PAX East展会将于5月8日至11日在波士顿举行，安大略互动协会（Interactive Ontario）通过与“独立天使”（Indie Angels）计划合作，助力三家加拿大独立游戏开发商展出四款独具特色的新游戏。这是安大略互动协会助力本土游戏工作室发展的重要举措。
安大略互动协会是由交互式数字媒体行业成立并为交互式数字媒体行业服务的非营利性贸易协会。安大略互动协会的成员制作并出口互动数字娱乐和教育娱乐产品，如电子游戏、扩展现实应用（VR、AR、MR）和教育科技内容。其使命是激励、团结并助力安大略省的IDM行业实现长期增长和繁荣。
协会负CEO露西·拉卢米埃尔（Lucie Lalumière）直言，在竞争激烈的游戏市场环境下，曝光度对游戏至关重要。该试点项目通过与“独立天使”合作，为安大略省的工作室提供关键公关支持，让工作室更有效地推广项目，在竞争激烈的全球市场中脱颖而出。
而“独立天使”计划的成立旨在帮助中小型游戏开发商发挥最大潜能。该团队由跨领域的优秀专业人士组成。通过团队成员的专业知识、咨询服务和重要的行业人脉关系，打造出目标明确且行之有效的业务拓展、市场营销和公关推广方案。从前期策划到后期维护，“独立天使”计划将在整个过程中为独立团队提供支持。入选本次计划的创作团队分别为小水牛工作室、小个子游戏公司和高空天空娱乐公司。
另一款“反RPG”游戏《潮汐之空》（Sky of Tides），鼓励玩家在五个属性维度实现情感平衡与个人成长，玩家将扮演主角林·德洛拉在努门9星球展开冒险，通过做出选择、平衡角色属性来达成结局，并解锁并解锁独家动画系列——曾获大奖提名的《潮汐之空：ATLA》，该动画从不同视角讲述游戏中的故事。
从团队背景来看，小水牛工作室由曾参与PlayStation、Ubisoft等知名项目的资深人士创立；小个子游戏公司汇聚行业资深人士与新锐力量，此前已推出作品《本垒打大赛VR》；高空天空娱乐公司自2017年成立以来，凭借《书雁传奇》《永恒的春天》等作品屡获赞誉，而《潮汐之空》创作团队中多位核心创作者为女性。
On May 6th, ahead of the highly anticipated PAX East exhibition, the Interactive Ontario (IO) Association, in collaboration with the "Indie Angels" project, will showcase four distinct new games developed by three local studios. This initiative represents a significant step in the IO Association's efforts to foster the growth of Ontario's game development community.
As the leading industry body representing Ontario’s interactive digital media (IDM) sector, the Interactive Ontario Association comprises members who produce and export a wide range of interactive digital entertainment and edutainment products. Their portfolio spans from video games and extended reality applications—including VR, AR, and MR—to educational technology content. At its core, the IO Association's mission is to inspire, unite, and empower the IDM industry in Ontario, driving its long - term growth and prosperity.
Lucie Lalumière, CEO of the IO Association, emphasized the critical role of visibility in today’s cutthroat gaming market. Through this pilot partnership with "Indie Angels," the association aims to offer essential public relations support to local studios. This support will enable these studios to more effectively promote their projects and gain a competitive edge on the global stage.
The "Indie Angels" program was specifically designed to help small and medium - sized game developers unlock their full potential. Comprising professionals from diverse disciplines, the team leverages its collective expertise, consulting services, and extensive industry networks to craft targeted and impactful business development, marketing, and PR strategies. From initial planning to ongoing support, "Indie Angels" provides comprehensive assistance to independent game development teams throughout every stage of their projects. The selected participants for this program are Little Buffalo Studios, Little Guy Games, and Lofty Sky Entertainment, each bringing their unique creative visions to the forefront.
The other "Anti-RPG" game, "Sky of Tides", encourages players to achieve emotional balance and personal growth across five attribute dimensions. Players will take on the role of the protagonist, Rin D'Lorah, and embark on an adventure on the planet Numen9. By making choices and balancing the character's attributes, they can reach the ending and unlock the exclusive animated series, "Sky of Tides: ATLA", which has been nominated for a major award. This animated series tells the story of the game from different perspectives.
In terms of the backgrounds of the teams, Little Buffalo Studios was founded by senior professionals who have participated in well-known projects such as PlayStation and Ubisoft. Little Guy Games brings together senior industry professionals and emerging talents, and has previously released the work "Home Run Derby VR". Since its establishment in 2017, Lofty Sky Entertainment has received numerous accolades for works such as "Shuyan Saga" and "Eternal Spring". Moreover, many of the core creators in the development team of "Sky of Tides" are women.