Console Ports, Community, and Catching Flights (feat. Jen Laface)
Alberta's interactive digital media scene wrapped up a busy first quarter. New releases, console ports, a brand new youth esports league, funding news, and a Team Alberta presence at GDC — there was a lot to cover. For this Q1 2026 quarterly update, produced in partnership with Digital Alberta, Jen LaFace joined the show to help break it all down.
Jen is co-founder and creative director at Edmonton-based studio Only By Midnight and a board director at Digital Alberta. She brought both a studio perspective and an ecosystem-level view to the conversation — which made for a really grounded discussion on where things are at and where they're heading.
Edmonton
Sovereign Syndicate Lands on Console
Sovereign Syndicate, the steampunk CRPG from Edmonton's Crimson Hering Studios, launched on Xbox and PlayStation in February under Calgary publisher Zugalu Entertainment. Worth noting: the console porting was handled by Edmonton's own Only By Midnight. A fully voiced director's cut is also in development as a free upgrade for existing owners.
The Rabbit Haul Demo Hits Steam
The Rabbit Haul launched its demo on Steam in mid-March. Built by Caldera Interactive, it's a cozy tower defense farming game where players rebuild a rabbit town overrun by raccoons — the Trash Panda Posse, specifically. The studio is looking for a publisher or additional funding ahead of a planned 2026 launch on PC and Nintendo Switch. If you're in a position to help or just want to play the demo, go check it out.
VR Cave Steps Outside Location-Based VR
VR Cave made a notable move this quarter — stepping outside location-based VR for the first time with the reveal of Heroes Together VR, a four-player roguelike dungeon crawler for Meta Quest 3 and Steam. It's being released under a new sub-brand called Basement Bunker Labs. Alpha signups opened following a public playtest at Edmonton Unlimited. (Cory was there and screamed during the Hospital of Horror demo. On record.)
Nightingale Turns Two in Early Access
Inflexion Games marked Nightingale's second Early Access birthday with a cross-play update, an 80% off sale, and confirmation that the team has been growing. CEO Aaron Flynn was candid that the game hasn't been commercially successful enough — but also clear that Nightingale has a future at the studio. Two unannounced projects are also in the works.
Beamdog Drops a Surprise Update
Beamdog surprised fans in late February with a 2.7 beta for Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 and Icewind Dale Enhanced Editions — nearly 15 years after launch. The update adds Apple Silicon support, cloud saves, and new community localizations. An update for Planescape: Torment Enhanced Edition is also in the pipeline.
NorQuest Esports Launches a Youth League
NorQuest Esports launched Campus Clash 2026 on February 1st, which is Edmonton's youth esports league for players ages 13 to 18. Weekly in-person play runs at NorQuest's esports facility on campus. If you know a young player in that age range, this is worth flagging.
Mass Effect May Be Entering Pre-Production
On the BioWare front — EA posted a senior developer role, and ex-BioWare EP Mark Darrah confirmed that the team is focused entirely on Mass Effect right now. The read is that BioWare may be going single-project mode following Dragon Age: The Veilguard's underperformance. Nothing official yet, but it's worth watching.
"There's always more. There's always all these little gems to find out." — Jennifer LaFace on Edmonton's development scene
Calgary
Red Iron Labs Secures $2M for Rehab Gaming Platform
This one is genuinely exciting. Red Iron Labs received $2 million in provincial investment — backed by Alberta Innovates and the Glen Rose Hospital Foundation — to develop a gamified rehabilitation platform. Clinicians can remotely prescribe and adjust exercises targeting motor recovery, speech, and cognition. Patients work through the therapy at home via immersive VR visuals. It's a strong example of games and health tech intersecting in meaningful ways.
DragonSpire Releases Boyfiend and Ghoulfriend
Calgary studio DragonSpire Games dropped Boyfiend and Ghoulfriend on February 13th. The co-op puzzle platformer puts players in control of a fire-wielding Boyfiend and a grave-digging Ghoulfriend working through 15 handcrafted stages together. Solid Valentine's Day timing from the team.
