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I’m a bit late but overjoyed to present our full agenda for our GamesBeat Summit 2024 event on May 19-20 at the Marina del Rey Marriott in Los Angeles. You can use this code gbs25dean25 for a 25% discount on tickets.
It’s my pleasure to note this is our 17th annual event, and our theme is Back to Growth. It’s also the first time that we are celebrating the industry as an independent GamesBeat. Our company is now led by me (Dean Takahashi), editorial director, and Gina Joseph, CEO. Our expert staff has come with us, and so we expect this to be a seamless event for veteran event goers.
The game industry has had a tough 2.5 years, with about 35,000 layoffs, according to game job champion Amir Satvat, who is one of our speakers.
We have about 104 speakers at the moment across 50 sessions. Our speaker roster has 53% people from diverse backgrounds, including 35% women among our slate of 104 speakers. We continue to strive to have more than half of our speakers come from diverse backgrounds, and we have met that goal for umpteen conferences.
A tough recovery
Gaming started to recover in the first quarter, according to Satvat, who is a quant who tracks openings at more than 3,000 game companies. He noted that hiring likely exceeded firing in Q1 for the first time in 2.5 years. That’s something to celebrate.
M&A has returned to the market, and IPOs have started to happen again. That creates wealth that keeps the cycle of startups and investments going. Some big companies are risk averse, while others (like Rockstar Games, maker of the upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI) are going all-out investing in multi-year, billion-dollar-plus games. Growth is stalling in traditional markets, but emerging markets like Latin America and the Middle East are delivering growth and excitement.
The Nintendo Switch 2 could begin a cycle of renewed gamer excitement, but it’s also clouded by the Trump administration’s trade war and tariffs in the U.S. Fortunately, a number of investors and big companies have healthy balance sheets and a lot of cash, according to one of our speakers in a prep call. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that consumer buying sentiment survives.
There is some intense geopolitics and geographic competition, and there’s a whole new layer of external development companies that employ thousands of game developers in support roles. Our event will help guide people about where to make their bets, whether they are talking about their own careers or their companies. Which territories will be shelters, and which will be caught up in a competitive maelstrom? We promise you’ll hear a diverse set of ideas, answers and strategies from our speakers.
Our business-to-business (B2B) event typically draws director level and above guests, with a solid percentage coming from investor, service, developer and publishing ranks. We have a lot of CEOs among the 104 speakers, and we hope you’ll love them. We think of our event as the agora, a real community of gaming people.
You’ll be able to interact with them more. On our first day on May 19, we’ll have all small sessions. All of the talks will be an hour long, with plenty of room for Q&A with the audience. We’re making good on our promise to deliver more engagement, which is what our audience has wanted for a long time.
On day two, we have a mix of 30-minute talks on big stages, as well as more intimate roundtables taking place at the same time for those who prefer more focused sessions.
We’ve got multiple sessions addressing topics like AI and gaming tools, Hollywood and games, gaming’s rise in culture, the opportunity for a rebirth in mobile with new alternative web shops, and heavy career topics like working with mental health challenges and addressing ageism. We’ll tackle topics like Matthew Ball’s big slide deck on games and the focus on smaller games with indie thinking.
We hope you’re excited about this and appreciate your support. Our sponsors include Xsolla, Scopely, Tencent, Entertainment Software Association, Modulate, AWS, Google Cloud, Lightspeed, GEEIQ, Sawhorse Productions, VoicePatrol and more.
We couldn’t draw as much attention to our event without our great community partners including Women-Led Games, IGDA Foundation, Black in Gaming Foundation, Games for Love, Games for Change, Moms in Gaming, AIAS, GEMA and WIGI.
We have a whole panel of judges that helped with our Visionary Awards, which will be headlined during lunch on day two by our host Andrea Rene.
Our judges include a mix of past winners and advisers. They include Sarah Bond of Microsoft, Rich Vogel of T-Minus Zero Entertainment, Don Daglow of AIAS Foundation/Strong National Museum of Play, Perrin Kaplan of Zebra Partners, Elizabeth Olson of Strategic Marketing, Dinga Bakaba of Arkane, Tara Bruno of Tara Bruno PR, Charmaine Duff of Women-Led Games, Mark Chandler of TIGS, Meggan Scavio of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, Kat Jones of Motiv, Shelley Andagan of Qualcomm, onine game pioneer John Smedley and me.
Our advisers include Peter Levin of Griffin Gaming Partners, Mark Chandler of TIGS, Jace Hall of Twin Galaxies, Jeff Karp formerly of EA Mobile, Ed Lu of Fandom, Mike Romo of DDM, Charmaine Duff of Women-Led Games, Don Daglow of AIAS Foundation/Strong National Museum of Play, Eric Goldberg of Playable Worlds, Tammy McDonald of Fusion Point Studios, Noah Falstein of The Inspiracy, Perrin Kaplan of Zebra Partners, Ivan Fernandez Lobo of Games Executive Summit Europe, Michael Metzger of Drake Star Partners, Elizabeth Olson of Strategic Marketing, David B. Hoppe of Gamma Law, Mike Vorhaus of Vorhaus Advisors, Zsuzsa James of private family office, Kat Jones of Motiv PR, Wanda Meloni of M2 Insights, Lisa Cosmas Hanson of Niko Partners, Sibel Sunar of Fortyseven Communications, Michael Chang of Mavent Partners and Adam Boyes of Vivrato.
