GREAT INDOORS, MEET GREAT OUTDOORS… AGAIN!
What
Featuring talent from down the street and around the world, Game Invest West will bring together startups and their founding teams with the investors, publishers, licensing partners and corporate funds that are looking to move into this exciting and unique industry.
When
October 22nd & 23rd, 2025
Why
Right now, the global game industry is entering what will be a rocket-powered rebuilding phase… and some of the best new prospects will be found here in the Western Canada. Game Invest West is the only major investment conference specifically focused on the game industry in this region.
Speakers
Where
The Game Invest West summit is taking place as part of this year’s Banff Venture Forum. This epic new event will go down in an equally epic setting: the amazing mountains of Banff, Alberta.
Accommodation will be at the industry-acclaimed Banff Centre. Nestled on the side of Tunnel Mountain and just five minutes from downtown, the Banff Centre hotel features newly renovated rooms and (truly) breathtaking vistas.
How
To find out more, send us your information and we’ll get you the details. Spaces at the conference will be limited, but if you belong there we will bend over backwards to make it happen.
Studio Showcases at Game Invest West
This year, Scaffold Institute is proud to feature the following studios at Banff:
COG Studios, Lucid Rain Studios, North Mist Studios, Only by Midnight, The Foundation, Neojac Entertainment, Second Fiddle Studio, KIB Games, Braveshell Studio, Spacehabs, Grizzly Moose Games, Ode Software, Fluid Planet, PlayCube.
Our Sponsors
Thank you to all our partners who helped us make this event a reality!
Our Events
Edmonton Day!
20th of October
Making a Video Reel: 9 am – 4 pm
Private Workshop with Armando Troisi
Armando has 19+ years leading story and cinematics for Mass Effect, Halo, and Battlefield. He’s worked at Microsoft, Ubisoft, NetEase, and MY.GAMES as Head of Narrative overseeing studio portfolios. He’s lectured at GDC, ComicCon, and Devcom, AND has a great new book that has just come out.
In this workshop, Armando will work directly with Scaffold studios – and very hands-on – to transform existing footage into compelling game videos suitable for investors, CMF applications or social media pushes as go-to-market.
Visual Story and How We Tell Them: 4 pm – 5:30 pm
Public Event
Armando will meet with Edmonton-based studios to share his storytelling experiences, how to tell them, and the importance of leveraging narratives for game studios to achieve tangible results, even with little time and assets.
Red Deer!
21st of October
Networking Breakfast: 10 am
Organized by Raptagon Studios, a delegation consisting of Armando Troisi and Lucid Rain Studios will stop at Red Deer to have a networking breakfast with local studios.
Calgary Day!
21st of October
Adding AI to your Production Pipeline: 9 am – 4 pm
Private Workshop with David Gratton
David has 15+ years leading game and software studios, working on AAA titles including Need for Speed, Forza, Age of Empires, Dragon Age, and The Witcher III. He founded 021:Events to accelerate practical AI adoption for product teams across North America. He also founded Canada’s first AR/VR innovation center (The Cube) and currently leads the Agentics Foundation for autonomous AI systems.
Working hands-on with Scaffold studios, David will identify and implement specific pathways for integrating AI into their game development pipeline. After an opening lecture on current AI capabilities, everyone will dive into hands-on sessions working on their specific projects.
Game Industry in 2025: 12 pm – 4 pm
Public Event
John Nguyen (Xsolla, Regional VP – Canada)
“Owning Your Audience: The Strongest Asset You Can Possibly Have”
Armando Troisi (ex-Ubisoft, NetEase Games, MY.GAMES)
“Visual Stories and How We Tell Them”
Noah Decter-Jackson (Executive Director, CIAIC; New Media Manitoba)
“The Joys and Pains of Being Acquired”
Pierre Moisan (CEIM, Senior Advisor)
“Global Games Industry Landscape in 2026”
Banff Venture Forum!
22-23rd of October
Networking Arcade
See the best games being launched by the best studios in Alberta in a throwback retro arcade environment with 14 studios showcasing at Banff!
Speaker Delegation Roundtables
Private roundtable discussions and 1-on-1s with the full Banff speaker delegation: John Nguyen, Noah Decter-Jackson, Pierre Moisan, Joshua Waite, Joshua Nilson, and Matt Toner.
Lethbridge Day! 24th of October
Partner Roundtable
With Josh Waite (McKenna Institute) and Dan Pigat (Bow Valley College)This session brings together regional stakeholders to discuss capacity building and ecosystem growth.
Entrepreneurship Session
Featuring an experienced digital CEO who successfully transitioned game technologies into industrial applications, sharing insights on commercialization and market expansion for creative technology ventures.
Who
Pierre Moisan
Senior Advisor
CEIM
Pierre Moisan is one of Canada’s pioneers in the digital entertainment industry, a seasoned manager and entrepreneur. He has acted, over the last twenty years, as Vice-President of Megatoon (Behavior), founder and president of Artmedia Studio, and producer at Ubisoft. For nine years afterwards, he was Vice-President Strategic & Business Affairs at Frima Studio which became Canada’s largest independent videogame development studio with 450 employees.
Noah Decter-Jackson
Director
New Media Manitoba
24+ year Videogame Entrepreneur & Creative Director who grew an awarding-winning work-for-hire business from $0 to a team of 55 in a city with no pre-existing videogame industry, community or support when they started. In 2015 Noah made the shift to driving our own creative projects, launching top-selling Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters in 2022.
