Diversity in Games, Vancouver, BC (2026)

09/18/2026

Salutations, our dearest community. Diversity in Games is proud to announce it's first ever Southern California tea party - a whimsical and wonderous experience like no other!!

Welcome to 🍵 Patch Notes and Petticoats 🍵, a lolita-inspired tea party for the finest of game developers!

📆 October 17th, 2026
🕐️ 1:00 - 4:00 PM
📍 Requiem Cafe, Anaheim CA
👗 Dressing up is OPTIONAL but encouraged!
🏆 Cute prizes available for raffle!
📷 Adorable photo opportunities!

Come meet game developers of all backgrounds because, at the end of the day, there's a seat for everyone at the tea* table
or beverage of choice!

Tea Party Etiquette:

- This is an inclusive event, so it’s important that everyone feels welcome!
- Engage in your inner whimsy!
- If at any point, someone is making you uncomfortable, please let one of the organizers - know and we’ll get that immediately resolved.
- Respect the space and respect each other!

Know Before You Go:

- The event is free, but drinks will still cost money!
- This is a public event, not a private event, so it’ll still be a shared space.
- There is paid parking available – and street parking nearby.
- This event is targeting game developers – but if you’re aspiring to be a game dev, you’re more than welcome to attend as well!
- There are gender neutral washrooms and the venue is wheelchair accessible!

Photography notice: Photos may be captured during the event to be used for promotional or community building purposes. If you have concerns about being photographed, please speak with a member of the DIG team upon arrival.

We are committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive experience for all attendees. If you have any requirements or accommodation requests, please let us know in advance.

RSVP Here: https://partiful.com/e/RK1u4Xmw11TzLwN8VAFd

09/17/2026

🔥 On September 12th, over 75 of you showed up for FORGE 2026 at Funk Coffee Bar! Thank you to everyone who came out and made it such a special day.

We are so grateful for the positive reception the event received, from the quality and insight of our curated presenters, to the warm, relaxed environment Funk Coffee Bar gave us to gather in. This isn't just coincidence; rooms like that don't happen without the right people in them, and that was all of you!

A huge shoutout to all of our amazing speakers, who gave their time and knowledge so generously:
Akilah Martinez, Alex Carey, Dana Ramnarine, Danika Kotylak, Dot Phillips, Jean Leggett, James Smith, and Wren Handman

Another heartfelt thank you to our event sponsors and supporters, who believed in what we're building and helped make it possible:
Creative BC, A Thinking Ape, Hyper Hippo Entertainment, Funk Coffee, DigiBC, CIAIC, Nordicity, IGDA®, Full Indie, Okanagan Game Developers' Association, Interactive Arts Alberta, Interactive Ontario, Seattle Indies, Brace Yourself Games, Women in Games International (WIGI) and ASGC.
This is just the beginning for FORGE. Our next step is gathering insights from those who participated in the Game Founders report, and beginning to assemble valuable data to identify gaps in game studio funding. This work matters deeply to us, but truthfully, it could only be accomplished by the founders who volunteered their time to provide their personal experiences.

We also have some exciting things to announce in the coming days about the future of DIG, so stay tuned. We can't wait to continue forging a path to better and brighter games industry!

09/12/2026

Today's the day!! 🔥

FORGE is finally here, and we can't wait to see you!

We've got a fully curated menu of snacks, amazing talks, and wonderful people waiting for you at FUNK.

See you there at 12pm; together, let's forge a path to a more sustainable games industry! 🛠️

09/11/2026

LAST CALL! FORGE is tomorrow!! 🎉

Heading to External Development Summit or just in the Vancouver area? Swing by and spend the day with DIG at FUNK! Expect panels covering accessibility, legal advice for startups, founders' stories, working with IP, and more.

One ticket gets you food for the day, full access to FORGE, and a room full of leaders (and future leaders) in the games industry to connect with. Our panelists are speaking from lived, marginalized experience in this industry, so these are not stories you'll hear everywhere.

We're down to our last few tickets, so if you're looking for something to do tomorrow, come hang out with us at FORGE! Get your ticket here: https://luma.com/i6xtq510

09/09/2026

📣 FORGE Track Reveal: Resilience Builds Culture

Closing out FORGE 2026 is a combined talk from two co-founders breaking the mold and leaning into the unconventional. This track spotlights what can happen when you make your own rules, build resilience, and have fun doing it!

✨Dot Phillips, co-founder of bigTEAM
Dot Phillips is a games founder and life-long schemer. Since 2023, her studio bigTEAM has evolved into so much more than a game studio - it’s been a support community, a heist crew for sneaking indie games into conventions, an open-invite workspace, a q***r support organization siphoning proceeds back into local events, and a cottage-scale physical games publisher.

As co-founder, Dot is a source of relentless ambition, workable plans, and ultimate teamwork.

Dot's understanding of the founder archetype has evolved over time:

“I thought being a founder was a popularity contest, but it taught me loneliness is core to the experience. Innovation means bootstrapping ideas others don’t believe in and until you make your first million, skeptics are your only company. It’s tough to find a community before then.”

