GamesBeat Summit Next’s agenda is full of ways to level up gaming

We packed a lot of inspiring speakers and sessions into our GamesBeat Summit Next event coming on November 9-10. This post gives you a peek at our nearly final agenda for the event about the technology and trends that could take gaming to its next level.

We’ll discuss everything from the metaverse to nonfungible tokens and other buzzwords of the moment, and we’ll evaluate the nature of these opportunities. Are they overhyped and scammy waves that will get our feet wet, or will they be tidal waves that sweep through the whole industry like free-to-play and social mobile gaming.

GamesBeat Summit Next features 89 speakers (with 50% coming from diverse backgrounds) across 33 sessions over two days. We’ll have some intimate roundtables and Q&A sessions with our speakers and VIPs. (You can sign up here and use my Dean2021 50% discount code.) VIPs and also attend our in-person reception in San Francisco on November 9.

Change is coming

This our third online event in a year, and the first one that we’ve entitled GamesBeat Summit Next. It’s not about the healthy core of the industry. That core grew revenues 23% as people sheltered in place during the pandemic in 2020. But growth has slowed to perhaps 5% this year for the $175 billion game industry. And while deals are continuing at a blistering pace ($71 billion invested in the first nine months of 2021), we need something big to come next for the the game industry to expand beyond its natural borders as the growth from the pandemic comes down to earth.

I’m very happy with the breadth of speakers we have, many of whom you’ll see mentioned for the first time below. They’re organized into different subthemes in the agenda (except where we had to accommodate speaker schedules and time zones). Our subthemes include seven sessions on NFT games (based on the tokens that can authenticate rare items via blockchain tech), the metaverse (four sessions), user-generated content and modding, diversity, deals, esports, open gaming, AR/VR, retro games, and creators.

Whether you favor one version of the future or just the status quo, we promise that you’ll have thought leadership and intelligent discussion in a very efficient way at GamesBeat Summit Next. I think you’ll see that some of the smartest minds in gaming are investing a huge amount of time and capital in trying to transform the game industry. History has shown that changes with such backing win out over the status quo.

Highlighted speakers

We’ll cover current developments like Facebook’s transformation in a metaverse company and Valve’s decision to block NFT games (as articulated by Chris LoVerme, CEO of SpacePirate Games) in a session with Witek Radomski, chief technology officer of Enjin.

Some of our highlighted speakers include Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive; John Hanke, CEO of Niantic; Sarah Bond, corporate vice president at Microsoft’s Xbox (in a conversation with Liontree’s Nick Tuosto, cofounder of Griffin Gaming Partners); Mike Frazzini, vice president of Amazon Game Studios (in conversation with Geoff Keighley, creator of the Game Awards); Mike Sepso, CEO of Vindex; Dan Sturman, CTO of Roblox; creator and esports team co-owner Mari “AtomicMari” Takahashi;

We have leaders in blockchain gaming such as Yat Siu of Animoca Brands (which raised $138 million at a $1 billion valuation), John Linden of Mythical Games (which raised $75 million), Jeff Zirlin of Sky Mavis (which raised $153 million at a nearly $3 billion valuation); James Zhang of Concept Art House; David Kim of Wdny.io (the Wax protocol), Dapper Labs CEO Roham Gharegozlou (one of the people behind NBA Top Shot, which has generated $780 million in NFT sales in the past year);

We’re also delighted to have partnerships with Augmented World Expo, which enables us to co-stream their keynote with John Hanke, CEO of Niantic, on the future of augmented reality. And we are partnering with Nvidia’s GTC event. For both GTC and GamesBeat Summit Next, I will be moderating a panel with Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games; Christina Heller, CEO of Metastage; Morgan McGuire, chief scientist at Roblox; Jinsoo Jeon, vice president metaverse company at SK Telecom; Willim Cui, corporate vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Group at Tencent; Patrick Cozzi of Cesium; and Rev Lebaredian, vice president for the Omniverse at Nvidia.