Salt Flats 2026 Brings 150+ Competitors to Bow Valley College
Salt Flats 2026 brought over 150 attendees to Bow Valley College's state-of-the-art Digital Entertainment Nexus esports arena, supported by the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund. Now over a decade old, Salt Flats started in 2013 with support from the local Smash Bros and fighting game communities and has grown into one of the largest esports events in Western Canada.
The 2026 edition partnered with Cold Hands Collective, PokeSports Alberta, Alberta Squid Swamp, and the Fighting Game Community of Calgary, among others. Events spanned competitive brackets and casual play across multiple titles, with a signature full-venue Rock Paper Scissors tournament rounding things out. The Alberta Esports Association was a proud supporter. A strong showing for Calgary's esports community.
CGDA Launches a New Masterclass Series
The Calgary Game Developers Association launched the CGDA Masterclass — a bi-monthly series at Platform Calgary where industry professionals lead focused sessions on specific areas of game development and provide critical feedback on attendee projects. Similar in spirit to Game Camp Edmonton, which is good to see.
Alberta-Wide
Game Con Canada Returns Bigger — With NAGIS
Game Con Canada is returning for its biggest year yet — and this time it comes with the inaugural North American Games Industry Summit (NAGIS) on June 18–19 as a two-day B2B precursor. NAGIS is purpose-built for deal-making: studios, publishers, investors, and tech partners, all in Edmonton. Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell is opening keynote. A dedicated preview episode is coming to Good Game Edmonton — stay tuned.
High Level Innovation Conference in Lethbridge
The High Level Innovation Conference returns to Lethbridge on May 1–2 at the Lethbridge Trade and Convention Center for its third year. It brings together entrepreneurs, investors, and families for keynotes, tech exhibitions, esports tournaments, and a BIPOC arts and culture showcase.
Global Game Jam 2026 Wraps Across the Province
Alberta's Global Game Jam 2026 ran January 30–February 1 across Edmonton, Calgary, and Lethbridge. Nearly 200 jammers produced close to 46 games on the theme mask. A strong showing for the province.
Forge of the Fey Alpha Drops During Thursday Fest
St. Albert's Sword Monkey Studios and Datadyne released the Forge of the Fey Alpha during Steam's turn-based Thursday Fest. Backers can now redeem Steam keys for roughly 10 hours of gameplay, and a new trailer is live on IGN.
Central Alberta Nerd Expo — Red Deer's First
Red Deer hosted its first-ever Central Alberta Nerd Expo on February 21–22 at Red Deer Polytechnic, drawing thousands and establishing a new gaming and pop culture community hub in Central Alberta.
Team Alberta at GDC 2026
Alberta showed up at the 2026 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Edmonton Screen, Calgary Economic Development, Digital Alberta, and the Canadian Interactive Alliance represented the province, alongside studios including VR Cave, Fortress Games, and Cozy Comet.
Jen talked about what showing up as a collective means — it signals to investors and publishers that Alberta has the talent, the operations, and the studios. It's a united front. And for individual studios, GDC is one of the few places where email inquiries become real face-to-face conversations with publishers and investors.
"Coming as a community shows Alberta — we have the development, the talent, the businesses, the operations. Going in and showing we're a united front." — Jennifer LaFace
Only By Midnight Update
Only By Midnight is in production on a new supernatural murder mystery, supported by CMF funding received last year. No title yet — Jen says to watch their socials for the announcement. They also have additional client work underway that isn't public yet.
Their current release, Control Alt Deal — where you play as an AI trying to escape the dystopian corporation that made you through wheeling and dealing — is available now on Steam, Xbox, Nintendo, and PlayStation.
Funding: CMF and What to Watch in 2026
Jen gave a useful breakdown of the Canada Media Fund (CMF) landscape heading into 2026. Last year, prototyping had a single intake in September. Production applications opened around April–May. A CMF press release on March 18th flagged upcoming programs for talent development and organizational support, with applications expected to open in April.
Beyond CMF, Jen flagged additional funding options worth knowing about: Creative Export Canada, Alberta Export Expansion (AEP), and Edmonton Screen.
