GamesBeat 2014 will address the ambitions of the world’s biggest game company — and how to fight cyber bullies

We are excited to announce four more new speakers at GamesBeat 2014, our game industry conference that takes place Sept. 15 and Sept. 16 at the Parc 55 Wyndham Hotel in San Francisco. If you want to go, take note that prices will go up at 5 pm Pacific time today, Sept. 5.

Our newest speakers include:

Above: Matt Higby of SOE

Image Credit: SOE

Matt Higby, creative director of Sony Online Entertainment’s PlanetSide 2. Higby will speak at GamesBeat University, our parallel track focused on solo educational talks. He will speak on “Navigating the other online war zone: Tips for handling online harassment.” As we’ve seen in recent weeks, the Internet has become a battleground, with cyber bullies hiding behind anonymous online avatars. The gaming industry has been rife with harmful online behavior as outsiders and even gamers have attacked developers, journalists, and each other. Higby will speak about his experiences with this phenomenon, including ways SOE and the PlanetSide 2 team have tried to control and combat online hostility, and provide advice, tips and more for dealing with navigating the rough waters of the Internet.

Higby was the creative force behind PlanetSide 2, the free-to-play massively multiplayer online first-person shooter game. He has worked on titles like Free Realms, EverQuest II, Star Wars Galaxies, Untold Legends, and Star Wars: Cone Wars Adventures.

Above: Dan Brody of Tencent

Image Credit: Tencent

Dan Brody, vice president of business development at Tencent. If you haven’t heard, China’s Internet giant Tencent had $5 billion in revenues related to games last year, making it bigger than Activision Blizzard. Tencent isn’t well-known in the West, except as the part-owner of Epic Games (maker of Gears of War) and Riot Games (maker of League of Legends). In a fireside chat, we will speak with one of the architects of Tencent’s current gaming portfolio and the company’s strategy for expansion. The talk will explore Tencent’s plans in the U.S., as well as their continued efforts in Asia.  We will also discuss their involvement in other markets such as Europe and Latin/South America.

Above: Oliver Miao of Pixelberry

Image Credit: Michael O'Donnell/VentureBeat

Oliver Miao, CEO of Pixelberry Studios, and Janis Zech, the chief revenue officer and cofounder of Fyber (formerly SponsorPay). Miao and Zech will speak at a GamesBeat University talk entitled “Monetization and doing good: Pixelberry’s recipe for success.”

Miao, who was one of the entrants in our Who’s Got Game Innovation Showdown contest for best game startup last year, has a hit game in High School Story. Before that, he created the startup Centerscore and sold it first to Vivendi Games, which in turn sold it to Electronic Arts. There, his team published Surviving High School.

Above: Janis Zech of Fyber

Image Credit: Fyber

Zech is chief revenue officer at Fyber. He cofounded the company, previously called SponsorPay, in Berlin in 2009.

With nearly 20 percent of users abandoning a mobile game after just one play, unlocking the formula to effective monetization and retention is crucial. At this session, we’ll hear how Pixelberry’s High School Story embraced the challenge of mobile monetization, climbing and then maintaining its spot in the iOS 100 top-grossing U.S. apps for 10 consecutive months. Whether holding a “no advertising” stance at launch or later mixing advanced ad products like mediation with in-depth analytics, Pixelberry’s strategy embodies many of the best practices developing in today’s complex ecosystem.

We’ll have plenty of other speakers to come.

Purchase a ticket now and save $200. Ticket prices go up on Friday, Sept. 5 at 5 p.m.!

