GamesBeat 2014's newest speakers are execs from Twitch, iDreamSky, and Super Evil Megacorp

We are excited to announce three 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.

Our newest speakers include:

Above: Kym Nelson of Twitch

Image Credit: Twitch

Kym Nelson, senior vice president of sales at Twitch. Nelson has seen the gameplay livestreaming firm explode since she joined in May 2013. The company, which Amazon recently acquired for $970 million, has ridden the trends of game spectating and eSports, growing to more than 55 million monthly active users in a very short time. Nelson created the Twitch Media Group and launched an inside, direct-sales media group at Twitch.

Her session, “Why livestreaming and social video is transforming game discovery, purchase decisions, consumption and community around your game, will explore the impact social video is having on how game enthusiasts engage with new titles and content before they buy and how livestreaming impacts buying, drives engagement with IPs, and creates deep community and rabid fans. Bottom line: a livestreaming/social video strategy is imperative in today’s game-marketing strategies.

Geoff Keighley, a well-known game personality and the executive in charge of game publisher relations at Spike TV, will also moderate the session. Prior to joining Twitch, Nelson was vice president of West Coast sales at IGN Entertainment.

Above: Kristian Segerstrale

Image Credit: Super Evil Megacorp

Kristian Segerstrale, chief operating officer and executive director at Super Evil Megacorp, a prelaunch developer of hardcore games for tablets. He is also co-founder of Initial Capital and an investor and board member of Supercell, the maker of the hit game Clash of Clans.

Previously, he was a co-founder and CEO of Playfish, the social-gaming company that publishing and developing giant Electronic Arts acquired in 2009 for up to $400 million. After the acquisition, Segerstrale stayed on at EA as executive vice president of digital as the company pivoted from packaged goods to digital games. He leads seed-stage investments at Initial Capital.

He will join Tim Chang, managing director of Mayfield Fund, in a session about the next billion-dollar game companies. Martin Rae, president of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, will moderate the session.

Above: Jeff Lyndon of iDreamSky

Image Credit: Dean Takahashi

Jeff Lyndon, president and cofounder of iDreamSky, the largest mobile-game publishing platform in China. Lyndon has spent 14 years in game development and publishing. His first project, Shadowbane, was a 3D, massively multiplayer online role-playing game he released in 2001. At iDreamSky, he has helped the company transform from a smartphone-app outsourcing studio to one of the biggest mobile game publishers in China. The company has partnered with big game developers such as Halfbrick, Smilegate, Namco Bandai, Disney, Ubisoft, and Imangi.

He will take part in a fireside chat entitled “Why China has become the hottest game market.” Lyndon has seen mobile gaming take off in China as gamers embrace worldwide brands like Fruit Ninja. Analysts project that the revenue growth rate in 2014 will be a staggering 93 percent, and iDreamSky went public recently on the promise of even more growth in China. How will China grow in the future? And what kinds of titles will Chinese gamers want? Where will China’s companies expand next?

Michele Maguire, head of business development at Predicta.io and senior strategist at Niko Partnershe, will lead the discussion.

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
• 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.