And we’ll wrap it all up with a podcast by GamesBeat’s crew: Jeff Grubb, Rachel Kaser, Mike Minotti, and me.

Agenda: Day 1 — November 9

All times are Pacific times.

8:05 am – 8:15 am
Training session

8:15 am – 8:20 am Emcee Welcome
Chris Melissinos, former chief gaming officer at Sun Microsystems, creator of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s “The Art of Video Games” exhibition

8:20 am – 8:30 am Dean Takahashi’s event introduction
Dean Takahashi, Lead Writer, GamesBeat at VentureBeat

8:30 am – 9:00 am
NFT GAMES THEME
Overcoming the resistance to blockchain games

Web 3.0 is the ultimate destination for playing, discussing, and creating games—but app stores have been nervous about welcoming blockchain and NFTs onto their platforms; regulators have been unclear; and gamers have been resistant. It reminds us of the early days of free-to-play games. We’ll discuss these obstacles and alternative paths to innovative games using web3 technologies.

Witek Radomski, Co-founder & Chief Technology Officer, Enjin
Chris LoVerme, CEO of SpacePirate Games
In conversation with Dean Takahashi, Lead Writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat

9:00 am – 9:30 am
METAVERSE THEME
$Meta — The metaverse ETF for investing in the internet’s future

The Metaverse electronic traded fund (ETF) is a basket of 50 metaverse-related stocks. The creators of the fund will talk about how they define the metaverse and put the basket of recommended metaverse stocks together. You can invest in the metaverse today, but you can also see just how much heavy lifting still has to happen.

Matthew Ball, Managing Partner, EpyllionCo
Jacob Navok, Co-Founder & CEO, Genvid Technologies
Anna Sweet, CEO, Bad Robot Games
Imran Sarwar, Formerly of Rockstar Games
MODERATOR: Dean Takahashi, Lead Writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat

9:30 am – 9:55 am
(streamed from Augmented World Expo)
METAVERSE THEME
Building the real-world metaverse for everyone

Science fiction writers, filmmakers and futurists have warned for years about the potential for a dystopian future where technology has created a dark, uninviting, hostile world. John Hanke, the Founder and CEO of Niantic, is here to tell you it doesn’t need to go that way. If the metaverse contemplates leading our lives inside of a computer network, the Real-World Metaverse will use technology to improve our experience of the real world, enriching it with fun and magic, and helping people lead richer, more fulfilling lives. But before you can enhance reality, you need to understand reality, and Hanke will outline Niantic’s vision of empowering developers and creators around the world with the Niantic Lightship platform. Learning lessons from technology transformations of the past, it’s incumbent on all of us to be more inclusive of different communities and more intentional about anticipating the downsides – as well as the upsides – of technology that will shape society and our lives over the coming decades.

John Hanke, CEO, Niantic

9:55 am to 10:00 am
Break 

10:00 am – 10:20 am
The future of immersive storytelling – A talk with Flavourworks’ Jack Attridge

From simple cave drawings to elaborate multi-million dollar performances, storytelling is constantly changing to meet the needs of each new generation. In this session, Jack Attridge, co-founder of immersive entertainment studio Flavourworks, will discuss the next evolution of storytelling: the user-guided narrative. He’ll bring to the table proof points on how technology is helping lead this through the blurring of live-action film and gaming and how merging the narrative methods of a film production company with the engagement of a game studio can create truly special live-action cinematic experiences, allowing stories to be told in new and groundbreaking ways. Is this the future of storytelling? Let’s find out…

Jack Attridge, Creative Director & Co-Founder, Flavourworks

10:20 am – 10:40 am
Getting mainstream adoption

Strauss Zelnick has been CEO of Take-Two Interactive since 2007. He is also CEO of private equity firm ZMC, and is the former chairman of CBS. Under his tenure, Take-Two’s studios and labels have grown to thousands of employees and published huge hits such as Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, Borderlands, and more. Zelnick’s teams produce some of the industry’s biggest hits, and he gives them the financing and time to get them done. We’ll get his take on what’s coming next, what will get mainstream adoption, and what may not.

