MAGWest is a music and gaming festival featuring a 24-hour gaming hall, at least three stages of planned concerts, video game community guests/VIPs, and community-run panels. The festival runs from Friday, August 14 to Sunday, August 16. Buy your badge today!
***The schedule is subject to change!*** Make sure you check back to get the most accurate info!
PLEASE PLAN AHEAD FOR PARKING - NON-HOTEL GUESTS SHOULD PURCHASE PARKING AT PARKWHIZ PRIOR TO COMING TO THE EVENT.
Safety Issues, stop by Event Safety in the Silicon Valley Room or contact 1-833-FEST-SEC or [email protected]. Don’t forget to review our Code of Conduct.
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The 2008 global recession forced the gaming industry into radical reinvention, leading to the gaming renaissance. Between 2010 and today, gaming transformed from a niche hobby into one of the most dominant cultural forces on the planet, weaving itself into music, film, sports, and fashion along the way.
This panel takes a hard, empirically grounded look at where the industry goes from here. I focus on socioeconomic analysis and market data to map out two potential futures: one where games become less accessible due to an intersectional collective of reasons including socioeconomics, and one where games continue to innovate to strive to make sure everyone can experience games.
Let's have an honest conversation about what's at stake, what the data is already telling us, and what the industry, creators, and communities can do to ensure the next chapter of gaming is one worth playing.
The geographer and person with a Pokemon hyperfixation are not done yet as they expand their global horizons on both Earth and in Pokemon! For generations 5-10 we’re leaving the Japanese Archipelago to venture into Europe, the Americans and other parts of Asia! We will be looking at unique places, animals and plants that have inspired Pokemon!
Panelists: Natalie Uvon [Teacher, Geographer, Artist] | Antho Loc [student]
Friday August 14, 2026 5:30pm - 6:30pm PDT Panels 1San Simeon / San Martin
Come one, come all to the Dragon Quest Grand Casino! Take a break from your weary adventures brave heroes and come have some fun in Tantegel’s newest traveling attraction! There’s a marvelous matching game, tricky trivia, and the lucky chance lottery! Will you win it big, or Frizzle out? Let’s all have a Goo-reat time!
Friday August 14, 2026 6:45pm - 7:45pm PDT Panels 1San Simeon / San Martin
It's Taboo! Gaming Edition! In this game show, the goal is to get your teammates to guess gaming-related terms without using any of the associated "taboo" words. Teams of 2-4 will compete to see who can get the most points by guessing the most words. Think fast, test your pro gamer knowledge, and rack your brain for any clues you can give to score your team points! Glory and prizes are in store for winners!
Friday August 14, 2026 8:00pm - 9:00pm PDT Panels 1San Simeon / San Martin
Come join us for an exciting game show all about rhythm games! Jack-of-all-trades? Song savant? Too much into the lore? Whether you're a walking Remywiki, a J-Core and Vocaloid superfan, or even a light purveyor, this quiz will be entertaining, informative, and accessible for all!
Panelists: Starrodkirby86 [Guy Who Raised $1M for Charity Playing maimai DX]
Friday August 14, 2026 9:15pm - 10:15pm PDT Panels 1San Simeon / San Martin
"Mazes & Monsters is a far-out game"--and an even more far-out story.
The Satanic gaming and pop culture enthusiasts at Black Mass Appeal bring you the complete, dramatic, and embarrassing tale of the anti-devil worship panic that almost ruined everyone's favorite TTRPG in the 1980s, culminating in a hit exploitation paperback from the least likely author and a TV movie that subjected Tom Hanks' career to its most painful Saving Throws.
We've got the whole sordid story for you--including the long lost rules of Mazes & Monsters itself.
Join a ZUMBA™ session with high-energy dancing and moving your body to VGM + Latin hits! This is a fun, beginner-friendly activity for all dance levels and to share the joy of movement, rhythm, and energy as a community. Bring good shoes, water, and a sweat towel if needed.
When technology such as the CD-ROM and early CG arrived in the late 80s and early 90s, both Hollywood and Silicon Valley lost their collective minds with excitement over new creative possibilities and scrambled to collaborate together. A slew of movies featuring early CG were released, while Full Motion Video technology and high quality audio were core to the experiences of classic games such as Myst, Rebel Assault, the 7th Guest, and Wing Commander. Yet not all were successful; for every Myst, there was a Night Trap or a Sewer Shark. Join Rob Curl and Steve Horowitz to explore game and audio design in this era of “Sillywood”! The session will examine key titles from the period, including Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, which Horowitz worked on with Rocket Science Games, and analyze the distinctive aesthetics that emerged from the fusion of Hollywood production techniques and interactive media. The talk will also address why many of these ambitious projects became fascinating failed experiments, offering insight into the challenges of integrating live-action storytelling with early interactive technologies and what their legacy reveals for contemporary game design.