If you have questions about funding programs, reach out to Digital Alberta directly.
Digital Alberta: Community Dialogue Coming
Digital Alberta is planning a community dialogue — open to members and non-members alike, cross-provincial in scope. Details are still being finalized, but Jen made it clear: they want to hear from the ecosystem. If you're in the Alberta games industry, this is your invitation.
Watch Digital Alberta's socials for updates, or reach out to Jen directly via email.
Also worth noting: Mike McCready was named president of the Applied AI Association's Alberta/Edmonton chapter — an org worth keeping an eye on as AI continues to shape the industry conversation.
Games Featured This Episode
Sovereign Syndicate — Crimson Hering Studios / Zugalu Entertainment — Now on Xbox & PlayStation
The Rabbit Haul — Caldera Interactive — Demo on Steam
Heroes Together VR — VR Cave / Basement Bunker Labs — Alpha Signups Open
Nightingale — Inflexion Games — Early Access
Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition — Beamdog — Update 2.7 Beta
Boyfiend and Ghoulfriend — DragonSpire Games — Out Now
Forge of the Fey — Sword Monkey Studios / Datadyne — Alpha Access
Control Alt Deal — Only By Midnight — Available Now
Got a story lead, studio update, or trailer to share? Send it over at goodgameyeg.ca. Subscribe to Good Game Edmonton wherever you listen to podcasts.
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Cory Sellar (00:07)
Welcome back to Good Game Edmonton, I'm your host Cory “Sellarcast” Sellar and this is the quarterly update where we take stock of what's been happening across Alberta's interactive digital media ecosystem. This quarter we've got studio launches, console ports, a youth esports league kicking off, and GDC field reports as studios look to reach the international stage.
Joining me today for this quarterly roundup in collaboration with Digital Alberta are none other than a classic industry vet, Jennifer LaFace co-founder and creative director at Edmonton's own Only By Midnight and board director at Digital Alberta. Jen, thanks for taking the time to joining me today. How you doing?
Jen Laface (00:53)
Cory, thanks for having me on. I'm excited to be on as part of Digital Alberta and happy to answer questions and get some good discussions going.
Cory Sellar (01:03)
Love it, love it. Well, let's kick it off with Edmonton turning to the news here. To start it off, we got Sovereign Syndicate, the steampunk CRPG from Edmonton's Crimson Haring Studios, launched on Xbox and PlayStation in February under Calgary publisher Zugalu Entertainment. Plus, a fully voice director's cut is in development as a free upgrade for existing
owners. The Rabbit Haul demo launched on Steam in mid-March. The Cozy Tower defense farming game, built by Caldera Interactive, has players rebuilding a rabbit town devastated by raccoons known as the Trash Panda Posse.
The studio is seeking a publisher or additional funding ahead of its planned 2026 launch on PC and Nintendo Switch.
VR Cave stepped outside location-based VR for the first time, unveiling Heroes Together VR, a four-player roguelike dungeon crawler for Meta Quest 3 and Steam under new sub-brand Basement Bunker Labs. Alpha signups are open following a public playtest at Edmonton Unlimited, which by the way I was thrilled to attend.
Though I did scream during Hospital of Horror playtests, that was not fun. But anyway, all in all, great experience. Inflection Games added cross-play to Nightingale on its second Early Access Birthday. Other notable updates included an 80 % off sale, hired new staff recently, and is currently working on two unannounced games. Even as CEO Aaron Flynn admitted the game hasn't been, quote,
commercially successful enough, but affirmed that Nightingale still has a future at the studio. Beamdog dropped a surprise 2.7 beta for Baldur's Gate 1-2 and Icewind Dale Enhanced Editions in late February, nearly 15 years after launch, adding Apple Silicon support, cloud saves, and new community localizations. Plus an update for Planescape, Torment Enhanced Edition is also in the pipeline.
