Program

07:30 - 08:30: Fireside Chat: Why the Games Industry will have a Major Impact in Saving the Planet and how YOU can become a Part of it?

Georg Broxtermann

Initiator, GamesForest.Club

Rob Small

President & Co-Founder, Miniclip

Maria Wagner

Initiator & GM, GamesForest.Club

Julian Miculcy

Head of Operations, Gamer Legion

08:50 - 09:20: How to Craft a Lasting IP

Christian Fonnesbech

IP Consultant, Leverage

Beloved IPs are what makes a game company sustainable. For successful developers, IP accounts for more than half the company's total value. But how do you build this value? Christian Fonnesbech will share the creative and business-related foundations of building long-term IPs and brands.

09:30 - 10:30: Panel Discussion: New Ways to Monetize Mobile Gaming - Breathing New Life Into Traditional Advertising Methodologies

Moderator Emma Raz

Director of Commercial, NumberEight

Zach Robbie

Ad Partnerships, Monetisation, Miniclip

Christian Facey

CEO & Co-Founder, AudioMob

Jonathon Troughton

CEO & Co-Founder, Frameplay

Abhishek Sen

CEO and Co-Founder, NumberEight

This session will aim to bring together different perspectives, solutions, and innovations. It will be touching upon new issues and solutions that have yet to be discussed in the industry attention such as Mobex, the role of privacy, and innovative brand advertising. For this purpose, we brought together experts from various fields, representing mobile gaming publisher(s), new ad formats such as in-play and audio, and data enrichment solution(s).

10:30 - 12:30: NETWORKING BREAK

12:30 - 13:00: Preparing for the 2021 Holiday Season

Sneha Vaidyanathan

Vertical Strategy Lead, Facebook Gaming @ Meta

13:10 - 13:40: AI - a Game Changer in Game Development

Isaiah Arias

Head of Business Development, Scalarr

AI and its DRL concept is changing gaming industry, where machines can teach themselves based upon the results of their own actions. AI agents are achieving high-profile milestones in play testing when compared to their human counterparts.

13:50 - 14:20: Opportunities in China's Videogame Market

Lisa Cosmas Hanson

President, Niko Partners

China is the world's largest market for games and esports, representing a significant opportunity for companies across the entire gaming ecosystem. The talk explains Niko's analysis on where those opportunities will come from, which segments are hot now and growing, and what the impact on the worldwide games industry will be.

08:30 - 10:00: Welcome Coffee

10:00 - 10:30: Rogue Loves Indie Games and We're Putting our Money Where our Mouth is

Scott Prather

Director, Business Development, Rogue Games

Chris Archer

Chief Strategy Officer, Rogue Games

Find out how when they pull back the curtain on an unprecedented game development event.

10:30 - 11:00: Hybrid Monetization in AAA games

Phoena Pang

Strategic Partner Development Lead, Google

In this presentation, we will deep dive into why hybrid monetization is important to hardcore games and using rewarded ads to create value exchange in the game. We summarize three main reasons why hardcore mobile games want to implement hybrid monetization and four key approaches to integrating rewarded ads in your game. We will also provide some case studies of how AAA games integrate ads in their games - best design cases to boost ARPDAU and maintain retention.

11:00 - 12:00: Panel Discussion: Pivoting into Success - A Non-linear Path for Games Startups

Moderator Shirley Lin

Chief Business Dev & Co-Founder, RunAppRun

Vickie Chen

CEO & Founder, AviaGames

Mihai Pohontu

CEO & Founder, Amber

Chase Freo

CEO & Co-Founder, OP Games

Starting a tech company is never a smooth path. Building a game company from scratch is no exception. Our speakers both had founded their companies from scratch and have taken their company to grow the size, broaden the users as well as clients, increase the revenue, and secure the funding. It was a bumpy road and it continues to demand and challenge their leadership and vision.

How do they manage in the constantly changing environment, both internally and externally? What were the lessons learned and advice they would give to any game startup entrepreneurs?

We will hear their own stories on the journey, seeking their wisdom in defining what constitutes their success and achieving their goals.

12:00 - 12:30: Inclusive Game Design and Development

Renee Gittins

Executive Director, IGDA

12:30 - 13:30: Lunch Break

13:30 - 14:30: Lessons of the Xbox 20

Ed Fries

General Partner, 1UP Ventures

Interview by Dean Takahashi

Lead Writer, VentureBeat

As Xbox hits its 20th anniversary, it's a good time to remember what a fragile enterprise it was at its beginning and the people who made it happen. Now the business is generating huge profits and revenues each year, and its ecosystem has never been so strong. What were the inspirations and tactics that got it off the ground? Dean Takahashi, lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat, wrote a book about the making of the Xbox. talks with Ed Fries, who ran Microsoft Game Studios at the time and went on to found 1Up Ventures to invest in game studios. They will talk about the lessons of the Xbox for today's game industry.

