We’re taking GamesBeat Summit 2020 into a digital online-only format. And today, we’re revealing the agenda for the event which will air on April 28 and April 29 as a virtual conference.
After careful thought about the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, we decided not to use centralized studios or physical locations. But we think we can serve our GamesBeat community well with a fully distributed, digital event.
The health and safety of our GamesBeat community, attendees, employees, and sponsors remains our top priority. In this digital event, attendees can watch livestreamed and recorded talks, take part in online networking sessions and digital roundtables, access our gaming partners virtually, and more.
GamesBeat Summit will provide the same great content and create digital networking experiences, all available remotely. We’ve very grateful that the overwhelming number of our speakers (which we originally recruited for our physical event) and our sponsors have stayed with us. We hope to live up to their belief in us with our talks around the theme of Dawn of the Next Generation.
We will continue to be proactive in our communication and will follow up with more information about technology platforms and logistics in the coming days. It looks like we’re heading toward an even larger even with about 100 speakers. We have a number of speakers who are still finalizing arrangements.
If you are interested in attending GamesBeat Summit online, please sign up here.
Tuesday, April 28, 2020 (all times Pacific time)
Above: Gary Whitta, screenwriter of Rogue One; A Star Wars Story.
Image Credit: Gary Whitta
9:15 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
Boss Stage: Introductory remarks by Dean Takahashi, lead writer for VentureBeat’s GamesBeat
9:30 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
Boss Stage: “Serious money going into esports and gaming: Mergers, acquisitions, and fundraising trends” with Alina Soltys, founder of Quantum Tech Partners
9:45 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.
Boss Stage: “The rise of new independent publishers” with Michael Worosz, executive vice president for corporate development and independent publishing at Take-Two Interactive, moderated by Michael Metzger, partner at Drake Star Partners
Hero Stage: To be announced
10:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
Boss Stage: “Game investments in the age of the coronavirus” with Ryan McDermott of Resolute Partners Group
Hero Stage: Esports with Karim Farghaly of Bandai Namco, and Jacob Navok, CEO of Genvid Technologies; moderated by David Hoppe of Gamma Law
10:45 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.
Boss Stage: To be announced
Hero Stage: “The Leisure Economy” with John Linden, CEO, Mythical Games
11:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
Above: 2019 talk with Stanley Pierre-Louis, Acting President & CEO of Entertainment Software Association and moderated by Keisha Howard, Founder of Sugar Gamers
Image Credit: GamesBeat
Boss Stage: Fireside Chat with Stanley Pierre-Louis, CEO of the Entertainment Software Association, moderated by Keisha Howard of Sugar Gamers
Hero Stage: “Choose your own adventure: The evolution of storytelling through the next generation” with Gary Whitta of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, moderated by Tina Amini of IGN
11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Boss Stage: “Gaming’s future as the best form of entertainment,” Jon Goldman of Greycroft and GC Tracker Fund, moderated by Andreea Enache of Blind Squirrel Entertainment
Hero Stage: “We are who we pretend to be” with Edward Saatchi of Fable Studio, moderated by Dean Takahashi
12:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Breakout sessions, Networking Roundtables, Slack Q&A, Community Discussion
1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Boss Stage: Series A/B Panel with Phil Sanderson of Griffin Gaming Partners; Michael Cheung of Makers Fund; moderated by Eric Goldberg of Crossover Technologies
Hero Stage: To be announced
2:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Boss Stage: “Console cycles: The old, the new, and the future” with Rob Dyer, chief operating officer at Capcom, moderated by Mike Vorhaus of Vorhaus Advisors
Hero Stage: “Bulletproofing your brand strategy in the age of influencers” with Doron Nir, CEO of StreamElements
2:30 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
Boss Stage: “What to expect in early stage fundraising” with David Gardner of London Venture Partners; Gregory Milken of March Capital Partners; and Shanti Bergel of Transcend Fund; moderated by David Chang of Asmodee Digital
2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Hero Stage: “Industry-facing game education – A Snapshot of the USC Games program” with Richard Lemarchand, Associate Professor at USC Games Program, moderated by Brandon Sheffield of Necrosoft Games
3:00 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Hero Stage: To be announced
3:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Above: Jenova Chen is cofounder of Thatgamecompany, creator of games like Journey, Flower, Flow, and Sky.
