Vancouver’s calling—XDS 2025 is just around the corner! This year, Side is proud to be a Presenting Partner and the host of the Welcome Reception, the kick-off evening event of XDS that welcomes all attendees.  

Running from September 2–5, XDS is the games industry’s annual summit dedicated entirely to external development, gathering over 1,000 professionals from over 55 countries. It’s where the business of building games happens. From codev and art outsourcing to QA, audio, and localization, the event brings together studios, publishers, and service providers for four days of talks, networking, and partnership building. 

The Side team will be on-site with a booth in the Hub for meetings throughout the week, presenting our multitude of services including codev, art, audio, QA, localization, and player support.  

We’re also excited to share that Kate Mitchell, Side’s Global QA Director, will be hosting a Table Topic on Emotional Intelligence (EQ) in the Age of AI. As automation becomes more integrated into external development, Kate will explore why EQ remains critical for teams—especially when managing cross-functional teams and navigating cultural nuances in QA, Localization, and Player experience.  

If you’re attending XDS and looking to connect, you can reach out to our team directly or on the XDS Connect platform. See you soon!