🎮Ray Maltby, co-founder of bigTEAM
Ray is a non-binary artist, animator, and game developer. As co-founder of bigTEAM, they motivate their community with resilience and an unwavering focus on sustainability over raw productivity.

Ray brings a broad and adaptable perspective from over a decade of unconventional career pursuits including professional dog grooming, art, game dev, and entrepreneurship. Whatever their title may be, creativity is always at the forefront (including a deep love for arts, crafts, and crochet!).

When it comes to lessons learned as a founder, Ray keeps it simple:

“Nothing is too hard when you make the rubric and grade your own homework.”

bigTEAM’s talk will explore: how a 250-person, mostly q***r studio-in-the-making became a funding finalist, and remains stronger than ever after three years of bootstrapping. Dot and Ray will also share their experiences balancing game dev with chronic illness, reminding us why it's okay to take breaks, work slower, and not take things too seriously.

Dot and Ray remind us that we get to define our own versions of success. Just because a path doesn’t look familiar, doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Go fearlessly forward, and keep forging your own path! 😍

🎟️ Join us on September 12 and come network with Dot, Ray and other founders shaping the future of the games industry.
👉 Get your tickets: https://luma.com/i6xtq510

09/08/2026

📣 FORGE Track Reveal: The Fine Print: IP, Law, and Making Games

We are thrilled to introduce the speakers for our penultimate track: Wren Handman and Danika Kotylak! Together, they bring a wealth of experience and unique perspectives on what it really takes to build, protect, and run a successful game studio.

🎮 Wren Handman, founder of Ludic Lemur
Wren is a multi-talented, q***r narrative director, novelist, screenwriter, and studio co-founder. She has published 8 novels for both adult and teen audiences, including A Midnight So Deadly (Parliament House Press) and Havoc & Happiness (Wandering Roots Press). Wren was also the lead writer for the award-winning sitcom The Switch.

Today, she is Co-Founder & Creative Director of Ludic Lemur Entertainment, a q***r women-led indie studio making games that expand play to a new level of inclusivity.

Fun fact: Before founding Ludic Lemur, Wren and her partner worked side-by-side as freelance writers for eight years!

Her talk: How building a game using existing IP can be both creatively fulfilling and a smart business decision. Wren will dig into how her studio adapted the beloved tabletop RPG Monsterhearts into Welcome to Drowned Lake on their own terms, leveraging established worlds to secure players and build momentum.

✨ Danika Kotylak, Corporate & Commercial Technology Lawyer
As a corporate and commercial tech lawyer, Danika advises startups, emerging companies, and investors across Canada’s technology sector. She guides founders through every stage of the lifecycle, from formation and early growth to fundraising, commercial scaling, and exit.

Danika’s practice goes far beyond basic licensing and IP protection to help bring technology-driven products to market. Her practical, business-focused approach helps founders spot and manage legal risks before they become expensive roadblocks.

Danika on the real role of legal advice for founders:

“I used to think the goal was to identify and eliminate as much risk as possible. I have learned that building a company always involves some risk, and trying to remove all of it can get in the way of progress. The real value of legal advice is helping founders understand which risks matter, which can be managed and which may be reasonable to accept so they can keep building.”

Her talk: What you need to know to safeguard your creative business before it’s too expensive, or too late. Danika will cover the legal questions that are top of mind for founders: publishing deals, IP protection, early-stage company setup, financing, and more. Legal can be scary, but getting it right matters!

Wren and Danika are here to help you navigate the business side of game development with confidence! 💪

🎟️ Join us on September 12 and come network with Wren, Danika, and other founders shaping the future of the games industry.

👉 Get your tickets: https://luma.com/i6xtq510

09/07/2026

📣 FORGE Track Reveal: Fires, Failures, & Fixes

Diversity in Games has previously had the immense pleasure of hosting these next two incredible speakers, so of course we had to bring them back for FORGE! This track focuses on fighting fire with fire - and how to prioritize what really matters through instability, barriers, and industry pivots.

🎮 Alex Carey, founder of PlayAbility Consultancy

As a game designer and accessibility consultant, Alex has been spreading the word about games accessibility across the country at organizations like The Vancouver Foundation ConnecTra, the Cerebral Palsy Association of BC, Technology for Living, Full Indie Vancouver and Xbox's Gaming & Disability.

Five years ago, Alex founded PlayAbility Consultancy, where a team of diverse people with disabilities help developers identify and eliminate unintentional barriers in their games. As Founder and Strength & Dexterity Barrier Expert at PlayAbility, Alex addresses the 8 core barriers to gaming, while helping partners expand their reach to larger audiences. Why? Because gaming is for everyone.

Fun fact: In April 2025, Alex was part of a team that released Sacre Bleu, a French-steampunk hack’n’slash platformer for Steam and Nintendo Switch!