Panelists: Robert Curl [Museum Historian, www.themade.org] | Steven Horowitz [Professor of Music, Composer for Nick Studios, https://www.stevehorowitzmusic.com/]
Saturday August 15, 2026 12:15pm - 1:15pm PDT Panels 1San Simeon / San Martin
As scions of the crystal, we have been searching the land far and wide for other Warriors of Light to help restore music to our distant worlds! Please lend us your trivia knowledge so we can put our background music, battles, and character themes in the correct games!
Saturday August 15, 2026 2:45pm - 3:45pm PDT Panels 1San Simeon / San Martin
Neopets is a shambling late-stage capitalism simulator cloaked in the guise of a “virtual pet website”, and it has been running for the past 26 years with absolutely zero economic regulation. Is there any way to fix this mess without inciting open class warfare between the Neopian bourgeoisie and the commoners who rely on their free daily omelette slice?
Please join us for an atrociously stupid presentation on the current state of the Neopian economy.
Saturday August 15, 2026 5:15pm - 6:15pm PDT Panels 1San Simeon / San Martin
Fellow Warriors of Light, you've traveled to far off lands, fought foes threatening the very fabric of this star, striving endlessly for ever greater heights. Perhaps you seek a moment of respite, a quiet, peaceful opportunity to take it slow and drink in the sights. Just you, your rod, the crisp summer morning air, the sun cresting over the horizon, an alarm clock going off at 4 AM, an unreasonable number of spreadsheets, and a deep seated feeling of torment and despair. You stare into the deep inky waters. You see nothing but an abyss. You see a reflection of yourself. Fishing is not for the faint of heart, but together we can chart a course through these treacherous and terrible waters.
Welcome to the True Endgame. Fishing has Raidplans too.
This panel will not contain story spoilers, but will contain references to locations visited through the most recent expansion, Dawntrail.
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BORN TO FISH WORLD IS A LAKE Reel Em All 2025 I am FSH main 410,757,864,530 CAUGHT FISH
Are you dying (repeatedly) to get into Dark Souls and other Souls-likes? Take it from me, someone who can’t play games past easy mode. This panel is here for you with tips beyond “getting good.”
Panelists: Rangoon
Saturday August 15, 2026 7:45pm - 8:45pm PDT Panels 1San Simeon / San Martin
Schedule Description: A twist on Mario Kart Live - it's not just that it's smash bros instead, it's audience participation! Bring your instrument (or borrow one of ours!) and honk along with us :) We'll sight-read simplified arrangements of smash bros music like Break the Targets and Jungle Japes while other guests duke it out. Sheet music and stands provided, and we'll have a bunch of extra instruments to lend out. No instrument? No problem - we'll have assorted brass instruments to lend out, and of course we'll need smash players as well, so come thru!!
Saturday August 15, 2026 9:00pm - 10:00pm PDT Panels 1San Simeon / San Martin
You love Game Music & Sound, so do we!! So nows your chance to Ask us anything!!
This career-focused encounter session brings together Steven Horowitz (Composer, Audio Director & Founder of GAI) and Brendan Wolf (Career coach & Sound Designer at Injected Senses) to demystify pathways into the game audio industry. Designed for students, emerging creators, and mid-career professionals alike, the session offers a candid look at how to build a sustainable career in a rapidly evolving field.
Through a mix of practical guidance and real-world insight, the discussion covers portfolio development, networking strategies, and how to position your unique creative voice in a competitive marketplace. The speakers will also address common misconceptions about breaking into game audio, the realities of freelance versus in-house roles, and how to leverage interdisciplinary skills—from music composition to implementation and sound design.
Panelists: Steven Horowitz (Game Audio Institute) [Composer/Audio Director, https://www.stevehorowitzmusic.com/] | Brendan Wolf (Injected Senses) [Sound Designer at Injected Senses and Game Audio Career Coach, https://www.hellagoodaudio.com/]
Sunday August 16, 2026 12:15pm - 1:15pm PDT Panels 1San Simeon / San Martin
Sonic the Hedgehog is a staple holding together the childhood of any proper 90s kid, but just like Soap shoes he’s tragically out of fashion. We’ll be going over the history of Sonic The Hedgehog games, Sega Consoles, Crush 40, and various chili dogs.
Panelists: Foundation for the Eradication of Generation 5 Pokemon [https://linktr.ee/fifthgenisntpokemon]
Sunday August 16, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm PDT Panels 1San Simeon / San Martin