Our previously announced guests include:

• Andrew Wilson, CEO of Electronic Arts
• Kym Nelson, SVP at Twitch
• Jeff Lyndon, president of iDreamSky
• Kristian Segerstrale, COO at Super Evil Megacorp
• Will Harbin, CEO of Kixeye
• Rob Weber, CEO of NativeX
• Monty Kerr, cofounder of Playstudios
• Jeff Hilbert, co-CEO of DDM
• Anatoly Ropotov, CEO of Game Insight
• Roy Liu, CEO of Forgame US
• AJ Redmer, head of Gumi North America
• Mike Vorhaus, president of Magid Advisors
• Jay Eum, managing director at TransLink Capital
• Mikihiro Yasuda, a partner at strategic investment office at DeNA
• James Zhang, CEO of Spellgun
• Aditya Rathnam, co-founder of Kamcord
• Taehoon Kim, CEO of nWay
• Simon Khalaf, president and CEO of Flurry
• James Iliff, chief creative officer at Survios
• Andy Zhong, CEO of FunPlus
• Mike Frazzini, vice president of games at Amazon
• Dan Connors, CEO of Telltale Games
• Chris Petrovic, head of corporate development and licensing at Kabam
• David Helgason, CEO of Unity Technologies
• Peter Molyneux, CEO of 22cans
• Clive Downie, chief operating officer of Zynga
• Jonathan Simpson-Bint, chief revenue officer at Twitch
• Malathi Nayak, a reporter for Reuters
• Bob Meese, global head of game business development at Google Play
• Lucy Bradshaw, a senior vice president of the Maxis label at Electronic Arts
• Rachel Franklin, general manager of The Sims Studio at EA
• Rick Thompson, chairman of Signia Ventures
• Chris DeWolfe, chief executive of SGN
• Phil Sanderson, a game-savvy partner at IDG Ventures
• Peter Levin, president of interactive ventures and games at Lionsgate, the film studio that made The Hunger Games and Divergent
• Mike Gallagher, president and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association
• Jens Begemann, chief executive of German social-mobile game publisher Wooga
• Mitch Lasky, a general partner at Benchmark and an investor in Riot Games and Natural Motion
• John Riccitiello, a gaming investor and the former CEO of Electronic Arts
• Evan Hirsch, founder of Engine Co. No. 4 (talking about seeing signs of trouble in game studios)
• Tim Chang, managing director at the Mayfield Fund

Our advisers include:

• Eric Goldberg, managing director of Crossover Technologies
• Michael Chang, managing director of Mavent Partners
• Tim Chang, managing director at Mayfield Fund

We expect to have about 100 speakers, and we’ll roll out more as we get closer to the event.

Each year, GamesBeat follows a big trend. In 2009, we focused on how “All the World’s a Game” with the medium’s explosion on the global stage. In 2010, GamesBeat@GDC focused on “Disruption 2.0.” In 2011, our theme was “Mobile Games Level Up,” focusing on the busy intersection of games and mobile technology. In 2012, we explored the “Crossover Era”, covering time when so many big game companies and startups were transforming themselves by expanding from one market to the next. Last year, we talked about the “Battle Royal” as barriers between the different industry segments came down. Now, in the bid for “Total World Domination,” the competition to become the biggest global gaming company is wide open.

As companies adapt, we’re witnessing disruption, change, consolidation, innovation, and the arrival of big money. Billions of dollars are at stake. Last year, more than 550 notables from throughout the industry — social, mobile, online, PC, and console — attended the event. Please join us.

This year, we’ll see the return of our contest for the best gaming startup. The attention that these companies get for speaking onstage and winning the event is invaluable. An all-star panel of judges will pick the most promising entry based on freshness, innovation, and potential for business success. The top nominees will appear onstage, and the judges will pick the winner at the event.

We are still exploring our subthemes for the event and welcome your suggestions. If you’d like to sponsor, please send an email to sales@venturebeat.com.

Here’s what a couple of game industry leaders said about last year’s event:

“Thanks for the contributions GamesBeat has made for this industry.” –Bing Gordon, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

“It’s really refreshing listening to the cutting-edge innovation that is happening in the industry. I’m learning so much by being here.” –– Mike Gallagher, the president of the Entertainment Software Association

Purchase a ticket now and save $200!

Thanks to the following industry leaders for supporting GamesBeat 2014: NativeX as Corporate Partner; Tapjoy and SupersonicAds as Gold Partner; TrialPay, InMobi, and TapSense as Silver Partners; SponsorPay, LifeStreet Media, SGN, Funplus, AppLift and Personagraph as Event Partners; Pwnit and Nudge as Nest Partners.