We hope you can make it to our GamesBeat 2016 conference at the beautiful Terranea resort in Rancho Palos Verdes in Los Angeles. The event runs from August 1 (starting with our AR/VR day) through August 3. (Get your tickets here).
We’ll have speakers from Electronic Arts, Sony, Warner Bros, Lionsgate, Activision Blizzard, Oculus, Google, and Disney. We’ve signed up 105 speakers, and some have been added so recently we haven’t updated the online agenda yet. This post has the current schedule.
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Mainstage talks in Palos Verdes Ballroom
Above: Vreal is like Twitch for VR.
12:30 pm
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Welcome by emcee Mike Capps, adviser at Solid Fog and former president of Epic Games.
12:35 pm to 12:45 pm
Opening remarks by Dean Takahashi, leader writer for GamesBeat.
12:45 pm to 1:05 pm
The First wave of VR and the next one. Fireside chat between Jason Rubin, head of content at Oculus, and Dean Takahashi.
1:05 pm to 1:25 pm
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How VR will change entertainment. Fireside chat between Roy Taylor, corporate vice president of alliances at Advanced Micro Devices and Dean Takahashi.
1:25 pm to 1:45 pm
How Hollywood, VR, and games can come together. Fireside chat between Peter Levin, president of Lionsgate Interactive Ventures & Games, and David Jagneaux, games editor at UploadVR.
Networking break 1:45 pm to 2 pm
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Breakout sessions
2 pm to 2:30 pm
AR/VR beyond games. Panelists: Jules Urbach, CEO, Otoy; Sylvio Drouin, VP of Unitiy Labs at Unity Technologies; Christina Heller, CEO of VR Playhouse. Moderator: Clifton Dawson, CEO of Greenlight VR. Palos Verdes 6.
2 pm to 2:30 pm
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User-Generated Content for VR. Panelists: Dave Baszucki, CEO, Roblox; Todd Hooper CEO of Vreal;
Dedric Reid, CEO of HelloVR. Moderator: Mike Minotti, writer and community manager for GamesBeat. Palos Verdes 7.
2 pm to 230 pm
Monetizing VR. Panelists: Mihir Shah, CEO at Immersv; Guy Bendov, CEO at Sidekick VR; Julie Uhrman, Head of Platform Business Development at Jaunt. Moderator: Wanda Meloni, Executive Director at Open Gaming Alliance. Palos Verdes 8.
Networking break 2:30 pm to 2:45 pm
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Breakout sessions
2:45 pm to 3:15 pm
Making augmented reality games. Panelists: Rick Johnson, cofounder of CastAR; Nick Beliaeff, VP, Production at Spin Master;
Pramod Sharma, CEO of Osmo. Moderator: Margaret Wallace, CEO of Playmatics. Palos Verdes 6
2:45 pm to 3:15 pm
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VR now! Panelists: James Iliff, creative director and cofounder of Survios; Tom Sanocki, CEO of Limitless; Adam Orth, creative director at Three One Zero. Moderator: Stewart Rogers, director of marketing technology at VentureBeat. Palos Verdes 7
2:45 pm to 3:15 pm
2016 Mind the Gap: Expectations vs. reality on virtual reality adoption. Panelists: Phil Sanderson, general partner, IDG Ventures; Alice Lloyd George, associate, RRE Ventures; Marco Demiroz, general partner and cofounder, The Venture Reality Fund/The VR Fund. Moderator: Sunny Dhillion, partner at Signia Venture Partners. Palos Verdes 8
Networking break 3:15 pm to 3:45 pm
Mainstage talks (Palos Verdes Ballroom)
3:45 pm to 4:05 pm
What works and what doesn’t in virtual reality games. Fireside chat between Richard Marks, senior research engineer, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and Joost van Dreunen, CEO of SuperData Research.
4:05 pm to 4:25 pm
Shaping the Daydream games portfolio. Keynote speech by Jamil Moledina, games strategic lead, Google Play.
4:25 pm to 4:55 pm
The real opportunities in virtual reality. Fireside chat between Neville Spiteri, CEO of Wevr, and Michael Metzger, media & tech investment banker, Houlihan Lokey.
4:55 pm to 5:15 pm
The next generation of esports. Fireside chat between Peter Moore, chief competition
5:15 pm to 5:20 pm
Closing comments by Dean Takahashi
5:30 pm to 8:30 pm Welcome social BBQ
Day 2
GamesBeat 2016
Mainstage
Above: Hey, kid, I have something for you in this back alley. …
9:30 am to 10:30 am Expo at Palos Verdes Foyer and GamesBeat Expo
10:30 am to 10:35 am
Welcome address by Bryan Pray, emcee
10:35 am to 10:45 am
GamesBeat welcome by Dean Takahashi, lead writer for GamesBeat
10:45 am to 11:05 am
An analyst’s view of gaming’s future. Keynote by Michael Pachter, managing director at Wedbush Securities
11:05 am to 11:35 am
Crafting the perfect game platform. Panelists: Zvi Greenstein, general manager of GeForce at Nvidia; Sinjin Bain, CEO at MaxPlay; Hao Chen, senior software engineer at Amazon. Moderator: Kate Edwards, executive director at the International Game Developers Association.
11:35 am to 11:55 am
How marketing can open up creative and game design possibilities. Fireside chat between Lee Jones, head of global app advertising at Google and Matt Marshall, founder of VentureBeat.
