Being in Montreal as a Game-related major, I had a fantastic opportunity which I advise any future students who want to study abroad to take. There is an annual event that takes place called MIGS (Montreal International Game Summit) that obviously takes place… in Montreal. This summit is a large gathering of people in the gaming industry who meet in a particular building (which changes depending on the year.) and have various booths and talks.
The booths feature a variety of companies that are more than willing to talk about themselves to you. The key is, when talking to them to also talk about yourself in order to network yourself. MIGS is open to anyone in the gaming industry and if you weren’t studying abroad you could go as well. If you are already studying abroad you just stay in your room and MIGS is a quick walk away.
MIGS is a great place to network yourself in order to wedge your way into the gaming industry after you graduate. The pricing to enter the summit is high but as a student it will be a little more affordable. Although I am a Game Design major and I knew this would benefit me, I was still anxious about spending $300 on a 2 day experience. I did go this year however, and it was an excellent experience even if it was a little expensive. I talked to a multitude of companies, handed out and received a few business cards, but more importantly learned a lot.
Spanning across each day there were a multitude of talks from people currently in the gaming industry which gave valuable insight on a variety of topics. You can pick and choose which talks to go to based on your interests or choose to skip a talk and go to the booths to network. Either way you are surrounded by companies and people of the industry and that alone helps plenty. After leaving MIGS you really feel like you are a Game Designer (artist, programmer, etc…) and that you can make it in this competitive world.
