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W Love Games 2026 Program
PROGRAM CAN STILL SLIGHTLY CHANGE - THANK YOU FOR THE PATIENCE!
NOTE: The event is following Finnish time zone, UTC +3, EEST
Thursday, October 22
TIME
MAIN STAGE - Hybrid
Kino Regina, ground floor and Twitch
09.00 - 10.00
Signups, coffee and networking
10.00 - 10.15
Welcoming words
10.15 - 11.00
KEYNOTE
Magana Gikandi, WFF
TBA
11.00 - 11.30
Thanh Nguyen, DIRGA
Running your gamedev business – from a non-tech founder's perspective
11.30 - 12.00
Nicholas Sweetman, XAMK
Creative Survival: How Sharing Knowledge Creates Opportunity
12.00 - 13.00
LUNCH BREAK
13.00 - 14.00
KEYNOTE
Luke Savage,
Epic Games Education Adviser
Building a Career in Games: Lessons to learn
14.00 - 14.30
COFFEE BREAK
14.30 - 15.00
Taina Myöhänen, Tampere University
Do you feel safe here? Belonging, networking, and the communities we build
15.00 - 16.00
KEYNOTE
Dr. Luke Dicken,
Game AI isn’t Dead. It’s Just Resting
16.00 - 18.00
IGDA Finland Mentor Cafe
Oodi top (3rd) floor ​
and​
NETWORKING
TIME
ONLINE STAGE
11.00 - 11.30
David Zuratzi / Layout Forum, Those Who Design
Paper, the best tool for Game Design
11.30 - 12.00
Nahir Fajardo,Dreams of Heaven Games
Beyond the Jump Scare: Creating Sensory-Safe Psychological Terror for Neurodivergent Player
12.00 - 13.00
KEYNOTE
Nazih Fares, Cabinet du Savoir Ludique
Representation of global South cultures: The Arab League of Misfits
13.00 - 13.30
Katherine Vildoso, W Love Games LATAM
The tokenization of creativity and AI
13.30 - 14.00
Ellinor Bergman, Speldosa Interactive
How to validate your game as a small indie dev
14.00 - 14.30
INDIE CHECKPOINT - LatAM Panel
14.30 - 15.00
Norman Andres Lista De la Cerda, The Game Creator's Framework
What makes a studio sustainable?
Thursday, October 22 - Afterparty
Party is hosted at Thirsty Scholar,
a charming restaurant in the heart of Helsinki
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@ 20.00 EEST, Fabianinkatu 37, 00170 Helsinki
Friday, October 23
TIME
MAIN STAGE - Hybrid
Kino Regina, ground floor and Twitch
09.00 - 10.00
Morning coffee and networking
10.00 - 10.45
KEYNOTE
Aki Kanerva, Psyon Games
Turning company culture from accidental into deliberate
10.45 - 12.30
Interactive Session
Wilma Ramona Ikäheimonen and Milla Pennanen, Game Makers of Finland
State of the Games Industry
12.30 - 13.30
LUNCH BREAK
13.30 - 14.00
Nathaly Kalantar, Aalto University
Leadership in Multicultural Game Teams: The HAND-ling Method
14.00 - 14.30
Sahand Malaei, Exir Games
Surviving XR: The Design of Banners & Bastions
14.30 - 15.30
KEYNOTE
Leene Künnap, Placeholder Gameworks
How to Survive and Thrive as an Indie
Summary of the event, closing words
TIME
ONLINE STAGE
11.00 - 11.30
Ivonne Consuelo Robles Ayala, Concepto y Contexto
The relevance of work ethic in emerging industries
11.30 - 12.00
Olga Taranova, Thrylox
Leading Online Feature Development in Small Game Teams
12.00 - 12.45
KEYNOTE
Ostap, Ubisoft
The Ballad of Game Screenshots
13.00 - 13.30
Steven Ciampaglia and Kerry Richardson, The Plug-In Studio
The warGames Tactical Media Collective: Exploring the Consequences of US Military Recruitment Through Videogames with Latinx Teens
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US!