14:30 - 15:00: Building Universes around Creators - beyond the NFT drop

Benny Giang

Founding Team Member, Ex Dapper Labs

Benny was team member #13 at Dapper Labs. He helped launch CryptoKitties in 2017 and NBA Top Shot in 2020. Through his 5 years within the NFT space he's seen the massive growth of digital collectibles. Since leaving Dapper Labs, Benny continues his endeavor in the creator economy driven by NFT and DAO's and an upcoming project to be announced in the near future.

15:00 - 15:30: Cash Rules Everything Around Me - Secrets of Video Game Funding

Justin Berenbaum

VP Strategic Planning / GM, Xsolla / Xsolla Funding Club

An insider's outside look at some of the not-so-secret aspects of finding the money and what happens before, during and after the journey to video game funding. Justin will walk you through the different types of game financing, but the primary takeaway will be on project financing and key details on what and how to get it. This information should be valuable even if you decide to self-publish.

15:30 - 16:00: Coffee Break

16:00 - 17:00: Remote Control: Development Opportunities for External Teams

Moderator Scott Humphries

Head of Product Development, Amber

Jim Stern

Vice President, General Manager, Kongregate

Don Norbury

CTO / Head, NEON / Shrapnel Studio

Thomas O'Connor

CEO & Studio Director, PlayEveryWare

In this panel, we will explore some of the multi-faceted stories of the externalization of game development in our industry. Drawing from various case studies of top games companies externalizing development around the world, we’ll cover the challenges and opportunities of working remotely with external teams. This panel is aimed towards companies and professionals thinking about externalizing production, as well as companies that have externalized work before and are looking to exchange experiences and improve their processes.

17:00 - 17:30: Being a Mother in the Gaming Industry

Shiew Yeu Loh

Art Manager, Pocket Gems

Everyone in the industry should be aware of the daily challenges mothers face trying to be an accomplished talent in the gaming industry as well as an involved mother to her family. The issue is very real and, in many cultures, not openly discussed. In countries where game dev is still young, many women are afraid to have a family due to the high pressure and expectation of the industry and are not courageous enough to speak up.

Although many companies have become much more aware of these issues and are willing to make changes, we must realize that we don't have to do it all alone. What are the issues? Where and how to find support within the company or in the community? What rights and facilities does one have to work with?

After the speaker presentation, we will have a break-out session for group discussions.

08:30 - 10:00: Welcome Coffee

10:00 - 10:30: Rising Global Challenges to Game Creation

Kate Edwards

Executive Director / CEO, Global Game Jam / Geogrify

With over 27 years of experience in games as a geographer and culturalization strategist, Kate Edwards has seen it all when it comes to geopolitical and cultural challenges that may be overlooked in game creation and can negatively impact a title’s release overseas. As more governments now extend their content policies beyond their borders, we’re seeing a sharp increase in content being rejected for not adhering to a single worldview. In this new talk, Kate discusses what game creators can do to be better prepared for defending your creative vision against intrusive local regulations.

10:30 - 11:00: Generating Ad Revenue Without Disrupting Your Games

Neil Tewari

CEO, Relentlo

11:00 - 11:30: Is Reality that Boring? Travel Notes from our Basements to the Metaverse

Pierre Moisan

Senior Advisor New Media, CEIM

11:30 - 12:30: Panel Discussion: Into the Unknown - What's Now and Next for Video Game Investment

Moderator Justin Berenbaum

VP Strategic Planning / GM, Xsolla / Xsolla Funding Club

Jim Ying

Managing Director, CVCapital

David Chang

Managing Director, Tyr Advisors

Andrew Sheppard

Managing Director, Transcend Fund

Tammy McDonald

CEO, Axis Game Factory/Heavy H2O

12:30 - 13:30: Lunch Break

13:30 - 14:30: Fireside Chat: Engaging The Player Community in NFT Games: Motivation Beyond Play-to-Earn

Moderator Chase Freo

CEO & Co-Founder, OP Games

Benny Giang

Founding Team Member, Ex Dapper Labs

14:30 - 15:00: From Indie Studio to joining Mobile Giant

Marianna Shilina Vallejo

Production Director, CEO of internal studio, Playrix

We'll talk about the lifecycle of a game development studio and it's challenges and how to become a part of a big mobile developer; work on the game with 11 mln DAU and keeping our processes authentic.

15:00 - 15:30: Dissecting the Deal: Everything You Need to Know to Evaluate Your Funding or Acquisition Opportunity

David Chang

Managing Director, Tyr Advisors

15:30 - 16:00: Coffee Break

16:00 - 16:30: Let's build the Metaverse

Masaru Ohnogi

Co-Founder / CBO, Thirdverse

Masaru has been involved in the AR/VR industry since 2015, and while at Thirdverse, he established the company's AR/VR pipeline and launched its VR incubation, acceleration and funding subsidiaries globally through establishing relationships with partners in 20 countries. Previously, he was the Head of gumi America, Inc. and the CPO of gumi X Reality.

16:30 - 17:00: Building a Scale-Up Financial Model

Martin Macmillan

CEO, Pollen VC

In this session we will cover how to build a robust financial model for gaming company preparing to scale. We'll show you how to build a model which takes a company from current level of UA to a target level of scale in the most efficient way.

