GamesBeat speaker highlight: Kevin Chou on game industry Darwinism

Kevin Chou, the chief executive of social and mobile gaming firm Kabam, is one of our spotlight speakers at our upcoming GamesBeat 2013 conference on Oct. 29-Oct. 30 at the Hotel Sofitel in Redwood City, Calif.

He’ll be talking about the need for game companies to evolve quickly in a session moderated by Chris Kohler, the editor of Wired Game Life. Chou, who co-founded Kabam in 2007, has evolved his company as a leader in the free-to-play hardcore social-gaming market. He started with an exclusive focus on Facebook but adapted to changes in the market by spreading out to other social networks, the web, and to mobile platforms. Chou will talk about “industry Darwinism” — on how to grow rapidly on new platforms, migrate to new ones, and allocate the right resources to make the change happen. Thanks to Kabam’s shift to mobile games, the company expects to generate more than $300 million in revenue this year.

Here are the rest of our announced speakers for the event:

• John Riccitiello, an active game investor and former CEO of Electronic Arts
• Simon Khalaf, the CEO of Flurry
• Owen Mahoney, the chief financial officer and chief administrative officer, Nexon
• Brendan Iribe, the CEO of Oculus VR
• Frank Gibeau, the president of EA Labels at Electronic Arts
• Tim Chang, a partner at Mayfield Fund
• Robin Hunicke, the cofounder of Funomena
• Wim Stocks, the executive vice president at Virgin Gaming
• Mark Donovan, the president of Xfire
• Gabriel Leydon, the CEO of Machine Zone
• Geoff Keighley, the host of Spike TV’s GTTV
• Adam Sessler, the executive producer of Revision3 Games
• Martin Rae, the president of Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
• Bing Gordon, a partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
• Clive Downie, the CEO of DeNA West
• Tony Bartel, the president of GameStop
• Tim Merel, the managing director at Digi-Capital
• Sunny Dhillon, an early stage investor at Signia Venture Partners
• Brock Pierce, the managing director of Clearstone Global Fund

Our theme for the conference is the “Battle Royal,” where all game companies compete across platforms, territories, digital and physical markets, and categories of games.

We’ve entered an era where many varied companies are competing for gamers’ time in the same space. Apple and Google want to get in the living room and are waging war against Nintendo and Sony. Microsoft already has an edge in living room entertainment with its Xbox Live service, but it wants a piece of mobile as well. It’s a confusing time for gamemakers. Where should they take their games? What platforms will provide the best gaming experiences? Who will make them the most money?

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We’ll roll out a steady drumbeat of speakers as we get closer to GamesBeat 2013′s October date. We expect to have more than 80 of the gaming industry’s best lined up from our fifth annual event.

Each year, GamesBeat follows a big trend. In 2009, we focused on how “All The World’s a Game,” with the explosion of games on the global stage. In 2010, GamesBeat@GDC focused on “Disruption 2.0.” In 2011, our theme was “Mobile Games Level Up,” investigating the busy intersection of games and mobile technology. In 2012, we explored “The Crossover Era,” defined by the time when so many big game companies and startups were transforming themselves by expanding from one market to the next.

As companies adapt to change, we’re witnessing disruption, adaptation, consolidation, innovation, and the arrival of big money. We’re talking billions of dollars that are at stake. We’re expecting 400 notables from throughout the game industry — social, mobile, online, and console. Please join us.

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Thanks to the following industry leaders for supporting GamesBeat 2013 as sponsors: Ad2Games, AppLift, NativeX, Renren Games, and Tapjoy as Gold Sponsors; Flurry, Kontagent, and LifeStreet Media as Silver Sponsors; AppFlood and Slashdot as Event Sponsors; Akamon Entertainment and Arkadium as contributing sponsors. If you’d like to be a sponsor, please send a message to sponsors@venturebeat.com.