Without further ado, here’s the agenda.
GamesBeat Summit 2025
May 19 day one
11:30 am – 1:30 pm Attendee check-in, badge pickup and networking at Promenade Foyer. Talks will be downstairs from the lobby.
1:30 pm – 2:30 pm in Malibu/Santa Monica room
Is there still growth ahead for gaming? A debate with game economist Catalin Alexandru, Michael Pachter of Wedbush and moderator Rhys Elliott of Alinea Analytics
1:30 pm – 2:30 pm Venice/Peninsula room
The competitive layer you’re missing: How game brands are building loyalty with adding extra code. A talk by Zack Rozga and Jace Hall of Twin Galaxies
1:30 pm – 2:30 pm at Palisades room
Get live or die trying. A talk on live services by Sheloman Byrd of Open Ocean Games
1:30 pm – 2:30 pm at Catalina room
Roundtable documentary discussion with Theresa Loong, who is making a film about game designer Brenda Romero and Bought/Broken a digital experience exploring intimate partner violence. Moderated by Shelby Moledina of Glowy Pixels Entertainment and maker of a short film about a woman raising money for a startup
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm at Malibu/Santa Monica room
The problem with publishing
A debate moderated by GamesBeat’s Rachel Kaser, with Dino Patti of Coherence/Jumpship and Ben Kvalo of Midwest Games
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm at Venice/Peninsula
Leveraging industry non-profits for growth, with
Blair Durkee of GLAAD, Stephen Machuga of Stack Up and moderated by Jen MacLean of Dragon Snacks Games and IGDA Foundation
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm at Catalina room
Roundtable — Monetizing retention: the art of sustained engagement with Jennifer Jo of Open Ocean Games
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm at Palisades room
High-level strategic views of AI entertainment and games with Owen Mahoney (moderator, former CEO of Nexon), Mitch Lasky of Benchmark, Bing Gordon of Kleiner Perkins and Tynan Sylvester of Ludeon
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm at Venice/Peninsula room
The influencer playbook behind Assassin’s Creed: Mirage, with Glenn Ginsburg of QYOU Media, Anna Ivanko of Ubisoft, content creator and comedian Adam W and moderator Amanda Perelli of Business Insider
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm at Catalina room
Roundtable — Video games: A performers’ perspective
Actors Sarah Elmaleh, Zeke Alton and Andi Norris
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm at Palisades room
Moderation tools and techniques: the advanced class, with Mark Nolan of Modulate and Blake Harper of Meta
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm at Malibu/Santa Monica room
How AI is rewriting the rules of game creation, with Kayla Comalli of Lovelace, Neil Young and Irena Pereira of Unleashed
4:30 pm – 5:30 pm at Malibu/Santa Monica room
Veteran Warren Spector and TakeThis.org’s Kelli Dunlap discuss mental health in the games industry
(note: this session will explore serious mental health issues)
Warren Spector of OtherSide Entertainment and moderator Kelli Dunlap of Take This
4:30 pm – 5:30 pm at Venice/Peninsula room
AI for gaming tools
Ashwin Raghuraman of AWS, Hilary Mason of Hidden Door, J. Aaron Farr of Jam & Tea and Chris Melissinos of AWS
4:30 pm – 5:30 pm at Palisades
Gaming the government
Mark Deloura of Level Up Games and Paul Fischer of Accenture (formerly of the U.S. State Department)
5:30 pm to 7:00 pm at California Ballroom
Pixels and Pours Reception
Intro by Gina Joseph, Dean Takahashi and Peter Levin
May 20 day two
7:30 am – 8:30 am at Promenade foyer
Attendee check-in and badge pickup
8:30 am – 9:25 am at California Ballroom
Women in Gaming Breakfast – Getting back to growth: Now what? (sponsored by Xsolla)
Carla Bedrosian of Xsolla, Angela Dalton of Signum Growth Dot Play, Nancy MacIntyre of World Winner and moderator Rachel Kaser of GamesBeat
9:25 am – 9:30 am at California Ballroom
Your game’s perfect memory (sponsored by VoicePatrol)
Matei Trebien of VoicePatrol
9:30 am – 9: 45 am at California Ballroom
Welcome remarks
Susanna Pollack of Games for Change
Dean Takahashi of GamesBeat
9:45 am – 10 am
Power Plays: How strategy is shaping the future of games
(sponsored by Xsolla)
Chris Hewish of Xsolla, Anthony Bartolacci of Sensor Tower and moderator Gina Joseph of GamesBeat
10:15 am – 11 am at California Ballroom
How to navigate the games new normal
Mitch Lasky of Benchmark and moderator Eric Goldberg of Playable Games
10:15 am – 11 am at Promenade room
Lost on the outsides: Ageism and belonging in the game industry
