CanAsia has its roots in something that already worked.

Before CanAsia became a Pacific Rim marketplace, there were two rooms at Signals where the games industry came together to have business conversations: Beta Lounge and XP Indie Games Biz.

They were not built around spectacle.

They were built around people.

Publishers met developers. Studios met potential partners. Business-development teams had conversations that could lead somewhere. Deals happened because the right people were in the same room.

CanAsia carries that idea forward.

Taking the conversation global

The games industry has changed dramatically, but the need for good connections has not.

A studio looking for a publishing partner needs to find the right publisher.

A publisher looking for new games needs access to strong studios.

An investor needs meaningful deal flow.

A company entering a new market needs people who understand that market.

Those conversations are much easier when there is a credible place to start.

CanAsia is designed to be that place for the Pacific Rim.

A bigger stage, the same purpose

The summit will take place in Vancouver during Web Summit Vancouver week.

Web Summit provides the global stage. CanAsia creates a dedicated environment for games and interactive media.

The model is two stages, one ecosystem, one week.

C-suite leaders, founders, investors and policymakers can connect through Web Summit, while producers, publishers and dealmakers have a focused place to meet on the CanAsia floor.

The two experiences work together.

Building something that lasts

The ambition goes beyond a single event.

CanAsia is intended to become a recurring marketplace connecting the Canadian games industry with partners across Asia and the Pacific Rim.

By bringing these communities together in Vancouver, BC has an opportunity to turn its existing international relationships into something larger.

Web Summit gave Vancouver a global stage. CanAsia is how BC builds a legacy from it.

CanAsia Game Summit takes place May 28–29, 2027.

If you are a publisher, studio, investor, trade organization or potential delegation partner, register your interest and join the conversation.

The next opportunity for the games industry is not one-way. It is a two-way conversation.

British Columbia has deep connections to the Pacific Rim. Asian publishers, investors and platforms already have a significant presence in the province, while BC studios are looking east for new partners, markets and investment.

CanAsia Game Summit is designed to bring those conversations into one room.

A natural trade corridor

BC is home to a growing games and interactive-media ecosystem with more than 250 member studios and 16,000+ people working in the sector.

The province is also home to global companies and studios connected to some of the biggest markets in the world.

Kabam is a particularly strong example.

The Vancouver studio was founded in BC and is now owned by Netmarble of Korea. It represents exactly the kind of relationship CanAsia wants to encourage: Canadian creative talent combined with Korean capital, distribution and global reach.

That relationship is not an exception. It is a model for what can happen when the right people are connected.

More than a Canadian showcase

CanAsia is not about bringing Asian companies to Vancouver simply to sell them on Canada.

It is about creating opportunities for both sides.

Asian publishers and platforms can meet Canadian studios and co-development partners.

Canadian companies can connect with publishers, investors and platforms across Asia.

Investors can find new opportunities.

Government and trade organizations can help build longer-term relationships between markets.

And emerging studios can get into rooms that are often difficult to access.

Building the connections before May

The road to CanAsia starts well before the summit.

DigiBC and its partners will be meeting companies across the region throughout the fall, including at Tokyo Game Show, the Canadian Creative Industries Trade Mission to China, BC Week in Asia and G-Star, with additional outreach at WePlay, Taipei Game Show and immersive-media events.

The idea is straightforward:

Meet us on the road this fall. Then meet everyone in Vancouver in May.

CanAsia is about creating the conditions for those introductions to become partnerships, deals and long-term relationships.

May 28–29, 2027 · Vancouver · during Web Summit Vancouver week.

The Pacific Rim’s B2B marketplace for games and interactive media is coming to Vancouver.

On May 28–29, 2027, CanAsia Game Summit will bring Canadian and Asian games and interactive-media companies together in Vancouver during Web Summit Vancouver week.

CanAsia is built for the people who make deals happen: producers, publishers, investors, business-development teams and industry leaders looking for new opportunities across the Pacific Rim.

The summit is the next chapter of two successful dealmaking spaces from Signals, Beta Lounge and XP Indie Games Biz. Those rooms became places where meaningful conversations happened and partnerships took shape. CanAsia takes that same focus on business and brings it to a much larger international stage.

Two stages. One ecosystem. One week.

Web Summit brings founders, executives, investors and policymakers to Vancouver from May 25–28.

CanAsia adds a dedicated games marketplace on May 28–29, creating a focused space for the games industry to meet, connect and do business.

The goal is simple: make it easier for Canadian and Asian companies to find each other.

That means opportunities for co-development, publishing, investment, distribution and strategic partnerships.

Why Vancouver?

British Columbia is home to one of Canada’s largest creative-technology clusters, with more than 250 member studios and more than 16,000 people working across the province’s games sector.

Global companies including EA, Kabam, Tencent Games, NetEase Games, Nintendo, Microsoft/The Coalition, Netflix, Disney Animation and ILM have built significant connections to BC.

CanAsia creates a new front door into that ecosystem.

It also creates an opportunity for BC and Canadian companies to build stronger relationships across Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan and the wider Pacific Rim.

CanAsia Game Summit takes place May 28–29, 2027 in Vancouver, British Columbia, during Web Summit Vancouver week.

Register your interest to be part of the first CanAsia.