, and wins that help shape our approach to the craft.

For those who are passionate about knowledge-sharing and championing a human-first approach to game development, this workshop will spark conversations, new ideas, and gather some knowing nods from others who’ve been there too.  While these lessons reflect on the past ten years, they’re really about building momentum for the ten to follow. Attendees of this session can expect to leave it feeling more confident, more connected, and more inspired to lead with empathy and clarity.

Today, studios are under constant pressure to produce more content, faster, without scaling teams. One of the best answers lies in enabling UGC at scale. When players become active co-creators, studios can offload part of the content creation process, enabling more frequent updates without overstretching internal teams. The result: reduced production time and cost, higher engagement, and a constantly evolving content ecosystem.

This session explores how next-gen modding frameworks, generative AI, and procedural systems will empower players to create real-time, personalized content within games, as well as how external development partners are helping turn non-moddable “classical custom engines” and “UE5-based games” into “AI-powered” and “UGC-ready” pipelines.

This talk will examine how these shifts are reshaping the future of content production and how studios can harness them to stay competitive.

Join Story Kitchen co-founders Dmitri M. Johnson and Mike Goldberg, producers behind Sonic the Hedgehog, Tomb Raider, and more, alongside BAFTA North America board member and games committee chair Julia Bianco, for a focused round-table on expanding game IP into film, television, animation, and emerging platforms.

This interactive session brings together developers and service providers looking to expand their studios into new mediums, comparing practical approaches to what Story Kitchen calls “franchise farming.” We’ll tackle:

• Considering Adaptation Discussing how to judge whether an IP is right for adaptation and what creative, strategic, and operational factors to consider before taking the leap.
• Choosing Partners What to look for in an external partner or how to position yourself as a service provider, and how to build partnerships that protect the core vision while enabling healthy collaboration.
• Best Practices Insight into rights, revenue splits, contracts, and production workflows that keep adaptations on track – with a focus on building sustainable pipelines between game teams and external partners.

Collaborate with industry-leading experts to discover the essential considerations for authentically adapting IP across media.

Outsourcing has evolved, we are no longer just sending a list of assets to be done, Co-development is becoming the standard. This brings a new set of challenges such as fully allowing external teams into your ecosystem and being a part of your team. How do we help externals work alongside internal teams and become drivers of features?

One thing that has always improved the quality of work is for the external teams to fully own their work. Improving collaboration between teams allows for new ideas to come up and creativity to flow, which can lead to a trust being built between teams and forging long lasting relations that can go across multiple projects and sometimes even across studios.

So I’m happy to share my learnings from being an artist in an outsourcing studio to an Outsource Manager in development studios. Together we’ll discuss the best ways to give teams ownership of their work, build trust so they can achieve creative freedom and find areas where their expertise might raise your own internal quality bar.

External development is no longer just about outsourcing—it’s about building strategic, long-term partnerships that drive innovation and production stability. Emerging markets, such as Southeast Asia, have evolved beyond cost-efficient labor pools to become essential co-development partners in engineering, QA, and live operations. Studios that invest in long-term relationships with external teams in emerging regions are discovering firsthand that they can gain more than just efficiency—they gain creative and technical collaborators who contribute to product success.

This session will explore how vendors and buyers can transition from transactional outsourcing to sustainable co-production models in emerging regions, ensuring stability in an industry prone to disruption. We’ll discuss how service providers can offer strategic value beyond cost savings, the role of emerging markets in strengthening the XDEV ecosystem, and the future of co-development, including co-IP creation and deeper integration of external teams. Attendees will to assess their own XDEV strategies, debunk common misconceptions, and explore practical approaches to building high-impact, long-term partnerships in emerging regions.

In an era of increasingly complex pipelines and distributed teams, AI isn’t just a buzzword, it’s a competitive advantage. This session explores how External Development Managers and Directors can harness AI tools to streamline vendor collaboration, enhance asset quality control, accelerate iteration, expedite and track legal documents (such as invoices and MSAs), and improve cross-functional communication. From practical case studies to recommended tools, the discussion will be on actionable strategies to lead smarter, scale faster, and deliver stronger results without adding headcount.