Strauss Zelnick, CEO, Take-Two Interactive
MODERATOR: Mike Vorhaus, Vorhaus Advisors

10:40 am – 11:00 am
Break: 20 minutes

11:00 am – 12:00 pm
(restream from GTC panel discussion)

A vision of the metaverse

Join a panel of global Metaverse futurists and luminaries and listen to their vision of the Metaverse, what potentials it will bring to us, and what needs to happen in the near term to build the foundations.

Jinsoo Jeon, VP, Head of Metaverse Company, SK Telecom
Willim Cui, Vice President of Tencent Games, Tencent
Tim Sweeney, CEO and Founder, Epic
Patrick Cozzi, CEO, Cesium
Christina Heller, CEO, Metastage
Rev Lebaredian, VP of Simulation Technology and Omniverse Engineering, Nvidia
Morgan McGuire, Chief Scientist, Roblox
MODERATOR: Dean Takahashi, Lead Writer, VentureBeat

12:00 pm – 12:30 pm
Paths to monetization for gamers both professional and amateur

Samsung Next presents a panel discussion about the rise of monetization in gaming, and its growth beyond professional, full-time gamers and streamers to hobbyists and casual players. Hear from a group of founders providing monetization strategies to the gaming community at a variety of levels and learn about new possibilities for both professional and amateur players.

Austin Woolridge, Co-Founder and CEO, Players’ Lounge
Doron Nir, President and Founder, StreamElements
Shahar​ ​Sorek, CMO, Overwolf
MODERATOR: Brendon Kim, VP, Managing Director, Global Head of Investments, Samsung Next

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
ROUNDTABLES
Roundtable 1: Mike Minotti: The future of MMOs
Roundtable 2: Riz Virk: The Simulated Multiverse and the Metaverse METAVERSE THEME
Roundtable 3: Singtel’s Tim Guhl on gaming and telecommunications innovations

12:30 pm – 1:00 pm
How blockchain gaming is going to change everything

Blockchain gaming has the potential to create new kinds of games and business models for the game industry. It could be the most sweeping change to hit games since free-to-play. And yet it still needs to reach the mainstream in the face of a lot of skepticism. Forte is working with many of gaming’s leading publishers and developers as they wade into NFTs and blockchain gaming, and it already has customers with more than 100 million users.

Josh Williams, CEO, Forte
MODERATOR: Nick Tuosto, Managing Director & Co-Founder, Griffin Gaming Partners

1:00 pm – 1:30 pm
Crossover between NFT games and art

Gala Games has waded into blockchain gaming with Townstar, and it has fueled its growth with tokens. Its Gala Labs division also worked with Concept Art House to display comic artist Frank Miller’s NFTs. We’ll talk about the opportunities in the space and the intersection of games, art, and other experiences.

Jason Brink, President of Blockchain, Gala Games
Sarah Buxton, COO, Gala Games
MODERATOR: Dean Takahashi, Lead Writer, GamesBeat at VentureBeat

1:30 pm – 2:00 pm
How to stop cheating and fraud in your games and in the metaverse

Stamping out cheaters and fraud is critical for games and other apps, as it is vital to making all of your users happy. Technology can help companies, but it can also help the cheaters and fraudsters. If the headlines are any hint, this isn’t a battle that the game industry has already won. Developers face real tradeoffs between making a game safe, balancing privacy, and keeping it fun for everybody. We’ll talk about the balancing act with the experts as they tackle the problems of today and anticipate the security challenges of the metaverse.