NorQuest Esports launched Campus Clash 2026 Edmonton's Youth Esports League for ages 13 to 18 on February 1st with weekly in-person play at its esports facility on campus. And the next Mass Effect may be entering pre-production. EA posted a senior dev role and ex-BioWare EP Mark Dara says 100 % of what they're working on right now is Mass Effect.
as Bioware might be going single project mode after Dragon Age the Vel'Gards under performance. Lots on the Edmonton front, but yeah, curious to take a quick moment here to reflect on some of those headlines and also anything happening on the Only By Midnight side for yourself and the team.
Jen Laface (05:24)
There's a lot going on in Edmonton. That's exciting for Isael's team. Only By Midnight did the porting for Sovereign Syndicate.
Cory Sellar (05:26)
yeah.
Okay, nice.
Jen Laface (05:34)
So as
they're reaching a new audience with PlayStation and Xbox, the Caldera Interactive, they're a great group, Isael, Mickael I hope their demo gets lots of plays, they get lots of attention from that. We're all playing the Steam game as well, so that's important too. Just a lot happening in Edmonton, and yeah, there's always more. There's always all these little gems to find out as well.
I know Game Camp Edmonton, from what I heard ⁓ their last meeting was game demos, the community's coming out, people are playing, people are giving feedback. That's the one thing about Edmonton, I've been in different communities from like video games to sci-fi and fantasy. People come out and people support each other.
Cory Sellar (06:19)
It's a fun new format for GameCamp actually. that was definitely something new that I'm hoping to check out at a future GameCamp event. Yeah, guess looking back on Only By Midnight, anything else that's been happening for you and the team in the last few months or just kicking off the new year?
Jen Laface (06:44)
I'll say kicking off the new year, we've entered production, we received CMF funding last year, so we're working on our Supernatural Murder Mystery, stay tuned on that, they'll be announced more, check out our socials, we've also just some other projects on the way too, some other client work, ⁓ I'll keep that under wraps for now, but it is exciting times, we're keeping to move forward.
Cory Sellar (06:50)
Right. Yes.
exciting.
I love it. No, that's great. Well, looking forward to more updates as they come down the pipeline. Well, heading down the QE2, we got a $2 million provincial investment turning repetitive stroke rehab into an engaging game.
Backed by Alberta Innovates and the Glen Rose Hospital Foundation, Red Iron Labs platform lets clinicians remotely prescribe and adjust gamified exercises for motor recovery, speech, and cognition. Patients complete guided therapy at home through immersive VR visuals, helping them stay engaged and improve outcomes.
Calgary studio DragonSpire Games released Boyfiend and Ghoulfriend. Their hauntingly romantic co-op puzzle platformer dropped February 13th, putting players in control of a fire-wielding Boyfiend and grave-digging Ghoulfriend as they worked together to solve puzzles across 15 handcrafted stages. The Calgary Game Developers Association launched the CGDA Masterclass.
It's an every other month series at Platform Calgary where industry professionals lead focused sessions on a specific area of game development and give critical feedback on attendee projects. Similar similarities I see with Game Camp up in Edmonton, so that's good. Zooming out for a provincial look, we have GameCon Canada returning for its biggest.
year yet. Now alongside the inaugural North American Games Industry Summit on June 18th to 19th. The two-day precursor before GCC is a purpose-built B2B summit bringing studios, publishers, investors, and tech partners to Edmonton for deal making and curated programming. To kick things off, attendees will hear from Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell.
as opening keynote. Stay tuned for an event preview right here on Good Game Edmonton. The High Level Innovation Conference returns to Lethbridge, Alberta on May 1st and 2nd for its third year. The two-day event at the Lethbridge Trade and Convention Center brings together entrepreneurs, investors, and families for keynotes, tech exhibitions, eSports tournaments, and a BIPOC arts and culture showcase.
And Alberta's Global Game Jam 2026 brought nearly 200 jammers across Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge over the January 30th to February 1st weekend, producing nearly 46 games combined on the theme mask. St. Albert's Sword Monkey Studios and Datadyne have dropped the Forge of the Fey Alpha during Steam's turn-based Thursday Fest.
Backers can now redeem their Steam keys to access roughly 10 hours of gameplay with a new trailer live on IGN.
