I am proud of the collection of voices, personalities and perspectives that we have gathered for GamesBeat Next 2024. You can see them below in the tentative agenda I’m revealing today for our conference coming October 28-29 in San Francisco.
We’re holding the event at the beautiful Convene event space near Union Square. You can use this code, gbn24dean, for a 25% discount for registration.
We’re still adding speakers to the agenda but check out our heavy hitters who will help us address the question on everybody’s mind: how does the game industry get back to growth. In staging this event, we are seeking to put together diverse voices and perspectives so that we can make this the most efficient and inspiring event for the gaming industry.
For 17 years, our conferences and community have been about heart and soul of gaming and the technology behind it. Our task is to help educate the leaders and future leaders of the game industry when it comes to creating a sustainable, fair and fun industry for all who get joy from making games.
These speakers reflect a wide array of interests and topics in gaming, but we will always focus on the intersection of games and other spheres such as technology — the things at the edge of gaming that can create growth in the future — or other growth opportunities like Hollywood. As we all know, gaming and tech constantly change, and we hope that our event will be the best place to catch up on visionary ideas about the future — and practical ideas of how to get back to growth.
We’ve also got people from the heart of triple-A development as speakers, and yet we’ve got one of the most diverse lineups when it comes to game industry events.
Our tracks at the event are organized along technology, industry, culture and growth themes. We’ll have concurrent roundtables running alongside the talks for those who want interactive small group sessions.
An agenda full of all-star speakers
MONDAY OCTOBER 28
1:10-1:15 pm Emcee Tagdh Kelly, game consultant and cofounder of Whenere
1:15 pm -1:20 pm Dean Takahashi, lead writer for GamesBeat
1:20 pm -1:50 pm (growth)
Finding New Growth Vectors: Extending IP to Reach New Audiences
Stanley Pierre Louis, president and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association, sits down with Laura Naviaux Sturr, general manager of operations at Amazon Games, for a conversation on the role of popular and beloved intellectual property in video games and how it is attracting a new generation of players.
Moderator: ESA CEO Stanley Pierre-Louis
Laura Naviaux Sturr, GM Operations, Amazon Games
150 pm -220 pm (culture)
Lessons from generations of gaming
It’s the 25th anniversary of the launch of the Sega Dreamcast, and we’ll talk with the executive who brought it to the market in the U.S. with the flair of a showman. Sega managed to be competitive in the U.S., but not in the long run. But Peter Moore had the longevity in games – as a soccer player turned marketer turned top exec – across companies such as Microsoft, Electronic Arts and Unity. We’ll catch his wisdom from a journey across the leadership of the top companies of gaming – before he went on to be a winning general manager at Liverpool FC.
Peter Moore, former executive at Unity, Microsoft, EA, Sega and Liverpool FC
Moderator: Dean Takahashi, lead writer for GamesBeat
2:20 pm – 2:50 pm (growth)
Game discovery drives growth
Ludeo Asaf Gazit, Co-founder & CEO,
Charles Kha, Vice President of Innovation, Ventures at Electronic Arts
More speakers TBD
2:50 pm – 3:20 pm (industry)
Building games players actually want to PLAY
Our panelists will discuss how Web3 is enabling new innovation and IP into the gaming space.
Ready GG CEO Christina Macedo
Shawn Layden
3:20 pm – 4:05 pm (technology/culture)
The science fiction future that we want
We’ve got one of the world’s most famous science fiction authors — a true technology thinker — talking about tying together the open metaverse, AI and Web3. We’ll have sci-fi fan Dean Takahashi and seasoned technology author Riz Virk (whose book topics include simulation theory) quiz Neal Stephenson in this fireside chat.
Neal Stephenson, author of Snow Crash and cofounder of Lamina1 and Whenere
co-moderator: Riz Virk, faculty associate at Arizona State University; founder of Play Labs
co-moderator: Dean Takahashi, lead writer for GamesBeat
4:05 pm – 4:35 pm (technology) — a virtual prerecorded talk
The path to the open metaverse
Tim Sweeney is the founder and CEO of Epic Games, the makers of Unreal Engine, Fortnite, and the Epic Games Store. Sweeney started Epic in 1991 with the release of its first shareware game, ZZT, and the company has gone on to build a portfolio of technologies and studios to provide an end-to-end digital ecosystem for creators. Sweeney has led the company through the eras of PC, console, mobile, and online gaming, and now, the metaverse. This will be a prerecorded virtual talk shown at the conference.
Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games
Moderator: Dean Takahashi, lead writer for GamesBeat
4:35 pm. to 5 pm (technology)
Title/description TBD
Matt Bromberg, CEO of Unity
Moderator: Dean Takahashi, lead writer for GamesBeat
5:00 pm – 5:30 pm (technology)
Games and AI panel
Pany Haritatos, CEO of Series Entertainment
Kent Keirsey, CEO of Invoke AI
Andy Mauro, CEO of Storycraft
Moderator: Hilary Mason, CEO of Hidden Door
Roundtables Day One (separate room than mainstage)
2 pm to 3 pm roundtable
TBD
Monika Madrid, vp of business development at Magid
Mike Salmon, SVP of games division at Magid
3:00 pm – 4 pm (technology)
A follow up conversation on game discovery and creators
Ludeo Asaf Gazit, CEO at Ludeo
Charles Kha, vice president of innovation, ventures at Electronic Arts
4:00 pm to 5:00 pm (industry/growth)
Studio funding should be more like startup funding
Without a playable prototype, it’s hard to get funding. Without any funding, it’s hard to make a great prototype. Y Combinator solved the pre-demo funding problem for startups and invented the Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) in 2013.
Yet somehow more than a decade later, game funding is still a chicken egg problem for many studios. Join Tim Keenan, Founder of Misfits Attic, and John Graham, Founder of Elbow Grease Games, for a discussion of why prototype funding should look like the Y Combinator model and how Tim and John are using it to build their businesses.
John Graham, founder of Elbow Grease Games; Tim Keenan of Misfits Attic
530 pm Emcee wrap up Tadgh Kelly
530 pm to 7 pm reception Pacific gallery
Day 2 TUESDAY OCTOBER 29
8:30 am stage 1 Women in Gaming Breakfast starts
8:30 am -9:00 am networking time
9:00 am – 9:30 am fireside chat (culture)
Moderator: Rachel Kaser, GamesBeat writer
Dametra Johnson-Marletti, corporate vice president of consumer game sales at Microsoft
9:30 am Q&A
9:30 am – 9:45 am networking
9:45 am Women in Gaming Breakfast concludes
9:45 am Main conference begins
9:50 am – 9:55 am (Ashley Trick emcee intro)
9:55 am – 10 am (Rachel Kaser opening talk)
10 am – 10:30 am general session stage 1 (growth)
Title/description TBD
Josephine Friday, senior director for global enterprise business development at Xsolla
Berkley Egenes, chief marketing officer at Xsolla
Other speakers TBD
10: 30 am – 11:00 am stage 1 general session (technology)
New directions for content creation for gaming, entertainment and AI
Moderator: Joanna Popper, media and tech executive, executive producer
Edward Saatchi, CEO of Fable
Jacob Navok CEO of Genvid interactive
10:30 am – 11:00 am stage 2
TBD
1030 am – 11 am stage 3 (technology/culture)
Connecting human machine interfaces (HMI) to improve real and virtual performance through gaming
Dr. Khizer Khaderi of Stanford University has studied athletes and gamers through the Human Perception Lab and more to uncover the nuances of performance in traditional sports, esports and gaming. He will talk about using methods leveraging HMIs to capture unique human perception data, analytics providing information about individual performance and how to improve both physical and virtual performance through gaming.
Dr. Khizer Khaderi, is the founding director of the Stanford Human Perception Laboratory (HPL) and the Stanford Vision Performance Center (VPC)
11:00 am – 11:30 am stage 1
From Kickstarter to Netflix – The Exploding Kittens Journey
Elan Lee, CEO of Exploding Kittens (growth)
Moderator: Dean Takahashi, lead writer for GamesBeat
What started as a side hustle on Kickstarter, Exploding Kittens now sells a game every 5 seconds and has a hit TV show and mobile app on Netflix. Join Elan Lee, co-founder and CEO of Exploding Kittens to talk about the journey of the company, how it has formed a lasting relationship with fans and how audiences’ engagement with its characters inspired a successful transmedia company.