07:30 - 08:00: Market Research: Getting Ready for Your Next Hit Game

Vladislav Fadichev

Brand Manager, MY.GAMES Venture Capital

Why should we do research and how to do it properly? What tips and tricks you should keep in mind during the analysis? What are the risks of incorrect comparison? Which tools should you use? What should you know about your own game: risks, possibilities, points of growth, etc.? How to validate the results?

08:10 - 08:40: NFTs in Games - Lessons from this Year and the Way Forward

Jakub Trancik

Head of Business Intelligence & Game Design, SuperScale

Blockchain gaming and NFTs in games grew to be a significant evolution of the gaming market, with $10.67 billion in trading volume just in Q3, a 509% year-over-year increase with a very strong long-term outlook. The story of this market will be told - highlight implications on the current F2P market, and fundamental lessons for developers hoping to enter this space.

08:50 - 09:20: Monetization, Growth and How to Steer Your Game from Zero to Hero

Vasil Gospodinov

Marketing & Business Development Manager, Imperia Online JSC

The purpose of this session is to provide general knowledge of how monetization works and best practices (main focus on F2P titles). You will hear about the standard practices as well as how Imperia Online uses them to incentivize players to become payers, and payers to continue to pay.

09:30 - 10:00: What’s Next for the Future of App Monetization?

Scott Schnepper

Publisher Solutions Manager, North America, Meta Audience Network

What does the future of app monetization look like? And what should mobile gaming businesses focus on now to get there? Join Scott Schnepper as he talks about the current state of app monetization, and what publishers can look forward to in 2022 and beyond.

10:00 - 10:30: Game Art Style Comparison - North American and Asian Markets

Sue Huang

Art Director, GameVision

What's the difference between the US market and the Asian market in game art styles? The culture difference between the East and West? How to set up the art production process?

10:30 - 12:30: Networking Break

12:30 - 13:00: Conquering TikTok Ads for Mobile Games

David Westerman

Online Marketing Manager, Bytro Labs

How did a small hardcore real-time strategy game developer become one of the hottest advertisers on TikTok? We will go through our journey on this exciting platform, and share our best strategies and tactics to conquer it.

13:10 - 13:40: Are Audio Games the Future of Video Games?

Christian Mahnke

CEO, EarReality

Voice technology and audio are on the rise. EarReality is a Voice Game Studio with its own CMS (TWIST) that empowers users to create interactive audio stories and Voice RPGs easily. In this session, you will discover the opportunities for gaming studios to expand their games to Voice and reach new audiences.

13:50 - 14:20: Choosing the Right Backend to Power Your next Cross-Platform Games

Raymond Arifianto

VP of Technology, AccelByte

Enabling Cross-Platform capabilities for your game enables deeper engagement with your unified player base, which goes hand-in-hand with Games with long Live Service model.

Picking the right Backend to power your game is one of the most important decisions you will have before entering production stage of your game development.

This talk will walk you through the different functionalities needed to make a Cross-Platform game, and what to look for from the Backend strategy options you have - from Epic Online Services, to Playfab, to Steamworks, to AccelByte, or to roll your own Backend solution.

07:30 - 08:40: Fireside Chat: Play-to-Earn: The Metaverse is already here

Gabby Dizon

Co-Founder, Yield Guild Game

Interview by Oleg Nesterenko

Managing Editor, Game World Observer

08:50 - 09:20: Explosion of Adult Games

Jorge Rosales

Business Development, Nutaku Publishing

Nutaku presents an all-inclusive view of the adult gaming vertical and will provide insight into the world of adult games, what makes them tick, and the huge opportunities available in an unsaturated market. Studios from around the world are taking advantage of this, now let it be your time for success.

09:30 - 10:30: Variety of AI applications in Video Games

Moderator Pierre Moisan

Senior Advisor New Media, CEIM

Stéphanie Bouchard

CEO, Stockholm Syndrome.AI

Mathieu Duperre

CEO, Edgegap

Iulian Vlad Serban

Co-Founder, CEO/CTO, Korbit Technologies

10:30 - 12:30: Networking Break

12:30 - 13:00: Influencer Marketing: How To Promote A Mobile Game And Not Mess It Up?

Julie Shilnikova

Influencer Marketing Team Lead, HypeFactory

Mark Levin

PR & Influencer Marketing Lead, MY.GAMES

When some argue that influencers don't work for gamedev and others spend half of their marketing budget precisely on them, choosing a successful promotion strategy could be tricky. How to launch campaigns, measure results, and what pitfalls to bear in mind when starting to work with influencers?

13:10 - 13:40: Demand Variability and The Need For Brand

Justin Welter

VP of Publishing and Business Development, AdColony

CPMs have become highly variable due to iOS14+. As such, the needs and strategies of brands have changed in order to achieve a positive user experience. Especially with these changes, it has become even more important for brands to find the right partner for their campaigns.

WN Seattle & North America'21

America/Los_Angeles (UTC-7)