The focus of this table topic will be on tools that most organizations already have access to, like Co-pilot (Microsoft), Gemini (Google), ChatGPT(OpenAI), and Iris (DocuSign), so that strategies are immediately actionable in organizations of any size.

Over the past decade, the appetite from traditionally underrepresented players to see characters like them in the games they play has grown. As studios and their Ex Dev partners look to meet this need by adapting this diverse reality into their games, they increasingly encounter new barriers and issues to doing so authentically.

This table talk will explore issues and unique considerations that emerge during the development of diverse characters, and discuss potential strategies for how to address and improve development processes for the future. In particular, this discussion will focus on issues specific to Ex Dev and the unique challenges and opportunities within the space – as so far, most discussions on this topic have been limited to processes within studios without considering external partners who handle critical parts of the character pipeline like Localization, VO/Casting, Concept/Character Art, Narrative/Writing, Animation (and more).

Participants will leave this talk with new insights into issues within inclusive character development across a variety of disciplines, and will be better able to adapt their creative and development pipelines to avoid the most common pitfalls. Participants will also learn more about the benefits to an informed and prepared approach, and how it creates a smoother development process as well as characters that truly resonate with players.

Whether you’re a large publisher working with multiple external partners or a small studio offering specialized development services, effectively evaluating, engaging, and managing external development is both an art and a science.

In this practical session, we’ll collaboratively build a comprehensive checklist that spans the entire lifecycle of the business — from initial vetting and contracting to production, communication, and offboarding. The checklist will be organized into four key phases:

1. Pre-Business Best practices for scouting, pitching, evaluating, and selecting partners. Establishing sustainable, long-term business relationships with the right strategic fit.
2. Pre-Production / Onboarding Defining engagement requirements, RFPs, test projects, legal and procurement essentials. Creating clear roles, onboarding plans, successful kickoffs and milestone alignment.
3. Production Pipelines, workflows, tools, and communication frameworks. Feedback cycles, KPI tracking, risk management, and regular health assessments to keep production on track.
4. Post-Production / Offboarding Navigating renewals, ramp-ups and ramp-downs, contract closures, post-mortems, documentation, and knowledge transfer to ensure clean transitions and continuity.

Our goal is a foundational document of recommended business practices, and a structured, actionable checklist designed to reduce risk, improve collaboration, and ensure high-quality outcomes across all stages of external development.

In an industry where large-scale co-development is often entrusted to even larger studios, we’re asking a simple but disruptive question: Can a carefully coordinated collective of small, expert studios actually do it better? This Table Topic challenges the assumption that size equals stability, arguing instead that specialization, flexibility, and the right kind of glue… especially in the form of a dedicated production service and streamlined tools, could unlock a new, sustainable model for delivering complex, multi-discipline projects.

We’ll explore the operational and strategic realities of working with multiple small providers, drawing on the group’s collective experience to identify where the model breaks, and where it might outperform the status quo. From risk perception to delivery coordination, this session will dig into what it would take for a distributed service ecosystem to succeed, and how we might build it.

Whether you’re a developer, a service provider, or somewhere in between, join us to unpack the potential (and the pitfalls) of a new approach to external development.

One of Hollywood’s biggest models – such as the Marvel model – focuses on large, IP-centric creative teams at the core, surrounded by specialized units that help deploy content across formats and markets.This structure is now mirrored in the game industry, where major IP holders are no longer trying to keep everything in-house like a “universal studio” of the 1960s. Instead, they are increasingly focusing internal teams on core IP and vision, while outsourcing execution to trusted, highly skilled external partners, and external teams are increasingly expected to reflect internal studio workflows, culture, and standards.

This table topic explores how the Marvel-style model offers a functional blueprint for external development: centralized IP leadership, distributed execution, and creative “mirroring”, enabling better alignment, faster delivery, and stronger long-term collaboration without sacrificing ownership or quality.