Red Deer hosted its first ever Central Alberta Nerd Expo on February 21st to 22nd at Red Deer Polytechnic, drawing thousands and marking a new gaming pop culture community hub in Central Alberta.
And well, Alberta showed up with a presence at the 2026 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco in March. Team Alberta included Edmonton Screen, Calgary Economic Development, Digital Alberta, and the Canadian Interactive Alliance. Attending alongside studios like VR Cave, Fortress Games, Cozy Comet, and all taking meetings, walking the floor, occupying booth space, and sitting in on talks.
at North America's largest game developer conference. Whew, lots going on there. Jen, I know obviously being on the Digital Alberta board, feel like, was there any specific colleagues of yours that attended GDC on behalf of Digital Alberta? I think we talked before the recording, didn't get a chance to go down yourself for either DA or ⁓ Only By Midnight, but...
Any update that you're able to share on that front or just past experience at GDC or other conferences alike.
Jen Laface (12:35)
what I've heard from some members on the board and others is that it's always nice to like go down and be like hey there's someone else from Alberta there's someone else from Edmonton here I know Travis on the Digital Alberta board with Keyword Studios and Snowed In Games he attended it's always we've sent other people to with Only By Midnight and it's always like
A frenzy is the way to describe it. You're trying to get out there, you're meeting people, you're networking, and then there's the event itself, there's the after parties. At Only By Midnight we've done pitches and we're always grateful to be invited. The Trade Commissioner Services in previous years have brought in different Canadian studios, they've had coaching through Pierre Moisson, and it's such a great opportunity to go there and to network. I know that it's changed from last year and I'm curious to learn more about it myself too.
Cory Sellar (13:01)
Yeah.
Nice.
Based off of your past experience and everything, ⁓ what's been sort of the takeaways ⁓ that studios like Only By Midnight have taken advantage of going down to GDC? Obviously, each conference is different. Things evolve over time. Things change. Turnout, booth experience, signups, wishlisting.
Jen Laface (13:50)
I think one of the most important things with going to GDC or other events it's the networking it's going and it's reaching out. You have a chance to meet investors you have a chance to meet publishers and to have that that conversation and kind of that face-to-face meeting a lot of it's like digital a lot of it's like sending an inquiry by email but here's your chance to meet them to talk to them and to get to know them as well
Cory Sellar (14:09)
From a Team Alberta standpoint, talk about that importance of having Team Alberta collectively when you're being either a part of that in a studio capacity or digital Alberta capacity. based off of your experience and continuing to go down to GDC, talk about that importance.
of what that means, you know, for not only studios and other stakeholders, but just from an Alberta level, what does that really mean when we're coming down to GDC and showing up on behalf of the province and the community?
Jen Laface (14:54)
It's a really good question. Well coming as a community it shows like Alberta we have the development, we have the talent, we have the businesses, we have the operations and going in and showing hey we're United Front and we also there's team-ups with other provinces. I know with Digital Alberta we have members who part of the CIAIC board.
and being able to go together as that Canadian front but also that Alberta front, it just showcases that there is talent here. There is opportunity to invest ⁓ in the province and also in Canada.
Cory Sellar (15:27)
Love that. Any first hand stories in the past that you're able to share that was memorable, that kind of has stuck with you as part of the ongoing journey as a studio co-founder?
Jen Laface (15:41)
Do you mean in like the GDC or just attending different events context?
Cory Sellar (15:45)
GDC
or just any other events that would likely be a headline on an update like this. Yeah. Yeah.
Jen Laface (15:54)
We went to Gamescom in 2024, support from Edmonton Screen, absolutely grateful. Thank you to the team, big support from Andy. It was a great experience. We demoed our game. We got to know some of the other studios, which includes Caldera. And just having the people come in and play it, because it's more of like a B2C, and just seeing how they play. This is for Control-Alt-Deal, so you're playing as an AI trying to escape the dystopian corporation that made you.
through hijinks and doing favors and just watching people play, watching people from different countries come in and play and make decisions. It was just an opportunity to see how do players engage with it. And then the other opportunities too, they've got like, I think the Trade Commission Services or the, I'm not entirely sure which one, but with the Canadian federal government, there's representatives there, there's presentations, just kind of like a business space. It's always nice to go in there and network and you'll get to meet people who.