Amir Satvat of Tencent, Jen MacLean of Dragon Snacks Games, Richard Brown of Blue Moon Production Company and Gordon Bellamy of USC School of Cinematic Arts
11 am – 11:30 am at California ballroom
Share early, share often: How transparency can build a healthier industry
Adam Boyes of Vivrato and moderator Andrea Rene of Shortie Media
11 am – 12 pm at Malibu/Santa Monica room
Mental health and games
Susanna Pollack of Games for Change and Perrin Kaplan of Zebra Partners
11:30 am – 12 pm at California ballroom
The Penguin perspective: Sharing Tencent’s candid perspective on the global gaming industry and lessons learned
Tian Xiao of Tencent and moderator Dean Takahashi of GamesBeat
11:30 am – 12 pm at Promenade room
The gaming revolution will be televised
André Swanston of Phynd
Lunch break
12 pm – 1 pm
12:15 pm – 12:30 pm at California ballroom
Visionary Awards
host Andrea Rene
12:30 pm – 1 pm California ballroom
Accessibility in gaming lunch — Breaking down accessibility barriers: how the industry is redefining how we play (sponsored by ESA)
moderator Aubrey Quinn of the ESA, accessibility consultant/content creator Steve Saylor, Holly Westcott of Amazon Games and Kaitlyn Jones of Warfighter Engaged
1 pm – 1:30 pm at California ballroom (sponsored by Lightspeed)
Game Changers 2026 — Building through chaos
Moritz Baier-Lentz of Lightspeed, Dean Takahashi of GamesBeat, Kieran Donovan of K-ID, Stephen Bell of Gardens and Cheryl Fichter of Inworld AI
1 pm – 1:30 pm Promenade room
Investing in new game markets
Hemal Thaker of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Danzig of Sharp Alpha, moderator Emily Wang of Griffin Gaming Partners and Tyler Matheson of Makers Fund
1 pm – 2 pm at Malibu/Santa Monica room
Roundtable – How the underestimated can break into the highest levels of the game industry
Gordon Bellamy of the USC School of Cinematic Arts
1 pm – 2 pm at Venice/Peninsula
Roundtable – From player safety to child wellbeing and the role of AI
Heidi Vogel Brockmann of Guardian Gamer, Joel Silk and moderator Chris Melissinos of AWS
1:30 pm – 2 pm at California ballroom
(sponsored by Scopely)
Ryan Jacobson of Scopely, Stanislov Vishnevskiy of Discord and moderator Rachel Kaser of GamesBeat
1:30 pm – 2 pm at Promenade room
The East-West Connection: Successfully bringing Asian games to western markets (and vice versa)
Jeonghee “JJ” Jin and moderator Lisa Cosmas Hanson of Niko Partners
2 pm – 2:30 pm at California ballroom
Winning in mobile gaming: Strategy, growth and innovation with Playtika
Craig Abrahams of Playtika and moderator Michael Metzger of Drake Star Partners
2 pm – 3 pm at Malibu/Santa Monica room
(sponsored by Scopely)
Roundtable – Powering play: Staying ahead in a dynamic games industry
Shelby Johnson-Sapp
2 pm – 3 pm at Venice/Peninsula
The repair room: Industry problems, group solutions
Adam Boyes of Vivrato and Amir Satvat of Tencent
2 pm – 2:30 pm at Promenade room
Understanding the next generation of gamers
Kevin Beatty of Samsung Gaming and Emerging Technologies
2:30 pm – 3 pm at Promenade room
Game funding diversification
Justin Woodward of Media Indie Exchange and moderator Dean Takahashi of GamesBeat
3 pm – 3:30 pm at California ballroom
The evolution of motion gaming: Past, present and future
Tom Kang of NEX and moderator Dean Takahashi of GamesBeat
3 pm – 3:30 pm at Promenade room
The lucrative niche: Building multibillion-dollar franchises from core initial community outward
Louis Gresham of Hydratac and Dan Bunting of 1AM Gaming
3 pm – 4 pm at Malibu/Santa Monica
Roundtable – AI in game development
Rich Vogel of T-Minus Zero Entertainment
3 pm – 4 pm at Venice/Peninsula
From triple-A teams to solo dreams
Adam Kugler of Cyan Avatar Studios
3:30 pm – 4 pm at California ballroom
Fireside chat with Jesse Meschuk of Savvy Games Group
Jesse Meschuk of Savvy Games Group and moderator Dean Takahashi of GamesBeat
4 pm – 4:30 pm at California ballroom
Driving change in gaming: Business models, player needs, AI and the road ahead
Matthew Bromberg of Unity and Sarah Parvini of Associated Press
4 pm – 4:30 pm at Promenade room
Fundraising for startups
Garrett Young of Emptyvessel, Jeonghee “JJ” Jin of NC America and Teppei Tsutsui of GFR Fund
4:30 pm – 5 pm at California ballroom
Hollywood and games
Dan Prigg of Skydance Interactive, Maureen Fan of Baobab Studios, Pia Barlow of HBO and Max and moderator Kaare Eriksen of Variety
5 pm – 5:30 pm at California ballroom
The Motion Revolution: Redefining real world experiences
Russ Gautier of Territory
5:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Closing remarks
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