Elan Lee, co-founder and CEO of Exploding Kittens
Moderator: Dean Takahashi
11:00 am – 11:30 am stage 2 (industry)
The future of game publishing
How has game publishing changed in recent years? Who will the winners and losers be? What propelled double A games to success this year, and how long will this last?What effect will GTA6 have? What do developers and publishers need to do together to make a game launch successful? Our session will delve into game publishing and how it’s changing in the future.
Moderator: TBD
Kimberly Corbutt, chief publishing officer at Fortis Games
Paul Sulyok, CEO of Green Man Gaming
11:00 am – 11:30 am stage 3
Ethical Growth: Navigating an Ambiguous Era
As layoffs continue, with the risk of irreparable damage to the gaming industry, [GamesBeat noted the first half of 2024 recorded more layoffs than 2023], and the broader tech market experiencing even more profound effects, signs of possible future growth are present. But, how can studios rebuild responsibly and ethically, with an eye toward building strong cultures today, while capturing market value, without over-investing in a manner that will result in further calamity when the cycle next turns? How can we help studios thrive and find a path where the industry can grow again through reimagining and breathing new life into this space?
What does leadership look like in this moment? As we work through this period, studio leaders will need a combination of skills, both oriented toward working through the crisis, as well as preparing for the ongoing cycles of growth and contraction. Industry leaders will provide insights and guidance for responsible and ethical growth, including how to:
- Shift internal communications strategy to rebuild trust
- Redefine or reinforce company values
- Cultivate resilience and a future-focused mindset
- Develop leadership skills (at all levels of management) that support a culture of empathy, grit, and renewed sense of purpose
- And, how to implement practically
Shannon Loftis, senior adviser at Valued Cultures
Daryl Ogden, cofounder at Valued Cultures
Emily Greer, 1UP Ventures
Rory McGuire, president and chief creative officer at Blackbird Interactive
1130 am – 12 pm stage 1 (technology)
Moderating voice chats in VR: Player safety and lessons learned with Rec Room
Join safety experts from Modulate and Rec Room for an in-depth fireside chat discussion on the current state of voice moderation in online gaming. Player-to-player voice communication is integral to an immersive and engaging gaming experience – especially in VR environments. But voice chat interactions can often turn sour, driving players away from the game and creating a culture of toxicity. Our speakers will explore how advanced voice moderation systems, like those used in Rec Room, are addressing some of the many challenges of detecting and mitigating toxic behavior in real time.
This session will provide actionable insights and best practices for implementing and improving voice moderation systems and policies as part of a holistic trust and safety strategy. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the importance of content moderation, voice chat moderation, the scaling and cost challenges involved, and the strategies for creating a safer and more enjoyable gaming environment.
Moderator: Imran Khan, senior writer at GamesBeat
Yasmin Hussain, Rec Room, Head of Trust & Safety
Mark Frumkin, Modulate, Director of Account Management
11:30 am – 12:00 pm stage 2 (industry)
Gaming M&A: Will the Rising Tide Lift All Boats into 2025?
Rob Ricca, SVP of Corporate Development for Scopely
Hemal Thaker, Goldman Sachs
Moderator: Angela Dalton, CEO and founder at Signum Growth
1130 am – 12 pm stage 3
TBD
12 pm – 1230 pm stage 1 (growth)
Does marketing D2C work outside your mobile game?
Are you looking for new ways to grow profit? You might consider that converting just 25% of your live service transactions to direct-to-consumer (D2C) payments can increase your future profitability by over 8%. For many games, up to 70% of revenue comes from a targetable population of just 2% of players who are VIPs. There could be a tremendous opportunity for you to use D2C to help you grow, but succeeding with D2C will require a lot more than just launching a fancy new web shop.
In this panel, our panelists will bring their insights about D2C for leading mobile games, and what they think you need to succeed with D2C. The panelists will share their thoughts about how to align your external marketing, creator program, web shop, live services strategy, VIP management, and more to work in unison to help you establish and grow a D2C channel that will help you succeed. If you’re considering launching D2C, don’t miss this session.
