GameOps Joins Philippine Delegation at XDS 2024 and Strengthens Industry-Academe Connections in Vancouver
GameOps represented the Philippines at the External Development Summit (XDS) 2024 in Vancouver, Canada, joining one of the country’s largest game development delegations to the event while strengthening international connections across game development, external development, education, and talent development.
September 2024, Vancouver, Canada — GameOps, Inc. proudly joined the Philippine delegation to the External Development Summit (XDS) 2024, continuing its efforts to bring Philippine game development capabilities to the global stage and create stronger connections between the local and international games industries.
Held from September 3–6, 2024 in Vancouver, Canada, XDS is a leading international conference dedicated to external development in the video game industry, bringing together game developers, publishers, service providers, and industry leaders from around the world.
GameOps participated alongside a strong delegation of Philippine game companies representing capabilities across programming, art, design, production, Quality Assurance, animation, and other areas of game development.
The 2024 mission marked the third Philippine delegation to XDS, with participating companies showcased through the Make It Happen in the Philippines Pavilion at Parq Vancouver.
For GameOps, the mission provided an opportunity not only to build business relationships, but also to explore how international partnerships, education, and talent development can contribute to the long-term growth of the Philippine game development industry.
Representing Philippine Game Development at XDS 2024
External development has become an increasingly important part of how games are created.
Major developers and publishers around the world work with specialized external partners across disciplines including art, animation, engineering, Quality Assurance, localization, audio, production, and other areas of game development.
This makes XDS an important event for companies such as GameOps.
As a Philippine game services company, GameOps works with international developers and publishers through its core services in Quality Assurance, Live Operations, and Player Support.
Participating in XDS provides the company with direct access to the people responsible for building and managing external development partnerships within some of the world’s leading game companies.
Throughout XDS 2024, GameOps connected with existing industry partners and established new relationships with developers, publishers, and fellow service providers from different parts of the world.
These conversations provided opportunities to showcase Philippine capabilities while gaining a deeper understanding of how external development continues to evolve.
A Stronger Philippine Presence in Vancouver
GameOps was joined by a diverse group of Philippine companies at XDS 2024, including Amber Philippines, Animation Vertigo Asia, Buko Studios, CMD Studios, Exodia, Leveret Group, Neun Farben, Pixel Mafia, Puppeteer Studios, and Synergy88, among other Philippine industry initiatives represented during the mission.
Together, the delegation demonstrated the breadth of expertise available within the Philippine game development ecosystem.
The country’s participation was supported through the collaborative efforts of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), DTI Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB), International Trade Centre through ARISE Plus Philippines, the Malikhaing Pinoy Program, the Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP), and the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver.
For GameOps, participating as part of a country delegation creates an impact beyond what individual companies can accomplish on their own.
It allows international partners to see the Philippines not simply as a source of individual service providers, but as a growing ecosystem with companies capable of supporting multiple disciplines across game production.
The stronger the Philippine presence becomes at international events such as XDS, the greater the opportunity to establish the country as a trusted global partner for game development.
Beyond XDS: Exploring Industry-Academe Collaboration at BCIT
GameOps’ Vancouver mission also extended beyond the conference floor.
As part of the delegation’s activities, GameOps joined a visit to the School of Business + Media at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) together with Philippine Consul General Arlene Magno, Consular Agent and Trade Commissioner Mario Tani, and DTI Export Marketing Bureau Director Bianca Skymite.
The visit created an opportunity to exchange perspectives on education, industry collaboration, and the development of talent equipped for increasingly global and technology-driven creative industries.
For GameOps, conversations with academic institutions are an important part of a much bigger discussion around industry development.
The continued growth of the Philippine game development sector will depend not only on attracting more international projects, but also on ensuring that the country’s future workforce develops the technical, creative, business, and professional skills required by the global industry.
Connecting Education With the Needs of the Games Industry
Game development is multidisciplinary by nature.
