It’s a huge month for video games in Toronto

If the last week of copious Summer Game Fest events and the Nintendo Switch 2 launch weren’t enough gaming programming for you, Toronto’s got you covered.

Over the next two weeks, tons of events are being held in the city as part of the first-ever “Toronto Video Game Month” to celebrate the bustling local gaming scene. Following the XP Game Summit business conference on June 12 and 13, there will be all kinds of free experiences for the public, many of which are part of “Toronto Games Week,” including:

• DEI or DIE Variety Showcase & Queer Social — Hyper-nerds Gav Sarafian and Hannah Beatty discuss the importance of DEI in gaming and offer networking opportunities (Friday, June 13 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.)
• Game Jam Day — Gina Hara (GAMERella), Adam Saltsman (Finji), Adam Clare (Sheridan) and Ontario Creates will share information on game jams and how to apply for prototype funding (Saturday, June 14 from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.)
• Pixel PowerPlay — a Twitch stream featuring several games from Canadian developers (Saturday, June 14 at 3 p.m.)
• NextGen Showcase — Unreal and AMD shine a spotlight on emerging talents in the Toronto gaming scene (Sunday, June 15 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.)
• IGDA Game Programmers Roundtable — the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) of Toronto hosts this panel of veteran game programmers from studios big and small talking about their journeys and offering advice to newcomers (Monday, June 16 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.)
• Bonus Stage — the monthly gaming event features a special talk by Osama Dorias (former Blizzard, Warner Brothers, Ubisoft developer) about navigating failure (Tuesday, June 17 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.)

For more, check out the City of Toronto’s full list of Toronto Video Game Month programming. From Summer Game Fest, we also have interviews with Toronto developers Soft Rains (Ambrosia Sky) and Drinkbox Studios (Blighted).

Image credit: City of Toronto