Join us for a candid, off-the-record conversation on how studios and service partners are already adopting this model in practice—and how naming and defining this shift can help developers and service providers alike work more strategically in a rapidly evolving production landscape.

Drinks. Music. Conversation. Fresh Vancouver Rooftop Air. That’s it.

Step into the buzz of a rooftop vibe built for real conversations and relaxed connections. With an open bar and a live set from DJ JUICE, this is your chance to catch up, link up, or just chill out.

Low-key, High-up… See you there.

Join Sankari Studios, the team behind Katoa: Oceans – a beautifully crafted environmental stewardship game – for a casual and inspiring gathering on sustainability in game development. Built in partnership with Snowed In Studios, Volta and Liquid Development, Katoa: Oceans is much more than a visual delight. Players reaching thresholds in the game trigger funding for real-world environmental NGOs, living up to the game’s tagline: Play the game, save the world.

Led by Sankari’s Chief Creative Officer and co-founder, Christian Rossi, this 20-minute conversational-style panel will dive into multi-studio collaboration while facing the challenges of building sustainability into the creative and production pipelines – from whether to embrace investment from blockchain investment to supporting remote work and carbon-aware partnerships. Joining this chat are the development partners that helped build Katoa: Oceans from Snowed In Studios, Liquid Development, Volta and Keywords Studios, sharing how game making can be a tool for environmental good.

• 8:00am – 4:00pm Registration & Information
• 8:00am – 4:00pm XDS Connect Zone
• 8:00am – 4:00pm The Hub
• 8:00am – 4:00pm Original Force Booster Bar
• 8:00am – 4:00pm Globant Café
• 8:00am – 4:00pm NeoBards Tea Station
• 8:00am – 4:00pm Agora Snack Bar
• 11:00am – 4:00pm Virtuos Central Bar

External Development often involves multiple groups collaborating towards a common goal, yet doing so whilst navigating complex reporting structures. Successfully managing these relationships is crucial for the success of any engagement. Leaders in such positions must adeptly handle the dynamics between Developers and Partners.

The table topic host will lead the discussion using over a decade of experience in project management, and leading complex, inter-organizational teams, to facilitate a discussion on effective leadership without direct governance.

The goal is for all attendees to enhance their leadership strategies in complex partnership environments, and explore strategies for leading teams when direct authority is not an option.

As Africa’s game development scene gains global attention, success in this emerging market hinges on more than just technical talent — it requires meaningful connection, cultural understanding, and strategic collaboration. With a growing number of developers and service providers across the continent, now is the time to explore how we can work together to unlock Africa’s creative potential.

In this engaging and interactive table topic, we’ll explore the unique opportunities and challenges of game development in Africa. From navigating cultural nuances and overcoming infrastructure hurdles, to forming partnerships that drive efficiency and sustainability, this session will provide practical insights for both buyers and providers. We’ll also hear real-world perspectives on how working with African studios can bring innovation, diversity, and long-term value to the global games industry. Together, we’ll discuss strategies to bridge gaps between African suppliers and global developers, ensuring collaborations are both culturally informed and commercially successful.

Whether you’re looking to build partnerships, expand into new markets, or learn from a rapidly evolving region, this discussion offers a chance to connect, collaborate, and grow together.

In an industry defined by rapid production cycles, high creative stakes, and growing reliance on external partners, true success no longer comes from scale alone – it comes from trust. Ethical development today means building partnerships rooted in transparency, shared values, and mutual growth. As co-development becomes the norm, studios must learn to foster resilient, human-first relationships that go beyond transactional goals.

In this welcoming and interactive session, we’ll share practical insights on how to build long-term client and partner relationships that are both ethical and strategic. From early conversations to contract design and team alignment, this table topic will explore how empathy, clarity, and culture-fit are just as critical as timelines and budgets. We’ll look at how trust-based relationships improve retention, boost collaboration, and ultimately lead to better games.