Moderator: Braden Steel, senior product marketing manager at Fastspring
Justin Sacks, CEO of Nexus.gg
Josh Burns, business development and partnerships at FunPlus
12:00 pm – 12:30 pm stage 2 (technology)
The future of gaming: Beyond the game – hyper-personalization, infrastructure, and the next frontier
This session will explore how gaming is transforming into a fully immersive, socially-driven experience. Kyle Lindsey (WWT) and Simon Wistow (Fastly) will dive into the importance of real-time social features like chat, cross-platform play, and personalized matchmaking that enhance player engagement and retention. The discussion will also touch on how edge computing and scalable infrastructure are crucial to maintaining seamless global interactions in modern gaming. This session will offer insights into how gaming companies can build community-driven ecosystems that extend beyond gameplay.
Kyle Lindsey, Director of Technology, Innovation & Transformation, World Wide Technology
Simon Wistow, Co-Founder & VP of Strategic Initiatives, Fastly
Moderator: Imran Khan, senior writer at GamesBeat
12:00 pm – 12:30 pm stage 3 (technology)
Childhood Fantasies Fulfilled: What Games Learn from Puppies, Dolls and Imaginary Friends
(and how it provides a new area for us to explore)
We’ve reached an inflection point in games and tech, pushed towards evolutionary adaptation. I’m worried that this comes from a monoculture of genres being recycled over and over, until the market cannot support the status quo. We’ve built so many products along the ‘survival of the fittest’ fantasy.
LLMs have opened up the pathway to another paradigm. The computer not an opponent but as a friend.
Games are articulations of childhood fantasies and dreams – let’s move beyond cops and robbers to the reward of caring and growing things. Survival of the friendliest. Cozy games are already exploring this frontier. I will explore the evolutionary roots, human behavioral loops, and examples of how this basic human need – for belonging – should drive our thinking for designing games into a future defined by disconnection, dislocation and loneliness.
Bernard Yee, CEO & Co-founder, Windup Minds
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm Lunch
1:00 pm – 1:30 pm diversity in gaming lunch panel (culture)
Bridget Stacy, vice president of marketing at Xsolla (moderator)
Sheloman Byrd, CEO of Open Ocean Games
2 speakers TBD
1:30 pm – 2:00 pm stage 1 (growth)
Mini-millennials and the future of age-adaptive gaming
A deep dive on how the games of tomorrow are building into the fabric of their foundation support for a generation of gamers that will create more of their identity & community online at a younger age than any generation prior.
Tami Bhaumik, Roblox for k-ID session
Kieran Donovan, CEO of k-id
Moderator: Jonathan Lai, general partner at A16z
1:30 pm – 2:00 pm stage 2 (technology/industry)
The future of open source game engines
Juan Linietsky, CEO of W4 Games
Moderator: Monika Madrid, vp of business development at Magid
1:30 pm – 2:00 pm stage 3 (growth/culture)
Commercial video games – an effective treatment for mental health
Starting in 2025 the federal government will begin paying doctors and game developers to prescribe and use video games that provide treatments for mental health.
Moderator: Amy Jo Kim, founder of Game Thinking
Ryan Douglas, chairman of Deepwell
2:00 pm – 2:30 pm stage 1 (industry)
VR’s advantages for shaping the future of Play
Join Kerestell Smith, Founder and Chief Creative Officer at Another Axiom and the visionary solo developer behind Gorilla Tag, for an intimate fireside chat exploring how VR is uniquely positioned to engage the rapidly rising Gen Alpha audience. As the industry nears a critical inflection point, Kerestell will discuss how this younger audience is embracing VR as a ‘third place’ for gaming, social connection, creativity, and community. He’ll expand on how VR is shaping the next generation’s expectations for entertainment, what game companies should prioritize to stay ahead, and why now is the time to pay attention to what is captivating this key audience before the opportunity slips by.
Rachel Kaser, GamesBeat Writer (Moderator)
Kerestell Smith – Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Another Axiom
2:00 pm – 2:30 pm stage 2 (culture)
Winning moves: Building powerful remote game development teams
Description: Muus Collective, a women-founded and led mobile gaming company, has built a fully remote team composed of leaders from EA, GSN, and more. This talk will explore strategies for effective communication, collaboration, and building great culture for dispersed teams.