Cory Sellar (16:44)
Yeah.
Jen Laface (16:52)
you're doing business with them or you know about them but you're like, you are a real, you are a person. I've halfway across the world to see you and meet too.
Cory Sellar (17:00)
Yeah, no, 100%. Yeah. As a studio founder,
what's sort of that mindset to take into a conference like that, knowing that you're coming in as a group, but at the same time, you're trying really hard to...
to get some good leads for your studio, for your business, but ensuring that everyone is sort of helping each other and succeeding to kind of help be part of that Team Alberta, Team Canada because obviously we're all kind of in this together. It sounds cliche, but I mean, it is true when you leave.
the national borders. Yeah, curious to get your take. If there's ever been that firsthand feeling of like, you know, are we meant to be here? Like, has that ever come across? Like, I don't know. Like, I as not being a ⁓ studio founder myself
Jen Laface (18:01)
I'll start by saying it doesn't happen overnight, the confidence. It's, it's, the more you do it, and the more, and it's your your perspective and how you frame it. If you go on with a with an open mind to go in, hey, I'm going to go and talk to people, meet with people. And I'm going to kind of bring this back to the Alberta ecosystem. There's like, Game Camp Edmonton, there's the Calgary group, there's scaffold.
Cory Sellar (18:03)
No, yeah, for sure. For sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jen Laface (18:29)
participated in several of these and they do that prep work of making you ready to go to these bigger events. So as you get more into it and you learn, they do bring in guests, but it's also going to other communities. You're kind of building that. And I've taken that confidence when I showed up. And a lot of these people I've met before, even like virtually, like I've only ever met them over the computer. Taking that, it gives me more confidence. And there's always knowing, you know, how much like, will always be discomfort. There always have those emotions.
But it's what you do with that and how you go, hey, I might have this emotion, but I'm going to go in there. I'm going to learn. I'm going to talk to other people. And the other thing, too, and this is something I like to have with my studio only by midnight and for myself, is I want to lift people up. If there's like, hey, you and you, you guys should meet. I'm always happy to do that. I think being able to go, hey, I found this marketing service. Or hey, what do you think about that, having those conversations? I know with Game.com.
Gamescom in Germany. We'd all go out after dinner and chat and kind of, hey, this is what happened. How are you doing? And it's like those bonding, those moments really make it.
Cory Sellar (19:41)
100%. Yeah, talk about kind of making new connections, introducing people. I kind of felt that because I know I'd met you finally in person, as I recall, ⁓ at the Edmonton Screen year-end ⁓ holiday party ⁓ on White Ave. So that was really fun. And yeah, just again, meeting a few new people, meeting some
Jen Laface (19:55)
at Edmonton
Cory Sellar (20:08)
virtual connections in person for the first time. Like, you are real, I'm a real person, I'm not an AI. I forget who I told this to. I think it was maybe Ronnie from Edmonton Screen, but that event, just from personal experience, that event at the year end get together, I really felt...
Jen Laface (20:12)
are real.
Cory Sellar (20:31)
part of the community at that event. I really did. You know, it was still, you intimidating because, I'm trying to come up to some of you and, know, obviously I'm I don't run my own studio. I'm not building a game. So already I'm sort of trying to.
figure out my way in as far as what's my relevance there. But at the same time, it felt very sense of belonging. I managed to chat with a lot of you there and, providing why I'm there with this show that I'm doing. That was my in and it felt really good to be able to talk about that.
I saw some familiar faces like like Trent from Beamdog and a few other folks but you know recognizing you at a table like I'm gonna I'm gonna go sit by Jen because I I know Jen
Jen Laface (21:20)
I should just segue in here. Open invitation if you see me. I love coffee. I was gonna connect to, you know, if you're in Gamescom, beer is a big thing there. I like my Fanta, just gonna be honest there, don't tell anyone. Yeah, come connect with me. Don't tell anybody. But yeah, come meet with me. I love coffee, I like to chat.