Successful games require programmers, artists, animators, designers, producers, QA professionals, community teams, business development professionals, marketers, and many other specialists working together.
As the industry evolves, the skills required to participate in it are evolving as well.
Visits and discussions with institutions such as BCIT provide an opportunity to understand how education can remain connected to the needs of international industries—and how stronger collaboration between schools, companies, government, and industry organizations can better prepare students for future careers.
For GameOps, this is particularly relevant to the Philippines.
Developing a globally competitive game industry requires a sustainable talent pipeline. Companies need access to graduates who understand not only the tools used in production, but also collaboration, communication, project management, problem-solving, and the realities of working with international teams.
Strengthening the connection between academe and industry can help close that gap.
Learning From Vancouver’s Games and Creative Industries Ecosystem
Vancouver is home to a well-established ecosystem of game development, digital media, visual effects, animation, technology, and creative companies.
This makes the city an important environment for the Philippine delegation to observe how industry, government, educational institutions, and creative communities can contribute to building a competitive talent ecosystem.
For GameOps, international missions are valuable not only because they generate business opportunities.
They also create opportunities to bring knowledge home.
Understanding how other markets approach education, talent development, industry collaboration, and internationalization can provide valuable insights as the Philippines continues developing its own games ecosystem.
The objective is not simply to replicate what other countries have built, but to identify practices that can be adapted to the Philippine environment and its unique strengths.
XDS 2024 Demonstrates the Global Potential of Philippine Game Development
The Philippine delegation’s presence at XDS 2024 also demonstrated the increasing international interest in what the country can offer.
Philippine companies participating in the event collectively generated significant business opportunities and connections, reinforcing the potential of the country’s game development sector as an export industry.
More importantly, the delegation showed that the Philippines is capable of participating in external development at multiple levels—from specialized services and production support to increasingly strategic development partnerships.
This represents an important evolution for the local industry.
The opportunity is no longer simply to become another outsourcing destination.
The bigger opportunity is for the Philippines to become a trusted development partner—one that contributes talent, expertise, ideas, and long-term value to international game projects.
That is the direction GameOps believes the industry should continue pursuing.
GameOps’ Commitment to Industry Development
For GameOps, participating in XDS is about more than meeting prospective clients.
Since its founding, the company has believed that its growth should contribute to the development of the wider Philippine games industry.
That means building international relationships, helping promote Philippine capabilities, developing Filipino talent, supporting stronger connections between industry and education, and creating more opportunities for Philippine companies and professionals to participate in the global market.
XDS 2024 brought several of those objectives together in one mission.
On the conference floor, GameOps was able to connect Philippine capabilities with international developers and publishers.
Through the Philippine delegation, the company helped strengthen the country’s collective presence in one of the most important international gatherings for external development.
And through engagements such as the visit to BCIT’s School of Business + Media, the delegation was able to explore another critical part of building a sustainable industry: developing the people who will shape its future.
Building Global Partnerships, Bringing Opportunities Home
International participation matters most when the opportunities created abroad translate into long-term value at home.
Every new international relationship can lead to a project for a Philippine company.
Every new project can create opportunities for Filipino professionals.
Every exchange of knowledge can help companies improve how they operate.
And every connection between industry, government, and academe can help strengthen the ecosystem that supports future generations of talent.
This is why GameOps continues to participate in international delegations and industry events such as XDS.
The goal is not simply to bring GameOps to the world. It is also to bring more of the world’s opportunities, knowledge, and connections back to the Philippines.
GameOps is proud to have represented the country at XDS 2024 alongside fellow Philippine game companies and grateful to the government, trade, industry, and international partners who continue to create opportunities for the Philippine games sector abroad.
From the conversations at XDS to the exchange of ideas at BCIT, the Vancouver mission reinforced a shared vision for the future:
a Philippine game development industry that is globally connected, internationally competitive, and supported by a strong pipeline of Filipino talent ready to build what’s next.