Image Credit: Dean Takahashi
Boss Stage: “How Thatgamecompany enabled a wholesome community in Sky” with Jenova Chen, Co-Founder of Thatgamecompany
3:45 p.m. – 4 p.m. Break
4:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Boss Stage: “Building out charity in the games space” with Stephen Machuga of Stack-Up
Hero Stage: “Your Gamer DNA” with Chethan Ramachandran, CEO of Skillprint; moderated by Keisha Howard of Sugar Gamers
4:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Boss Stage: To be announced
Hero Stage: “The Realities of crossplay and managing live services” with Jesse Houston, CEO of Phoenix Labs; moderated by Dean Takahashi
5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Boss Stage: To be announced
Hero Stage: “External Development Stories” with Mihai Pohontu, CEO of Amber Studios
5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Connect with the community online. Join online Q&A, breakout sessions, and try fun and new digital event technology.
Wednesday, April 29, 2020
Above: Mari Takahashi, cofounder of Smosh Games.
Image Credit: Smosh
8:00 a.m.
Women in Gaming Virtual Breakfast, Presented by Niantic. Speakers include Kellee Santiago of Niantic, Nonny de la Peña of Emblematic Group, and Elizabeth Howard of Aspyr
9:45 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Boss Stage: Opening remarks — Mike Minotti, review editor at GamesBeat
10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Boss Stage: “The future of influencer marketing” with Mari Takahashi of Smosh Games; Joshua Ovenshire of Arcade Cloud; moderated by Andrea Rene of What’s Good Games
Hero Stage: “How to run a great writers room” with Amy Hennig of Skydance; Adam Foshko of HBO; moderated by Mark Long of HBO
10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Boss Stage: “Recapturing the history of games,” Josh Tsui of Ten Point Oh and Blake Harris, author of Console Wars and A History of the Future; moderated by Dean Takahashi
Hero Stage: Lightning round talks
“Play with My Emotions: A Case for (more) Romance & Sex in Games’ with Zsuzsa James, Team Finland Coordinator for Video Games & Esports; Andrew Maximov, CEO of Promethean AI; Barry Jenkins, CEO of Primal Space Systems and Instant Interactive
11:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Boss Stage: “Why gaming will be at the center of the future entertainment universe” with Josh Yguado, Co-Founder & President of Jam City, moderated by Amy Allison of Skydance
Hero Stage: Fireside Chat with Elan Lee, Co-Founder of Exploding Kittens; moderated by Theresa Duringer of Temple Gates Games
11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Above: Mitch Lasky of Benchmark
Boss Stage: Fireside Chat with Mitch Lasky of Benchmark Capital; moderated by Eric Goldberg of Crossover Technologies
11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Hero Stage: Fireside Chat with Renee Gittins, Executive Director of IGDA
12:00 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Boss Stage: Fireside Chat with Bernard Kim of Zynga; moderated by Patrick Shanley of The Hollywood Reporter
12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Breakout sessions, Networking Roundtables, Slack Q&A, Community Discussion
2:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Boss Stage: Fireside chat with Brent Bushnell of Two Bit Circus
Hero Stage: “Strategies for Mental Wellness in Gaming,” speakers TBD
2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Boss Stage: Fireside Chat with Greg Borrud of Niantic
Hero Stage: Fireside chat with Nika Nour, Executive Director of IGDA Foundation
3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Above: Neil Young is CEO of N3twork.
Image Credit: N3twork
Boss Stage: Fireside Chat with Neil Young, CEO of N3twork
Hero Stage: Blockchain panel with Sebastian Borget of The Sandbox; Rudy Koch of Mythical Games; Peter Kieltyka of Horizon Blockchain Games; and Eric Schiermeyer of Blockchain Game Partners; moderated by James Zhang of Concept Art House
3:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Breakout sessions, Networking Roundtables, Slack Q&A, Community Discussion
3:45 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
Boss Stage: Game acquisitions panel with Michael Chang of NCSoft; Chris Petrovic of Zynga; Nick Tuosto of LionTree; and Affan Butt of Aream & Co.; moderated by Mark Stevens of Fenwick & West LLP
Hero Stage: Asia Gaming Panel with Bill Wang of Giant Network; Amy Huang of Mattel163; Cynthia Du of Cocos; Jeff Lyndon of iDreamSky; moderated by Lisa Cosmas Hanson of Niko Partners
4:15 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.
Boss Stage: “An Exercise in Proactively Designing a Positive In-Game Community” with Chris Priebe, CEO of Two Hat Security
Hero Stage: Adjust – Speaker to be announced
4:45 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.
Above: Philip Rosedale, CEO of High Fidelity.
Boss Stage: “The Metaverse is Coming” with Philip Rosedale of High Fidelity; moderated by Sam Engelbardt of Galaxy Digital
Hero Stage: Fireside Chat with Danny Bilson, Chair, Interactive Media, Games Division at USC
5:15 pm – 5:45 pm
Boss Stage: To be announced
Hero Stage: To be announced
5:45 p.m.
Connect with the community online. Join online Q&A, breakout sessions, and try fun and new digital event technology.
