Conference Map & Schedule
Doors Open, Opening Remarks and Student Orientation
On arrival make your way to the Final Stage for orientation before your group is released and able to attend any of the workshops and activations across the level up hall and the six different additional rooms.
Cxmmunity Music Workshop
A workshop ran by Cxmmunity that enables youth to create their own background music and dialogue to popular videogame scenes.
Cxmmunity Production & Broadcast Workshop
A workshop ran by Cxmmunity that enables youth to practice the production and broadcast side of esports and streaming.
3D Modeling Workshop
Attendees will have a crash course in 3D Modeling for different video games.
How to Get Started with Unity (Unity 101) Workshop
A primer for the basics of the Unity Engine.
The Unite Education Offerings
This workshop goes over the educational tools used to enrich young education through the Unity Engine.
Game Design Hosted by Code in Schools
These sessions are Game Jam Prep for the 2-day Game Jam ran by the Code in Schools.
Lunch Break
Time to grab some food and activations across the Level Up Hall.
Cxmmunity Music Workshop
A workshop ran by Cxmmunity that enables youth to create their own background music and dialogue to popular videogame scenes.
Cxmmunity Production & Broadcast Workshop
A workshop ran by Cxmmunity that enables youth to practice the production and broadcast side of esports and streaming.
3D Modeling Workshop
Attendees will have a crash course in 3D Modeling for different video games.
Game Design Hosted by Code in Schools
These sessions are Game Jam Prep for the 2-day Game Jam ran by the Code in Schools.
Welcome Mixer
Professional Attendees get a chance for an early happy hour to meet the speakers and other guests attending the conference.
Doors Open
Doors open to start the first day of the professional conference!
Opening Remarks and Keynote
Opening remarks will be made from the showrunners, followed by a keynote from Will Gee.
#BLUD Post-Mortem
An in-depth analysis and retrospective by the lead designer of #BLUD discussing what went right and wrong during the development process.
Women In Games
Come join us for a power conversation about the experiences and career pathways for women in the video game industry.
Mind Over Machines
A panel about AI presented by Mind Over Machines.
M&T Bank Financial Literacy Workshop
A financial literacy workshop that showcases the tools and resources of M&T Bank and how it can be leveraged by Game Developer Entrepreneurs.
Game Jam Hosted by Code in Schools
The start of the 2-day Game Jam ran by Code in Schools.
11:00 am - 5:00 pm @ Boss LevelVIP Activations
Private VIP room to encourage conversations between our high-level guests in both the game development industry and regional leaders.
Elevate Your Career with Unity
This talk covers Unity's Elevate program and its Universal Job Profiles and Employer Advisory Board. Bradston will share his story of getting into the Game Development industry and how important it is to leverage the resources and community you have available to you.
Creature Design
Kevin Stumme will discuss creature design from an artist's perspective.
Funding Indie Games
This panel will cover different funding models and approaches for indie games.
Cooperative and Non-For-Profit Studios
Discuss and learn more about alternative studio structures, like cooperative and non-profit styles of game development and production.
The Video Game Writer’s Guide to Surviving an Industry That Hates You: A User’s Manual
For over a quarter of a century, Richard Dansky has worked as a game writer, and during that time he has come to two conclusions. One, that the industry hates writers, and two, that there are things you can do about it. Join him for a deep dive into his new book, The Video Game Writer’s Guide to Surviving an Industry That Hates You, and walk out better armed to protect your work and your career.
Lunch Break
Time to grab some food and attend any activations across the Level Up Hall and the six different additional rooms.
Games For Workforce Development
This talk will cover the use of games for training and education, starting with a historical perspective and analysis, and extending to current and future opportunities.
Portfolio Review-Art
Get your art portfolios reviewed by professional artists in the games industry.
From AAA to Indie
The co-founder of NEAR studios will discuss the team's experience moving from AAA development to indie.
Game Design Workshop
Focused toward juniors and students, this workshop takes attendees through two sample design challenges: the first as a solo dev covering the basic steps of how to make a playable analog game, and then second breaking up into groups of 2-4 to work on a project for a bit longer.
Game Music Talk
A discussion of dynamic music implementation from the Audio Director of Civilization and Ara.
The Power of Prototyping with Visual Scripting in Unity
Introduction to Unity's Visual Scripting Tool and how it can be used in prototyping and game development.
Lessons from AAA and Indie
This talk demonstrates the similarities between AAA and indie game production, including creative agility, the ability to wear multiple hats, and resourcefulness when budgets are tight.
Generator/VC Day
A panel bringing together Venture Capitalists and funders to talk about what they look for and how game developers can leverage this to get capital for their projects.
Pitch Competition
An opportunity for 5 dev studios to pitch their company to series of industry and expert judges powered by Gener8tor.
Game Your Future After Party
After a fun evening bringing everyone together for networking, gaming and bonding over the connections made.
Doors Open
Doors open to start the final day of the professional conference!
The Art of Pre-Production
A close look at preproduction and the array of challenges faced by art directors during the early stages of game development, including management, vision, and inspiring the team, with a focus on the preproduction of XCOM and XCOM 2.
presented by Tony Li
Steam Algorithm
A panel talking about the Steam Algorithm and how game developers can leverage it for their future success.
Science Games
This talk will discuss how to involve subject matter experts in your search for the coolest new game mechanics.
Intelligent Production Direction
Indie devs start making, and then pitching their games to publishers, investors and gamers, without any true idea of their own market. How do you know your chosen genre is a money-maker? Have you found your niche? Do the numbers make sense for investors? We need to answer those and more before spending a dollar on the game. This talk is about answering those questions.
Game Jam Hosted by Code in Schools
The continuation of the 2-day Game Jam ran by Code in Schools.
VIP Activations
Private VIP room to encourage conversations between our high-level guests in both the game development industry and regional leaders.
Unreal Tech Demo
This talk provides the groundwork that should allow C++ Unreal Engine developers to construct new Blueprint nodes that can be much more powerful and user friendly than a simple C++ function that has been tagged Blueprint Callable.
Freelancing For Indies
This roundtable will discuss the current state of freelancing for indie developers, tips, and gotchas to watch out for.
VBA For Designers
A technical talk for game designers, this will cover topics such as how to write simple calculators for QA, testing out balance math and running 10000s of automated trials, to full on simulators that model the game code in VBA in Excel.
Running a 46-Person Game Jam Team
Rick Williams will discuss the challenges and triumphs of organizing and running a 46-person team in a game jam.
Lunch Break
Time to grab food and attend different activations across the Level Up Hall and the six different additional rooms.
Making Cybersecurity Games
A talk on the production of a game designed to teach about cybersecurity.
Tools Development
This roundtable will discuss of the benefits, design, implementation, and pitfalls of tools development for indie games whether you're using tools internally for your studio's own games or producing them for use by others.
Indie Networking
On arrival make your way to the Final Stage for orientation before your group is released and able to attend any of the workshops and activations across the level up hall and the six different additional rooms.
Game Jam Showcase
The finale for the Game Jam with a showcase of the amazing work that was developed over the course of 2 days.
Market Your Team, Not Your Idea
Funding has always been a challenge, but teams are faced with even more challenges now in our new post-covid and post-VC-content meltdown. How do you get noticed? What are publishers looking for? Do VCs even make sense anymore to pursue? Crowdfunding? Angels? What does sustainable game development look like now?
Fireside Chat
Join us for a fireside chat talking about the state of technology and what place does the video game industry have in it.
Closing Remarks
Closing remarks to be done by the show runners and a look into the future of the Game Your Future Conference for 2026 and beyond.