Steeve Huin, Chief Marketing Officer, Irdeto by Denuvo
Denise Pollock, director of trust and safety at Together Labs
Phillip Koskinas, anti-cheat lead at Riot Games
MODERATOR: Dean Takahashi, Lead Writer, GamesBeat at VentureBeat

2:00 pm – 2:20 pm
NFT GAMES THEME

Putting NFTs and crypto wallets in every pocket

The explosion of NFTs sparked next-level alignment of interests between brands, gamers and developers. At the front of the movement, Dapper Labs has opened up a new world for sports fans to experience the games they love, starting with their flagship product NBA Top Shot. Hear from Dapper Labs CEO Roham Gharegozlou on the strengths of building global communities through NFTs and how he plans to put a crypto wallet in every pocket.

Roham Gharegozlou, CEO, Dapper Labs
In conversation with Matthew Ball, Managing Partner, EpyllionCo

2:20 pm – 2:50 pm
NFT GAMES THEME

The future of NFTs and games

Our panel of the leaders of NFT gaming will talk about what happened that made the NFT market explode. They’ll make their predictions about what’s hype and what’s real, and the prospects for mass adoption, as well as the potential to disrupt gaming with a new kind of triple-A game.

Yat Siu, Co-Founder & Chairman, Animoca Brands
John Linden, CEO, Mythical Games
Jeff Zirlin, Co-Founder, Sky Mavis
MODERATOR:James Zhang, CEO, Concept Art House

2:50-3:05 pm Break

3:05 pm – 3:35 pm
(Panel Discussion – 29 minutes)
NFTS GAMES/PLAY-TO-EARN THEME

Investing in the next major category in gaming: play-to-earn NFT games

As the next iteration on pay-to-play and free-to-play models, “play-to-earn” is often discussed in terms of its benefits for players. As seen in the mini documentary, Play-to-Earn: NFT Gaming in the Philippines, players have been able to earn significant returns by playing decentralized games. But what does this new business model mean for the mainstream gaming industry? Our speaker panel discusses the changing role of game platforms, publishers and developers in the burgeoning world of play-to-earn.

Gabby Dizon, Yield Guild Games
Piers Kicks, BITKRAFT and Delphi Digital
Miko Matsumura, gumi Cryptos Capital
MODERATOR: Amy Wu, Lightspeed Ventures

3:35 pm – 3:55 pm

Patience and quality

Amazon got involved in game creators in a big way with its acquisition of Twitch in 2014. But its journey in game development has been harder and more organic. Geoff Keighley of the Game Awards and Mike Frazzini of Amazon Game Studios will talk about making big investments in gaming and the lessons of this journey and how the company stayed the course. We’ll also talk about how the company looks at trends and opportunities in gaming.

Mike Frazzini, VP Amazon Games, Amazon Game Studios
In conversation with Geoff Keighley, CEO, The Game Awards

3:55 pm – 4:15 pm
SPORTS INNOVATION THEME
No more benchwarmers – reimagining mobile sports games

The giants of sports games have had a lock on sports gamers for a long time. But a new breed of game has emerged on mobile devices, and Nifty Games is going after it. The maker of NFL Clash brings together some grizzled veterans of sports gaming, including former Sega of America, Xbox, and EA Sports chief Peter Moore as well as Nifty cofounder Jon Middleton.

Jon Middleton, CEO, Nifty Games
Peter Moore, SVP/GM of Sports and Live Entertainment, Unity
In conversation with Dean Takahashi, Lead Writer, GamesBeat at VentureBeat

4:15 pm – 4:20 pm Closing comments

4:20 pm – 5:15 pm Happy Hour with Jerry

6:30pm – 8:30pm Drinks Reception in San Francisco (for paid passes, speakers/VIPs)

Agenda Day 2 – November 10

8:05 am – 8:10 am PST Emcee Welcome
Keisha Howard, founder of Sugar Gamers

8:10 am – 8:15 am Intro
Mike Minotti, review editor at GamesBeat

8:15 am – 8:35 am
RETRO THEME
What Xbox teaches us today
A conversation about how the inception and development of the original Xbox has influenced the game industry, how the industry has changed since 2001, and what we can learn about the next 20 years by paying attention to the little ideas that can grow. Seamus Blackley and a band of upstarts tried to change the industry, and the lessons from their movement are still relevant today.