Cory Sellar (21:33)
This is being recorded, okay ⁓
Jen Laface (21:45)
And yeah, no, it's an emminton screen. That was an excellent event. I saw people I wasn't expecting there. I'm like, hey, it's the principal of my child's school. Wow, his partner does film. I'm like, wow, that's a small world. And it kind of goes back to what we were discussing before. Go out and meet people. It's outside the comfort zone. But the more you do it, the more it becomes. You get comfortable with it. Whether or not it's natural, does that really matter? You get comfortable.
Cory Sellar (21:57)
wow. Love it.
Yeah.
Jen Laface (22:13)
You get to meet and get to learn something from others too. And it's that connection that makes it.
Cory Sellar (22:17)
Yeah, no, 100%.
Looking ahead to Q2 over the course of April, May, and June of 2026, anything on the radar that you'd like to bring up, Jen, from either a Digital Alberta side or Only By Midnight. Obviously, we talked about Only By Midnight a little bit earlier, but anything on the radar that folks in the Alberta community should be paying attention to or at least looking out for in the coming months.
Jen Laface (22:45)
There's always lots going on. I'm certain I won't say everything or I'll learn new things too. I know with Digital Alberta there's like we were we've got members on the board with CIAIC. There's advocacy continues on a provincial and federal level Stay tuned for updates on the quarter two and beyond. We're looking at having for Digital Alberta a community dialogue
Cory Sellar (22:50)
for sure.
Jen Laface (23:11)
We want to bring people in and hear from the membership, seeing how we can engage with the membership and what the membership and even people outside the membership who'd be interested, we want to hear from you. It's myself and other members. I'll maybe drop you my Digital Alberta email. Contact me. I'd love to hear from you just to see what everyone's thoughts are. Because I know there's a lot going on and there's a lot of different perspectives. And yeah, open invitation.
Cory Sellar (23:35)
Awesome. So kind of similar to a virtual town hall or that kind of thing or... Okay. no, no, for sure, for sure. Yeah. Stay tuned. Yeah.
Jen Laface (23:41)
We're looking at that as we solidify details. So before I say anything, stay tuned.
We're looking at ⁓ cross-provincially and we'll have more details. So look at our socials or reach out to me.
Cory Sellar (23:56)
Sounds good. ⁓ Anything else on the Digital Alberta Front? That's pretty much it for now. It is a volunteer board after all, so definitely trying to do as much as you can on the side of your desk outside of your day jobs.
Jen Laface (24:10)
I'm
gonna make a shout out to the team here. There's a lot of activity, people attending events, learning about what's happening in the industry, people working behind the scenes on the board. Just grateful to have these people on the Digital Alberta board team.
Cory Sellar (24:13)
Mm.
100 % 100 % Well, I know it's kind of in that middle phase because obviously we're recording this just near the end of March here of 2026. you know, last year Alberta game series, ⁓ which is coming up fairly soon in the fall of this year, this time ⁓ expected to be in Calgary, I believe, in Edmonton last year.
I want to say I saw you at AGS, but now that it's been so long now it feels, I can't remember. I have a memory of a goldfish.
Jen Laface (24:56)
I probably was, I was
probably weaving inside and out of the meeting space, because I know it was at Edmonton Unlimited, then Amii and then the fire alarm went off and then we all.
Cory Sellar (25:05)
Edmonton Unlimited and Amii. Yeah. yes.
The classic fire alarm. Travis and I went over that one. That was was fun. ⁓
Jen Laface (25:16)
We
went to Edmonton Unlimited and grabbed, there's some snacks there, another event that I knew someone running. I'm like, ooh, let's grab some snacks. So that was great.
Cory Sellar (25:23)
Yeah.
yeah, I guess before we wrap, is there anything else we may have missed Jen, that you'd love to bring up at this point
Jen Laface (25:32)
I just wanted to mention that Mike McCready is the president of the Applied AI Association for the, I believe it's the Alberta or the Edmonton chapter, which is exciting times. Just again for Digital Alberta, we're gonna have that community dialogue. Reach out to us, we wanna hear from within the ecosystem, people who are members, people who are maybe not members now, we wanna hear from you, come talk to us.