11:55 am to 12:15 pm
Why Warner sees games as a key business pillar. Fireside chat between Dean Takahashi and David Haddad, president of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.
Picnic lunch and expo 12:15 pm to 1:30 pm
Breakout sessions
1:30 pm to 2 pm
Catering to gaming’s super fans. Panelists: Phil Westerland; Jeremy Kenyon; Jeff “SuiJeneris” Chau. Moderator: Maarten Noyons, CEO of the International Mobile Gaming Awards. Palos Verdes 6
1:30 pm to 2 pm
How influencers are changing game marketing. Panelists: Meghan Camarena, CEO at Strawburry17; Noah Whinston, CEO of The Immortals. Moderator: Perrin Kaplan, principal at Zebra Partners. Palos Verdes 7
1:30 pm Balancing monetization and engagement. Panelists: Tammy Levy, director of mobile product at Kongregate; Greg Canessa, senior vice president at GSN Games; Chris Heatherly, senior vice president at Disney Mobile Games. Moderator: David Pokress, senior vice president at AdColony. Palos Verdes 8
Networking break 2 pm to 2:15 pm
Breakout sessions
2:15 pm to 2:45 pm
The opportunities in esports. Panelists: Niccolo Maisto CEO of FaceIt; Todd Krieger, director of emerging technology at Deep Focus; Andy Swanson, vice president of esports at Twitch. Moderator: Jeff Grubb, news writer for GamesBeat. Palos Verdes 6.
2:15 pm to 2:45 pm
How to do a publishing deal. Mark Stanley, vice president at GameStop; Walter Driver, CEO of Scopely; David Jaffe, founder of Bartlet Jones Supernatural Detective Agency. Moderator: Ophir Lupu, head of games at United Talent Agency. Palos Verdes 7.
2:15 pm to 2:45 pm
How to revitalize your IP. Panelists: Nathan Stewart, global franchise director for Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast;; Brian Fargo, CEO of InXile Entertainment; David Reid, CEO of MetaArcade. Moderator: Jason Wilson, managing editor for GamesBeat. Palos Verdes 8.
Networking expo, outdoor lawn games. 2:45 pm to 3:30 pm
Mainstage
3:30 pm to 4 pm: Creativity: What’s diversity got to do with it? Panelists: Megan Gaiser, co-CEO of Spiral Media Ltd. and principal at Contagious Creativity; Michael Condrey, cofounder at Sledgehammer Games’ Ru Weerasuriya, creative director at Ready At Dawn Studios. Moderator: Nicole Lazzaro, CEO of Xeo Design.
4:00 pm to 4:30 pm
Riding the Pokémon Go rocket. Fireside chat between John Hanke, CEO of Niantic Labs, and Paresh Dave, reporter for the Los Angeles Times.
4:30 pm to 5 pm
Tepid, hot, or just right? The state of gaming investments. Panelists: Chris Fralic, partner at First Round Capital; Clinton Foy, managing director & general partner at CrossCut Ventures; Dan Fiden, chief strategy officer at Funplus. Moderator: Martin Rae, president, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.
5 pm to 5:05 pm
Closing comments by Bryan Pray
5:05 pm to 6 pm Happy Hour in Expo
6 pm GamesBeat Fiesta. Palos Verdes Terrace.
Day 3
GamesBeat 2016
Above: League of Legends draws huge audiences, and many want to participate in related fantasy sports.
9:30 am to 10:30 am Breakfast and expo
Mainstage
10:35 am to 11:10 am
Lightning Rounds: Lessons for Game Developers. Speakers: David Levitt, CEO of Pantomime; Omar Siddiqui, CEO of Kiwi; Brendan Wilson, cofounder, System Era; Jay Mattis, cofounder High Horse; Dima Veryovka Co-Founder of Colabee Studios. Moderator: Stewart Rogers, director of marketing technology at VentureBeat.
11:10 am to 11:30 am
Changing the way you do business. Fireside chat between Kent Wakeford, chief operating officer of Kabam, and Dean Takahashi
11:30 am to 11:50 am
How to make esports more mainstream. Fireside chat between Mike Sepso, senior vice president of Media Networks at Activision Blizzard. Jeff Grubb, news writer for GamesBeat.
11: 50 am to 12:10 pm
Making games accessible — The Blizzard way. Fireside chat between Gio Hunt, executive vice president of corporate operations, Blizzard Entertainment, and Mike Minotti, staff writer and community manager at GamesBeat.
Lunch and expo 12:10 pm to 1:25 pm
Mainstage
1:25 pm to 1:55 pm
Going East or Going West. Panelists: Daniel Cho, chairman of Innospark; Roy Liu, general manager of Linekong USA; James Zhang, CEO of Concept Art House and Spellgun. Moderator: Jason Wilson, managing editor of GamesBeat
1:55 pm to 2:15 pm
Riot North America on building an ecosystem: Community, partnerships, and a lasting sport. Fireside chat between Sean Haran, director of business development and publishing at Riot Games and Taylor Cocke, writer at Yahoo esports
2:15 pm to 2:35 pm
Gaming’s past and future. Fireside chat between Tom Kalinske, chairman of Gazillion, and Dean Takahashi.
2:35 pm to 2:45 pm
Closing comments by Dean Takahashi