Montreal ComicCon (July 3-5) is ALMOST UPON US, and I have the honor, privilege, and audacity to be running three panels this year.

Building Worlds out of Worlds

FRIDAY, July 3rd, 2:00 PM

514 : Salle Loto Québec

In the beginning was the word, followed by a whole lot of documents that the team may or may not read.

Come learn how veteran narrative designers and writers help design and create believable game worlds. We’ll talk about the tricks of the trade, collaborating with other departments, and what works and what doesn’t.

Narrative builds worlds, not just words.

Featuring:

Alex Epstein: is a Peabody Award-winning game writer, screenwriter, author and comics writer. Film & TV work includes Bon Cop / Bad Cop and the comedy series Naked Josh. He segued into games with Compulsion Games’ Contrast, was Narrative Director on South of Midnight and We Happy Few. As Lead Narrative on Highdive Games’s Fragpunk, he kicked off a series of online comics. He has written indie games including Stories: The Path of Destinies, Biomorph, Every Day We Fight, and most recently, The Caribou Trail. He has published books on writing: Crafty Game Writing (2025), Crafty TV Writing (2006) and Crafty Screenwriting.

Kelly Hornung: is a narrative designer, scriptwriter, playwright, and story consultant. She focuses largely on video games, having contributed to global releases such as Convergence: A League of Legends Story and Tribes of Midgard. Her work has been translated into sixteen languages, and her plays have been performed in both Canada and the US. Aside from video games and theatre, she experiments with writing bad ghost stories (available online through Barnes & Noble) and collaborating with illustrators on comics.

James Nadiger: is a writer who loves making games, writing stories, and working with cool people on fun stuff. He has been a writer at Ubisoft Montreal for 13 years. His credits include: Assassins’ Creed Black Flag Resynced, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Far Cry New Dawn, Far Cry 5, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, Assassin’s Creed Rogue, and Batman: Arkham Origins. James has contributed stories to the comic anthologies: Wish Upon a Star and Let Her Be Evil.

Jesse Scoble (me): moderator.

Surviving in an Industry That is Trying to Kill You

SATURDAY, July 4th, 1:00 PM

514 : Salle Loto Québec

You thought the first boss was hard, but now that you’ve levelled up and know this game down pat, suddenly the rules have all changed and everything, everywhere is on fire.

The game industry is huge and everyone plays games (Candy Crush and Wordle count just as much as Elden Ring and Pokopia).

But it’s also a black box to many. How does it work and how does one even begin to think of a career, especially in these fraught times?

A panel of veterans spanning a multitude of disciplines – design, narrative, art, programming, and business – talk about the state of the industry and answer your questions to the best of their ability.

Featuring:

Osama Dorias: Creative Director at Heartloop Games, Osama has also worked at Blizzard, Unity, WB Games, Brass Lion, Magic Pants, and Gameloft, and has taught game design at Dawson College. Credits include: Gotham Knights, For Honor, Hogwarts Legacy, Heroes Never Lose: Professor Puzzler's Perplexing Ploy. He’s also one-third of The Habibis podcast, where they drink good Arab Tea and talk games, culture, and life. He co-founded the Polaris Game Design Retreat, a think-tank style conference bringing together the industry’s best minds to tackle its toughest challenges.

Eric Hein: Principal Level Designer, producer, and consultant with over 18 years of experience navigating the full development lifecycle. His career spans Microsoft, Ubisoft, EA, Warner Bros. Games, and Relic Entertainment, as well as founding an independent studio. Credits include: Batman: Arkham, Warhammer 40,000, Watch Dogs, Poppy Playtime Chapter 4 and We Happy Few.

Laurier Lajoie: Game Director for Torn Banner Studios, the Toronto Studio behind the Chivalry franchise and No More Room In Hell 2. He has previously worked as a Principal UX Designer, UX Director, and Design Director. He spent 2 years as a Senior UX Designer on Dead by Daylight, from Behaviour, and 5 years at Ubisoft Montreal as Associate Game Director: UX, UX Designer, and Game Designer.

Jesse Scoble (me): moderator.

From Pixels to Panels

SUNDAY, July 5th, 11:00 AM

514 : Salle Loto Québec

Ever wonder how to go from writing for the biggest video games in the world to making your own comics?

Joshua Rubin was lead writer on Assassin’s Creed 2, and has contributed to Telltale’s The Walking Dead & Game of Thrones, as well as Destiny, and a new VR experience based on Netflix’s Black Mirror. Now, he’s writing and producing his own comic, Time Sensitive.

Jesse Scoble was a senior writer on Assassin’s Creed Origins and Odyssey, and contributed to Watch Dogs 2, Far Cry 5, and HyperScape. He was lead writer for Wizard101, and has written for more than two dozen TTRPGs. Now, he’s co-writing and producing his own comic, Dead Money.

Join Joshua and Jesse as they discuss their professional journeys, how they’ve paralleled and diverged, and their quests to move from huge companies to passion projects in the world of comics.