Join gaming leaders live this May 20-21 in Los Angeles to examine the strategies needed to adapt and excel in an ever evolving landscape, featuring insights from leading voices and thought leaders in the industry. Register here.
GamesBeat Summit 2024 will take place from May 20-21 at the Marina del Rey Marriott in Los Angeles and it will feature a third stage of talks on May 21 in what we’re calling the Conversation Salon. (You can use this code for a 25% discount: gbs24dean25).
Our theme this year is Resilience and Adaptation, with talks and panels focused on how to adapt to a rapidly changing world, and addressing big topics like GenAI, cross-media adaptations (games and Hollywood), and the challenge of layoffs in an industry that is becoming part of mainstream culture. You can find our full agenda here.
Today, we’re highlighting our third stage at the event, the Conversation room, which will have a series of discussions taking place on May 21. Elizabeth Olson, a veteran PR and business development consultant in the game industry, will be the emcee. This will be a more interactive set of talks where our audience can interact more with our speakers in a smaller scale setting.
10:00 am – 10:30 am
GB Event
Countdown to GamesBeat Summit
Secure your spot now and join us in LA for an unforgettable two days experience exploring the theme of resilience and adaptation. Register today to guarantee your seat!
The Creator’s Notepad: Expanding Storytelling
Dom Cole, cofounder of Left Fielder Media
Sheloman Byrd, co-CEO of Veritas Game Advisors
10:30 am – 11:00 am
The future of mixed reality games
Alexey Menshikov, CEO of Beatshapers
Nicole Lazzaro, CEO of XEO Design
11:00 am – 11:30 am
The future of AR in the wake of the Apple Vision Pro
Apple releasing the Vision Pro is the biggest watershed moment in XR, but what does it really mean for developers? Let’s have an open discussion with a leading AR games entrepreneur and a top XR investor about the opportunities now and into the future.
Susan Cummings, CEO of Tiny Rebel Games
Tipatat Chennavasin, general partner of Venture Reality Fund
11:30 am – 12:00 pm
From Developer to Distributor: How to break free from the platforms
Everyone’s talking about web shops and alternative payments. But the truth is, direct-to-consumer isn’t a new trend in gaming – Riot, Epic and others have been leading the way for years. In this talk, you’ll get insider information on how Riot built and grew League of Legends’ first-party distribution strategy – which gives them full access and ownership to their most engaged users (without having to pay Steam, Apple, or Google a cent). That includes their custom launcher, Arcane, and leading global esports franchises. No matter if you’re a PC or mobile game developer, Riot’s D2C strategy is one you’ll want to hear and apply to your own game.
Archie Stonehill, head of product at Stash
12:00 pm – 12:30 pm
Paving the way for the next generation of game developers
Jim Huntley, associate professor and head of marketing for USC Games
Moderator: Rachel Kaser, GamesBeat writer
12:30 pm
LUNCH BREAK
1:30 pm – 2:00 pm
Power-Ups for a Sustainable Industry: Unionization & worker empowerment in games
Over the last five years, attitudes toward unionization in games have shifted more positively, and mass layoffs across the industry have sparked even more interest on the topic. Join this fireside chat to learn more about the evolving landscape of unionization within the games industry as the speakers explore current attitudes toward unionization, emerging worker empowerment initiatives, crucial considerations for industry leadership, and pathways toward sustainability and equitable working conditions.
Jakin Vela, executive director of the IGDA
Zeke Alton, voice and on-camera actor, activist, SAG-AFTRA Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Committee Member
2:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Rethinking the Engine: Godot – A powerful alternative for modern studios
This session explores Godot, the rapidly growing open-source engine that’s attracting major studios. Discover its benefits: flexibility, ownership, and cost-efficiency compared to traditional options. We’ll delve into Godot’s thriving community and its evolution into a professional powerhouse.
Pablo Selener, managing director of W4 Games
2:30 pm – 3:00 pm
The Finer Points of Building Remote Companies
There are an increasing number of startups that have started in the remote work era and are fully remote. Some of the challenges of building remote teams can be different than hybrid or teams that went remote after being in the office. How are startups building culture, cohesion, managing global time zones and communication, capturing creative sparks and collaboration? What are the hard lessons learned in the last few years building remote teams?
Jing Wang, VP of product at Fortis
3:00 pm
BREAK
3:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Mental Health & Games
Chethan Ramachandran, CEO of Skillprint