Whether you’re a service provider, publisher, or internal studio lead, this session offers frameworks and field-tested tactics to strengthen your external partnerships by focusing on what matters most: people.

Leaders who invest time to interrogate language, unlock the highest levels of efficiency.

We will dismantle the myth that productivity comes from new tools or tighter pipelines; projects slip because teams assume words like “high quality,” “final,” and even “shared vision” mean the same thing to everyone. These buzzwords mask hidden gaps that waste more time than any broken tool, and the fastest route to efficiency is pausing early to define those terms together.

Participants will probe real examples where clarity – or the lack of it – made or broke delivery. In a guided discussion, we’ll surface the language traps that derail projects and spotlight people first tactics that consistently keep work on track.

In this table topic, participants will be able to spot risky buzzwords, ask sharper questions, and champion shared language as their highest return productivity tool within any external development pipeline.

As development teams and player communities become increasingly global, inclusive design and accessibility aren’t just values—they’re strategic advantages. Designing for everyone doesn’t mean creating something generic; it means intentionally embracing cultural diversity, accessibility, and player empathy to make better games.

This session will explore:

• Inclusion in the building process – from remote onboarding and cross-cultural collaboration to leveraging diverse perspectives across internal and external teams.
• Inclusion in the player experience – adapting narrative, art, and gameplay for global audiences and treating accessibility as a creative strength.

We’ll combine real-world examples with group discussion on what’s working, where we’re falling short, and how to push the industry forward.

Gen-AI is becoming a transformative force in our industry. With 78% of publishers and 56% of service providers already using or planning to use it within the next year, according to 2025 XDS Insights, it’s clear that this shift is already happening. As Gen-AI becomes more embedded in content creation and production processes, it’s crucial that both developers and service providers understand how to collaborate effectively to advance further.

This session will discuss how to prepare for and navigate this transformation. Key questions might include: At which stage in the pipeline should Gen-AI be used? Who is responsible for training and owning the models? Should generative AI workflows be fully shared between publishers and service providers?

Our goal is to create a space for open dialogue, where different stakeholders can explore these new models of cooperation and creation.

In an age where audiences crave deeper, more immersive experiences, how can developers extend their game worlds into full-blown brand ecosystems through external development? Ask Us Anything: Transmedia Insights for External Devs — Crafting Brand Worlds and Fandoms Beyond the Game brings together Catherine Winder (CEO Wind Sun Sky Entertainment/Producer Invincible/Angry Birds Movie 1&2/Twilight Daycare Series) and Paul Telner (Head of Programming at Viral Nation) for an open conversation on building brands through multi-platform content extensions. From social-first campaigns and partnerships with YouTube creators to long-form storytelling and live events, we’ll explore how to give fans a range of content touchpoints that foster loyalty, community, and narrative depth.

This discussion will also examine how to leverage game engine technologies and in-game assets to efficiently produce content that bridges gameplay and storytelling—creating seamless connections between the interactive and narrative sides of a brand. Whether you’re exploring ways to expand your IP or aiming to collaborate with creators across platforms, this session will provide practical insights and creative inspiration to help bring your brand world to life across formats, and how you can explore diverse, external talent to achieve this.

This 90-minute session offers an in-depth look at three service provider pitches, complete with live feedback from two leading developers. Led by EA’s Juney Dijkstra and our panel of top-tier game developers, Service Providers will have the chance to receive crucial insider knowledge on crafting pitches that truly resonate with clients. Developers will also gain valuable insights into the growth of service providers in emerging regions.

External Development often involves multiple groups collaborating towards a common goal, yet doing so whilst navigating complex reporting structures. Successfully managing these relationships is crucial for the success of any engagement. Leaders in such positions must adeptly handle the dynamics between Developers and Partners.

The table topic host will lead the discussion using over a decade of experience in project management, and leading complex, inter-organizational teams, to facilitate a discussion on effective leadership without direct governance.

The goal is for all attendees to enhance their leadership strategies in complex partnership environments, and explore strategies for leading teams when direct authority is not an option.