Seamus Blackley, co-creator of the Xbox
MODERATOR: Dean Takahashi, Lead Writer, GamesBeat at VentureBeat

8:35 am – 9:05 am
EMERGING MARKETS THEME
Where gaming rises next
Games are growing all around the world, and so are game studios. We’ll talk to the experts who are focusing on emerging markets such as India, Eastern Europe, and Africa about the growth they see and the potential for accelerated growth, economic benefits, and lucrative investments.

Maria Kochmola, GP & Managing Partner, The Games Fund
Salone Sehgal, General Partner, Lumikai
Cordel Robbin-Coker, Co-Founder and CEO, Carry1st
MODERATOR: Wanda Meloni, CEO & Principal Analyst, M2 Insights

9:05 am – 9:25 am
ESPORTS THEME
Why the games industry needs esports to succeed

The global games industry is at an inflection point. The industry-wide shift to a “games as a service” model will see esports play an increasingly essential role for publishers as a tool to deepen player engagement and drive in-game microtransactions. In this session, Mike Sepso, CEO and Co-Founder of Vindex, will discuss how publishers can activate esports and premium live content across physical and digital channels to build communities and content to sustain the engagement needed to succeed in the modern games industry.

Mike Sepso, CEO & Co-Founder, Vindex
In conversation with Dean Takahashi, Lead Writer, VentureBeat

9:25 am – 9:45 am
DIVERSITY THEME
New studios, new audiences

Emily Greer of Double Loop Games, a mobile game developer, and Anat Shperling of Toya, a maker of games for Roblox, will have a conversation about their different approaches for making games that appeal to broader audiences.

Anat Shperling, CEO, Toya
In conversation with Emily Greer, Founder & CEO, Double Loop Games
(user-generated content)

9:45 am – 10:15 am
UGC THEME
How harnessing the power of UGC will enable game developers to thrive

Gaming has reached a UGC inflection point that benefits the entire ecosystem. Gamers get more content, in-game creators can earn a living with their mods, and publishers can outsource content creation in a way that is safe and financially viable. The developers that harness the community power will thrive in the next era of gaming. Our panel will discuss the importance of integrating UGC into existing and future games, why it is key to engagement, and best practices when supporting the community of creators.

Michael Lewis, VP of Direct to Consumer, Take-Two Interactive
Uri Marchand, CEO & Co-Founder, Overwolf (conversation leader)
Oscar Navarro, VP Mergers & Acquisitions, Ubisoft

10:15 am – 10:30 am

Break

10:30 am – 11:00 am
DIVERSITY THEME
Building a diversity-oriented studio from the ground up

The consequences of failing to embrace diversity are all over the headlines in the game industry. We have to do better. We talk with the creators of studios about how they try to make sure that their companies are diverse and inclusive from the start.

Don Bellenger, Game Director & Co-Founder, The Beauty Cult
Theron James, CEO & Creative Director, Wildseed Games
Carolin Krenzer, CEO & Co-Founder, Trailmix
MODERATOR: Eve Crevoshay, Executive Director, Take This

11:00 am – 11:20 am
METAVERSE THEME
Enabling metaverse co-creation: What’s next for technology that powers user-generated content at scale

Community co-creation is clearly going to be an essential component of the immersive future version of the Internet—the Metaverse. But enabling anyone to design, build and publish immersive, interoperable experiences and metaverse items for others to consume, is no small feat. Including items such as supporting a mix of skill levels among creators, architecting an inherently global infrastructure that these diverse developer communities can utilize, managing latency, creating virtual economies, and adhering to social and cultural norms in the context of an interactive global public space, creators must solve a myriad of complex technical challenges for the true Metaverse to fully materialize. Hear from Daniel Sturman, CTO at Roblox, how the global platform is trailblazing solutions for these fundamental challenges to connect a billion people through shared experiences in a safe and civil metaverse and enable their creative expression, and what technology is yet to be built to power user-generated content (UGC) at scale.