Sarah Fuchs, cofounder of Muus Collective
Shelby Moledina
2:00 pm – 2:30 pm stage 3 (technology)
Corp development conversation
EA corp dev Jon Robinson
Moderator: Michael Metzger, partner at Drake Star Partners
2:30 pm – 3:00 pm stage 1 industry
State of game VC funding (real title TBD)
Josh Chapman, managing partner, Konvoy Ventures
Justin Yuan, Tirta Ventures
Lia Zhang, Makers Fund
Moderator: Eric Goldberg, cofounder of Playable Worlds
2:30 pm – 3:00 pm stage 2 culture
Cross media innovation – IP with games at the center
A conversation between Astrid Entertainment’s Sharon Tal Yguado & Netflix Games’ Leanne Loombe
Sharon and Leanne stepped into each other’s worlds as they made opposite career moves. Sharon transitioned from a successful TV and film career, where she led major divisions at studios like Fox and Amazon and spearheaded franchises like The Walking Dead, The Boys, and Invincible, to leading a new gaming studio startup, Astrid. Meanwhile, Leanne Loombe moved from running a studio at Riot Games to leading a large gaming division within a major entertainment company, Netflix. These two accomplished executives will discuss their seemingly opposite paths and how they approach entertainment and games with a 360-degree perspective.
In this two-way conversation, they will explore building 360-degree franchises that engage fans through various mediums and experiences. Through the lens of their current roles, they will discuss their approaches to building and nurturing IP, as well as fostering community around their products. Sharon will share insights into Astrid’s latest projects and her reasons for transitioning into gaming to create a new universe. Loombe will discuss her approach to IP and games in her role.
Leanne Loombe, Netflix
Sharon Tal Yguado, CEO of Astrid Entertainment
2:30 pm to 3:00 pm stage 3 (culture/growth)
Navigating recovery: Games data, layoffs, and industry trends
No one has transparently captured so much data about job resources and the stage of game industry employment as Amir Satvat. Our panelists will delve into the post-crisis recovery of the video games industry. This insightful discussion will explore key data trends, including layoff forecasting, industry role distributions across locations, demographic shifts, and the evolving landscape of job splits. Whether you’re curious about where roles are emerging or how workforce changes are shaping the future, this talk provides essential insights into the industry’s rebound and its path forward.
Dean Takahashi, moderator
Amir Satvat, business development director at Tencent
3:00 pm – 330 pm Break
3:30 pm – 4:00 pm general session (culture)
Seats at the table: Fostering a welcoming workplace
The 2024 State of the Game Industry report from GDC noted that nothing has changed when it comes to the representation of women in the industry. Skydance Games is working hard to change that perception. As Skydance continues to increase gender representation across their studios, women currently hold lead positions in business, design, production, and other disciplines for their console, VR, PC, and mobile titles. This panel will explore how they’ve fostered an inclusive workplace, the importance of having more diverse voices on AAA titles and explain the critical role studios have in providing more seats to underrepresented communities.
Moderator: TBD
Jenna Seiden, Senior Vice President, Business Development, Licensing, and Publishing
Amy Hennig, Co-President
Andrea Silvers, Vice President of Marketing and Communications/Skydance
4:00 pm – 4:30 pm general session (industry)
Announcing the 2025 Game Changers
Moritz Baier-Lentz, partner and head of gaming & interactive media at Lightspeed
Dean Takahashi, lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat
TBD
Kylan Gibbs, Co-Founder and CEO of Inworld AI (confirmed)
Mihir Vaidya, Chief Strategy Officer at Electronic Arts
To close the conference, Lightspeed and GamesBeat will announce the 2025 Game Changers—an annual list to celebrate and accelerate extraordinary startups in gaming & interactive technology. We’ll have the standout winners from each of the five key categories present live on stage: 3D technology & infrastructure, generative AI, game studios & UGC, interactive media platforms, and extended reality (AR &VR).
In addition to meeting the winners for the first time, you’ll hear from a panel of Game Changers judges, which this year included executives and operators from Activision Blizzard, Amazon, Bungie, ByteDance, Call of Duty, DeepMind, Disney, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Goldman Sachs, Google, Inworld AI, King, Krafton, League of Legends, McKinsey, Meta, Microsoft, NCsoft, Niantic, Oculus, Riot Games, Stanford University, Take-Two Interactive, Tencent, TikTok, Uber, Unity, Unreal Engine, Valve, YouTube Gaming, Xbox, Zynga, and others.