I'm just trying to think of if there's anything else. I know there's always more. know that there's GameCon Canada is happening and I think NAGIS is part of that too, so that will be exciting. I've enjoyed GameCon Canada. When we've attended, we've had booths, we've had people come by. It's been a great experience. And with that, I think they're bringing in publishers and investors to the Edmonton community, but also it's much easier traveling like if you're coming from Calgary or somewhere else. It makes it more accessible and showcases Alberta studios.
Cory Sellar (26:19)
sure yeah
100%. Yeah, it's definitely an event on my list to see if I can make it out, as I had alluded to earlier in my Edmonton updates, really excited to have kind of a precursor episode for Nagus and GCC very soon. We got a
booked in April as we record this. It's just near the end of March, but yeah, another future episode to stay tuned for, for a bit of a preview of this year's festivities. And ⁓ yeah, just curious to dig in more as to why now, what's it all about? What can people expect?
Jen Laface (27:02)
The excitement never ends, never ends. And then one other thing too is it looks like CMF is going to announce, I believe there's a press release on March 18th. They talked about a couple different programs. One of them was on developing talent. So that had to do with like, think technical, but also business and then one for organizations as well. And they did, they did put on a date. I recall sometime in April, they're going to open up applications again. I can go into just some differences from last year that we saw.
Cory Sellar (27:05)
Never ends. yeah.
Okay.
Mm.
Okay.
Yeah, yeah, let's talk about CMF when it comes to, you know, funding opportunities out there right now.
Jen Laface (27:35)
The change that we saw last year was that prototyping had only one intake, which was in September. So we applied for production in, I think, April, May. It changes every year, so I'm trying to remember the dates. April, May, we did receive it for our current project that we're working on. And we'll have to see what happens this year when the deadline opens. don't recall any other changes to update on. I know that there's other funding too. There's funding with Creative Export Canada.
Cory Sellar (27:41)
Okay.
Jen Laface (28:04)
can export. In Alberta we have AEP, Edmonton Screen, and other ones as well.
Cory Sellar (28:10)
Right. Awesome. Yeah, no, I'll definitely be able to share those links in the show notes for this episode. But yeah, I think we can call it a wrap for this quarterly update.
Jen Laface (28:24)
And yeah, thanks for having me on the podcast. Happy to come back if you want hear me again. yeah, and just I've got a plug, and a couple more plugs if you don't mind. ⁓
Cory Sellar (28:28)
absolutely.
yes please, yes. I'll open the floor
for additional plugs here, Jen. I'm all ears.
Jen Laface (28:39)
Yeah,
to the listeners, we're looking to hear from the ecosystem, from members of that, for our community dialogue for Digital Alberta. Reach out to me. And then I have to plug only by midnight. Our game Control Alt Deal, you play as a AI trying to escape the dystopian corporation that made you through wheeling and dealing. It's a strategy game set in a simulation. It's available on Steam, Xbox, Nintendo, PlayStation. Come check us out. Yeah, and thanks for listening.
Cory Sellar (29:07)
Awesome.
Thanks so much, Jen. Really appreciate that. Again, thanks for your time on another quarterly update on Good Game Edmonton. And of course, thanks to Digital Alberta for this ongoing partnership These are so much fun to do. And glad to have the chance finally to get you on the show here, Jen. And yes, definitely, I don't imagine this will be the last time you'll be on. Looking forward to having you on on future episodes, future discussions on other topics.
Obviously, AI is a hot button issue every other day. And, you know, we can talk about funding opportunities as well as we go forward here. But, yeah, looking forward to having you back on,
I really appreciate you taking the time, Jen. Thank you so much. And of course, to everyone else listening, watching,
If you got a story lead, studio update, or a new trailer to share, we'd love to feature it in our next quarterly roundup. You can send me the details by heading over to goodgameyeg.ca. And you can also message me on LinkedIn or Instagram at the handle Sellarcast. And if you enjoyed...
this episode with Jen, be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Sellarcast out.