His talk: how prioritizing accessibility from day one delivers immense value even when "everything is on fire." Alex will challenge us to examine just how large of an audience is left behind when accessibility is treated as an afterthought (and trust us, the size of this market will surprise you!).

✨ Jean Leggett, founder of One More Story Games

Over the past 20 years, Jean has founded no less than 3 successful ventures including an award-winning edtech and video game development studio where she served as CEO from 2014-2022. Now, she shares those hard-won lessons with her 800+ career and business development clients in video games, tech, and entertainment, while also reaching over 50,000 audience members as an international speaker.

Today, Jean is a career joy strategist helping people craft their career highlights, celebrate their impact, and find alignment with their values and life purpose. She has also taught narrative design, and mentors indie game devs with the NZ Center of Excellence.

Fun fact: Before becoming an international keynote speaker, Jean was a standup comedian! Expect her insights to be delivered with a generous dose of humour😆

Her talk: how sharing transparently allows future founders to make new mistakes instead of repeating old ones. Jean will highlight why creating a community that celebrates the full journey, including the stumbles, is essential for building a stronger, more resilient industry foundation.

Alex and Jean bring the exact brand of honest, hard-earned wisdom our community needs! 💖

🎟️ Join us on Sep. 12 and come network with Alex, Jean, and other founders shaping the future of games.👉 https://lnkd.in/gx4NSAa2

09/06/2026

We have 1 week left until FORGE!!

If you've been considering coming, or will be around the Vancouver area for External Development Summit, come hang out with DIG at FUNK for our day long event! We will have panels on accessibility, legal advice for startups, founders' stories, working with IP, and more!

Your ticket covers food AND day long access to FORGE, and the opportunity to network with leaders, and future leaders of the games industry. Our panelists bring perspectives from marginalized backgrounds in the industry, these are voices and stories you won't hear everywhere, told by the people who lived them.

We only have a few tickets left, so if you've been on the fence, now's the time to grab one before they're gone!!

🎟️ Join us September 12, grab your tickets here: https://luma.com/i6xtq510

09/04/2026

📣 FORGE Track Reveal: Indigenous Futures, Indigenous Foundations

This track highlights two Indigenous leaders pushing the games industry forward through cultural revitalization and studio sustainability.

Akilah Martinez, founder of Glittering World Girl

Akilah is a DIG x GDC 2026 Scholarship winner, award-winning artist, and creative technologist. She founded Glittering World Girl, an Indigenous-based circular economic ecosystem cycling language and culture revitalization through video art and XR technology.

"Glittering World" is a Diné (Navajo) cultural reference, a prophecy that the Diné people would one day live in a world of outside influence and glittering technology, at the cost of their language and culture. Glittering World Girl exists to flip that prophecy, using emergent tech to flourish revitalization instead from gamified AR language learning, to Auntie Adventures with Meta's Creator Academy, to RezCar for Snap's Spectacles.

Her talk: how emergent technology and innovative access-to-capital models can move BIPOC creators away from predatory finance and media systems, and why building an Indigenous pop culture matters for healthy self-efficacy across generations, strengthening family and community through games.

James Smith, founder of BlackCap Creative

A Sioux and Cree Métis entrepreneur, James moved from 3D animation into real-time media with Unreal Engine,He founded Kelowna-based BlackCap Creative Ltd., which evolved into a dedicated games industry practice. James now is working as a game triage specialist, helping studios recover projects that have lost direction.

His philosophy: help indie studios build sustainable businesses, not just successful games. Beyond BlackCap, James founded the Okanagan Game Developers Association and co-hosts the Indie Innovators podcast.

His talk: why our community excels at teaching developers how to pitch, network, and secure funding, but rarely talks about what happens after. Momentum is powerful, but only if you know how to direct it. A healthy dev ecosystem needs to support teams already in motion so today's indie studios survive long enough to anchor the industry and lift up the next generation.

Akilah and James are proof of what's possible when Indigenous founders lead on their own terms!

🎟️ Join us September 12: network with Akilah, James, and other founders shaping the future of games.👉 https://luma.com/i6xtq510

09/03/2026

We’re so excited to partner with AAPI in Gaming to bring you the Game Devs of Color Expo Watch Party Vancouver! 🎮✨

Join us for an evening of learning, networking, and community, featuring screened talks from one of the industry's premiere online conferences, plus 2 live in-person talks from GDoCExpo speakers!

🎟️ Your ticket includes:
• Entry to the Vancouver Watch Party
• Full access to the online GDoCExpo conference (Sep 22–25)
• Video-on-demand for all conference talks
• Online platform access (live chat, job board, game demos, & more!)

📍 Event Details:
• Date: Friday, September 25
• Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
• Location: LaSalle College, 2808 Bradfield Court

🔗 Get your tickets & learn more: ti.to/aapi-in-gaming/gdoc-watch-party-vancouver

Huge thanks to AAPI in Gaming for collaborating with us on this initiative! We are so grateful to partner with an organization that shares our mission to elevate underrepresented voices in the games industry. 🫶

We hope to see you there! 💖

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