4:30 pm to 5:00 pm (industry)
Game Changers continued with winners
Dean Takahashi
Moritz Baier-Lentz of Lightspeed
TBD
Roundtables day two (rooms TBD)
10:30 am -11:30 am roundtable
TBD
11:30 am – 12:30 pm roundtable
TBD
Ninel, Gryuner Anderson, CEO of Devoted Studios
12:30 pm -1:30 pm roundtable (culture)
Ethical Growth: Navigating an Ambiguous Era
As layoffs continue, with the risk of irreparable damage to the gaming industry, [GamesBeat noted the first half of 2024 recorded more layoffs than 2023], and the broader tech market experiencing even more profound effects, signs of possible future growth are present. But, how can studios rebuild responsibly and ethically, with an eye toward building strong cultures today, while capturing market value, without over-investing in a manner that will result in further calamity when the cycle next turns? How can we help studios thrive and find a path where the industry can grow again through reimagining and breathing new life into this space?
What does leadership look like in this moment? As we work through this period, studio leaders will need a combination of skills, both oriented toward working through the crisis, as well as preparing for the ongoing cycles of growth and contraction. Industry leaders will provide insights and guidance for responsible and ethical growth, including how to:
- Shift internal communications strategy to rebuild trust
- Redefine or reinforce company values
- Cultivate resilience and a future-focused mindset
- Develop leadership skills (at all levels of management) that support a culture of empathy, grit, and renewed sense of purpose
- And, how to implement practically
Shannon Loftis, senior adviser at Valued Cultures
Daryl Ogden, cofounder at Valued Cultures
Emily Greer, 1UP Ventures
Rory McGuire, president and chief creative officer at Blackbird Interactive
1:30 pm to 2:30 pm roundtable
TBD
2:30 pm to 3:30 pm roundtable
TBD
Convene venue
You can’t have a great event without a great place to do it.
We’ll be returning to Convene, a venue in the heart of San Francisco’s Union Square area. It is a welcoming space built for community, as it was created to be an event space. We were the very first event at the venue last year and now we’re coming back for a second year, this time using both the fourth and fifth floors for our expanded conference agenda.
The event will start at about 1 p.m. Pacific time on October 28 and then continue all day long on October 29. At the last event, we had two stages running simultaneously. We hope to deliver more value with a total of three stages this year.
And we’ll have more content in the form of eight roundtables spread through both days in private rooms. These sessions, which are open to sponsorship, will have up to 30 attendees in a private session as you can see above.
Game Changers
We will also close day two with our second annual Game Changers celebration of the list of the coolest game startups. Moritz Baier-Lentz, partner and head of gaming at Lightspeed Venture Partners, the venture capital firm with more than $28 billion under management.
Last year, Baier-Lentz surprised the 25 finalists by putting their companies on the Nasdaq Tower electronic billboard for the world to see in Times Square in New York. Startup entrepreneurs can file an application here for your chance to be one of the finalists.
Maier-Lentz has already recruited a list of all-star judges for the new list, and we’re proud to partner with him, Lightspeed and Nasdaq again to bring the newest gaming startup stars to our stage.
Our hopes for those who support us
We are in better shape than last year. If you recall, we had a nail-biting time as the game industry was in the midst of difficult layoffs. We had our own cutbacks and we only had about 29 attendees signed up a month ahead of the event. We put out a call for help and you responded. Sponsors signed up and we had more than 550 attendees by the time of the event in October 2023.
This time, we have been able to sign up speakers earlier and kick off our plans earlier. We have hundreds of attendees. But it’s still tough and we could still use your help in rounding up more sponsor support. We also appreciate our partners helping to get the word out about the event.
We’re proud to have returning sponsors including Xsolla, Fastspring, Modulate, the Entertainment Software Association as well as new sponsors such as Open World, Fastly, Ludeo, Lightspeed, RapidFire and Ready.GG. If you’d like to request sponsorship information, you can fill out this form.
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