Dan Sturman, CTO, Roblox
In conversation with: Dean Takahashi, Lead Writer, GamesBeat at VentureBeat

11:20 am – 11:40 am
DIVERSITY THEME
Social impact through games

Games are increasingly being used as a vehicle to achieve social impact. Game developers seek to harness themes that speak to the social issues of the day, while employers are placing greater emphasis on creating a more inclusive workforce and work environment. Still, for the video game industry, these efforts are in their early stages. This panel will examine the challenges and opportunities in seeking to advance social impact and inclusion through games.

David Washington, Founder & Chief Impact Officer, HiDef
Jessica Lindl, Vice President of Social Impact, Unity
In conversation with Stanley Pierre-Louis, President & CEO, Entertainment Software Association (ESA)

11:40 am – 12:00 pm
DEALS THEME
Adapting to the boom in gaming

We’ve seen a boom in game investments, acquisitions, and other deals. The biggest companies are constantly evaluating the landscape and adapting their strategies to best take advantage of new opportunities. Microsoft’s Xbox group has made big bets on technologies like cloud gaming and business models such as subscriptions, but some places it hasn’t gone yet. We’ll listen to Sarah Bond of Microsoft Xbox and Nick Tuosto of Liontree and Griffin Gaming Partners talk about navigating the new world of gaming.

Sarah Bond, Corporate Vice President / Xbox, Microsoft
In conversation with Nick Tuosto, Managing Director, LionTree

12:00 pm – 12:30 pm
NFT GAMES THEME
Breaking the myths of crypto, NFTs, and blockchain

We’ve seen a lot of criticism about blockchain games. While we have plenty to discuss about how NFTs will fit with great games and no shortage of scams in crypto, a lot of myths also stand in the way of adoption. This panel will bust some of those myths and talk about the keys to mass adoption in games that we all want to play.

David Kim, VP of Business Development and Marketing, wdny.io
Mitch Zamara, Lead Designer, Million on Mars
Jon Radoff, CEO, Beamable
MODERATOR: Amy Jo Kim, Founder & CEO, Game Thinking

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Roundtable
Perfecting the pipeline: Why outsourcing is here to stay
Tammy McDonald, CEO of Axis Game Factory

12:30 pm – 1:00 pm
AR/VR THEME
Can XR reach out and touch your future?

Oculus. HTC Vive and Flow. Hololens. Pico. Nreal….we could go on. Headsets are changing the way we are entertained, work and learn and are blending into our lives. What new technologies are pushing XR further into the metaverse? From haptics to human machine interface, hear from industry trailblazers at the forefront of growing interactions inside XR. Led by XR Consultant Charlie Fink, Finch CEO Gary Yamamoto and Emerge Vice President Franco De Cesare, their panel will share the latest compelling interactions in XR.

Franco DeCesare,Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, Emerge
Gary Yamamoto, CEO & Co-Founder, Finch Technologies
MODERATOR: Charlie Fink

1:00 pm – 1:20 pm
CREATORS THEME
From video game creator to entrepreneur: A conversation with creator and esports team owner Mari Takahashi

Mari Takahashi (“AtomicMari”) spent much of her video game career as a creator, influencer and host, but was always expanding her knowledge of the industry and more specifically, all the ways in which a creator can truly learn and grow as a business-focused entrepreneur. With her recent appointment as the new co-owner of esports organization Spacestation Gaming, Mari will dive into what it’s like making the leap from creator to co-owner of an esports organization, what leaps like hers’ mean for the overall creator economy, and how companies, people and brands can better understand how to work with someone like her, or moreover, take the leap themselves and successfully and strategically toe the line between creator/influencer and thought leader/entrepreneur.