In the same year Noah sold that company, Complex Games inc., to their publisher Frontier Developments PLC and spent the next 2 years leading the studio into a new era of growth as it strives to become a world-leader in Tactical RPGs.
Joshua Nilson
Angel Investor
Maskwa Investments
Joshua Nilson, Metis and from Willow River, BC, founded Maskwa Investments to focus on early-stage seed funding and advisement, particularly for Indigenous tech businesses. Previously, he co-founded East Side Games (ESG), which produced popular mobile games like Trailer Park Boys, The Office, and RuPaul’s Drag Race Superstar. With over two decades of tech experience, Joshua has been named one of BC’s most influential business leaders in the BC500 for three consecutive years and was awarded BC Tech’s Person of the Year in 2022. When not shaping the tech world, he’s always happy to stop for a pug!
Josh Waite
Director of Partnerships
McKenna Institute
Josh Waite is a strategy and innovation leader operating at the intersection of digital transformation, economic development, and community impact. With two decades of experience spanning public and private sectors, he specializes in building programs, partnerships, and ecosystems that drive meaningful change — particularly in regions like Atlantic Canada. As a strategic leader at the McKenna Institute, Josh spearheads initiatives focused on critical technology enablers including AI, cybersecurity, and digital twinning that help industries grow and adapt to evolving markets. He brings deep expertise in co-creating solutions that unite government, academia, and business stakeholders to scale talent pipelines, attract investment, and build resilient, future-ready economies.
Armando Troisi
Author and Storyteller
ex-Ubisoft, NetEase, My.Games, Microsoft
Armando has 19+ years leading story and cinematics for Mass Effect, Halo, and Battlefield. He’s worked at Microsoft, Ubisoft, NetEase, and MY.GAMES as Head of Narrative overseeing studio portfolios. Recently he consulted on Owlcat Games’ “The Expanse: Osiris Reborn” and is now narrative director on Windup Games’ Hela. He’s lectured at GDC, ComicCon, and Devcom.
John Nguyen
Regional Vice President – Canada
Xsolla
John brings over 14 years of leadership across gaming, entertainment, and tech startups. His empathy-driven approach stems from experience building games and designing systems before moving into executive leadership, helping startups anticipate player needs and build resonant products.
David Gratton
Co-Founder and Interim Chairman
Agentics Foundation
David Gratton has 15+ years leading game and software studios, shipping AAA titles including Need for Speed, Forza, Age of Empires, Dragon Age, and The Witcher III. He founded 021:Events to accelerate practical AI adoption for product teams across North America. He also founded Canada’s first AR/VR innovation center (The Cube) and currently leads the Agentics Foundation for autonomous AI systems.
Matt Toner
Managing Partner
Shred Capital
Matt Toner is a seasoned innovation strategist, venture investor, and creative economy leader with over two decades of experience building content-driven industries across major tech hubs from New York to Toronto to Silicon Valley, currently serving as Executive Director at Scaffold Institute where he is working to double the size of Alberta’s game industry. As a serial exited entrepreneur and early-stage investor, Matt has worked on AAA game franchises and bleeding-edge indies, earning recognition and awards from TIME magazine and Fast Company for his innovative contributions to the creative technology sector.
Matthew Guzdial
Associate Professor
University of Alberta
Matthew Guzdial is a Canada CIFAR AI Chair, a fellow at Amii, and an assistant professor of Computing Science at the University of Alberta. Guzdial’s research focuses on the intersection of machine learning (ML) and creativity.
Isaac Otway
CEO of Crimson Herring
Isaac Otway is the Chief Executive Officer and founder of Crimson Herring Studios, a narrative-focused video game developer and publisher. With over two decades of leadership experience, Isaac has built a global team and established two offices in Canada, leading the studio to the upcoming release of its debut game, Sovereign Syndicate, in 2024. Known for his strategic vision and collaborative leadership, Isaac excels at aligning talent, capital, and technology to meet market demands, while fostering a supportive environment that drives innovation and organizational growth.
Tara Mustapha
CEO & Founder
Code Coven
Tara (she/her) is an award-winning, seasoned game designer and producer. Her experience in gaming is vast, as she’s worked with studios such as Microsoft, and EA. Her bewitching work doesn’t stop there, as she and Code Coven have been recognized for their work by TGA: Future Class, WiG Global and MCV/Develop Awards.
She founded Code Coven in 2018, with the aim of making careers in the games industry achievable and nurturing for marginalized communities. She’s passionate about amplifying underrepresented voices, and through her educational work seeks to give them the building blocks to make their magic happen.
Aretha Greatrix
Indigenous Filmmaker, Content Creator, and Streamer
Aretha has been a filmmaker for 10 years, working on various projects. During the pandemic, Aretha started exploring online content creation and streaming, using platforms to advocate for Indigenous people and issues. Aretha strongly believes in creating space for others and helping one another grow and learn.
Dan Pigat
Co-Founder, Fluid Planet
Dan has worked in the technology industry for a few decades, with a few of those years focused on education during his time at SMART Technologies. He currently works with industry, schools and other non profits to bring digital twin capabilities to all communities. FluidPlanet.org is currently working with Inside Education and the Universities of Lethbridge and Calgary to bring the Castle Mountain region to life in a “video game” of the real world featuring the flora and fauna of the area in their natural environment.