As Africa’s game development scene gains global attention, success in this emerging market hinges on more than just technical talent — it requires meaningful connection, cultural understanding, and strategic collaboration. With a growing number of developers and service providers across the continent, now is the time to explore how we can work together to unlock Africa’s creative potential.

In this engaging and interactive table topic, we’ll explore the unique opportunities and challenges of game development in Africa. From navigating cultural nuances and overcoming infrastructure hurdles, to forming partnerships that drive efficiency and sustainability, this session will provide practical insights for both buyers and providers. We’ll also hear real-world perspectives on how working with African studios can bring innovation, diversity, and long-term value to the global games industry. Together, we’ll discuss strategies to bridge gaps between African suppliers and global developers, ensuring collaborations are both culturally informed and commercially successful.

Whether you’re looking to build partnerships, expand into new markets, or learn from a rapidly evolving region, this discussion offers a chance to connect, collaborate, and grow together.

As development teams and player communities become increasingly global, inclusive design and accessibility aren’t just values—they’re strategic advantages. Designing for everyone doesn’t mean creating something generic; it means intentionally embracing cultural diversity, accessibility, and player empathy to make better games.

This session will explore:

• Inclusion in the building process – from remote onboarding and cross-cultural collaboration to leveraging diverse perspectives across internal and external teams.
• Inclusion in the player experience – adapting narrative, art, and gameplay for global audiences and treating accessibility as a creative strength.

We’ll combine real-world examples with group discussion on what’s working, where we’re falling short, and how to push the industry forward.

Gen-AI is becoming a transformative force in our industry. With 78% of publishers and 56% of service providers already using or planning to use it within the next year, according to 2025 XDS Insights, it’s clear that this shift is already happening. As Gen-AI becomes more embedded in content creation and production processes, it’s crucial that both developers and service providers understand how to collaborate effectively to advance further.

This session will discuss how to prepare for and navigate this transformation. Key questions might include: At which stage in the pipeline should Gen-AI be used? Who is responsible for training and owning the models? Should generative AI workflows be fully shared between publishers and service providers?

Our goal is to create a space for open dialogue, where different stakeholders can explore these new models of cooperation and creation.

In an age where audiences crave deeper, more immersive experiences, how can developers extend their game worlds into full-blown brand ecosystems through external development? Ask Us Anything: Transmedia Insights for External Devs — Crafting Brand Worlds and Fandoms Beyond the Game brings together Catherine Winder (CEO Wind Sun Sky Entertainment/Producer Invincible/Angry Birds Movie 1&2/Twilight Daycare Series) and Paul Telner (Head of Programming at Viral Nation) for an open conversation on building brands through multi-platform content extensions. From social-first campaigns and partnerships with YouTube creators to long-form storytelling and live events, we’ll explore how to give fans a range of content touchpoints that foster loyalty, community, and narrative depth.

This discussion will also examine how to leverage game engine technologies and in-game assets to efficiently produce content that bridges gameplay and storytelling—creating seamless connections between the interactive and narrative sides of a brand. Whether you’re exploring ways to expand your IP or aiming to collaborate with creators across platforms, this session will provide practical insights and creative inspiration to help bring your brand world to life across formats, and how you can explore diverse, external talent to achieve this.

Join us for the XDS Wrap Party presented by Brazil Games. Enjoy live music, beverages, canapés and reminisce on the past four days at XDS.

This is the perfect opportunity to say farewell, and find out who will go home with one of the XDS 2025 Gary Awards brought to you by XDS Spark.

Keep a little energy in reserve for Friday night, as it’s time to wrap up the week with the Official XDS Afterparty!

Expect buckets of ice cold beer, great wines, and unapologetically average snacks (BYOB if you prefer the hard stuff).

We’ll have a Pool Table, Foosball, and great music going all night – plus unbeatable views and even better company.

Let’s close out XDS 2025 in style – with one last Collider Rooftop Party to remember!