Mari Takahashi, Founder, Rebel Atom Production
MODERATOR: Jon Brence, Director for Strategic Partnerships, Twitch

1:20 pm – 1:50 pm
NFT GAMES THEME
Moving from Web 2 to Web 3 games
Our panelists will talk about decentralized web gaming and getting it right from an economic, philosophical and technical perspective.

Andrzej Mazur – HTML5 Game Dev/Founder @ Enclave Games / Founder JS13K and Gamedevjs.
Lars Doucet – founder of Levelup Labs
Chase Freo, CEO, Op Games
Sebastien Borget, cofounder, Pixowl/The Sandbox
MODERATOR: Robby Yung, CEO, Animoca Brands

1:50 pm – 2:10 pm
OPEN GAMING THEME
Why the time has come for an open source game engine

Game engines are a critical part of developing games that can run on many
platforms, but they’re owned by companies with their own strategic interests. That’s why a group of developers has converted Amazon’s Lumberyard engine into the Open 3D Engine. Denis Dyack, CEO of Apocalypse Studios, has made the transition from Amazon’s Lumberyard to the Open 3D Engine, a game engine that is already getting contributions from many developers. We’ll talk about why this is strategically important to developer freedom and how it makes games better.

Denis Dyack, CEO, Apocalypse Studios
In conversation with Dean Takahashi, Lead Writer, GamesBeat at VentureBeat

2:10 pm – 2:25 pm BREAK

2:25 pm – 2:45 pm
METAVERSE THEME
The tech behind the real-time metaverse

The metaverse won’t be real unless it’s real-time. Everything from games to video chat needs instant snappiness and a feeling of immersion. Today’s internet can’t deliver that, as it was built for redundancy, not latency. We’ll talk about how we will get there.
Moderator: Dean Takahashi
Bayan Towfiq, CEO of Subspace

2:45 pm – 3:15 pm
OPEN GAMING THEME
The Apple ecosystem challenges: Epic v. Apple, IDFA, privacy, and payments

Apple created a giant platform for mobile games, but its relationship with game companies has never been easy. In the past year, the cracks in the relationship became huge fissures as Epic Games sued Apple (and Google) for antitrust. Apple’s emphasis on privacy over targeted advertising was directed at rivals like Facebook, but game developers got caught in the crossfire. But now, some openings like alternative payments and off-store promotion are now possible. We’ll talk about these issues in a open conversation.

Chris Hewish, President, Xsolla
Brian Bowman, CEO, ConsumerAcquisition.com
Rick Hoeg, Attorney, Hoeg Law
MODERATOR: Joseph Kim, CEO, LILA Games

3:15 pm – 3:45 pm
DEALS THEME
The game investment boom

Gaming venture capital is hitting its stride with big funds and big investments. What better way to talk about what’s coming next for gaming than bringing together the experts who are making some of the biggest investments in the sector?
Jay Chi, Founding Partner, Makers Fund
Nick Tuosto, Managing Director & Co-Founder, Griffin Gaming Partners
Amy Wu, Partner, Lightspeed Venture Partners
MODERATOR: Kevin Chou, Founder, SuperLayer

3:45 pm – 4:05 pm
GamesBeat’s wrap-up chat

We’ll close with a podcast where the writers of GamesBeat talk about their impressions of the conference and the key lessons we learned.
Jeff Grubb of GamesBeat
Mike Minotti of GamesBeat
Rachel Kaser of GamesBeat
MODERATOR: Dean Takahashi of GamesBeat

4:05 pm – 4:10 pm
Closing comments
Dean Takahashi, Lead Writer, GamesBeat at VentureBeat

4:10 pm – Online reception and networking in Spatial

Special thanks to our sponsors

Enjin, Nvidia, Samsung Next, Wax, Op Games, Gala Games, Irdeto by Denuvo, Griffin Gaming Partners, Singtel, and Xsolla.