GamesBeat speaker spotlight: Ouya’s Julie Uhrman on flipping publishing models

If anybody does disruption, it’s Ouya. The maker of the Android micro console is catering to indie game developers, so they can publish their titles directly to the living room without the encumbrances of traditional publishing models. Ouya earned its nickname as “the people’s console,” and that’s one reason why we recruited Julie Uhrman, chief executive of Ouya, to speak at GamesBeat 2013.

Ouya, which raised more than $8.5 million on Kickstarter just 13 months ago, launched its console in June while recruiting developers to its “open publishing platform.” Uhrman will bring us up to date on the state of her company’s revolution, which has had a few bumps along the way. Will demand for Ouya materialize? Will it produce some killer hits that also monetize?

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Clearly, the mobile gaming landscape is much different from the console one, where developers had to pitch publishers and hardware makers. Now, they can control their own destiny. Uhrman will talk about this with Dan “Shoe” Hsu, editor in chief of GamesBeat, in a fireside chat during our event on Oct. 29 and 30 at the Sofitel Hotel in Redwood City, Calif.

Here are the rest of the speakers we have announced for the proceedings:

• Mike Gallagher, president and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association
• John Riccitiello, an active game investor and former CEO of Electronic Arts
• Tony Bartel, president of GameStop
• Simon Khalaf, the CEO of Flurry
• Owen Mahoney, the chief financial officer and chief administrative officer at 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 the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
• Bing Gordon, a partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
• Clive Downie, the CEO of DeNA West
• Kevin Chou, CEO of Kabam
• 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 companies compete across platforms, territories, digital and physical markets, and categories of games.

We’ve entered an era where many firms are vying 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 game makers. Where should they take their titles? Which platforms will provide the best 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 for 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,” 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, Playnomics, and LifeStreet Media as Silver Sponsors; AppFlood and Slashdot as Event Sponsors; Akamon Entertainment and Arkadium as contributing sponsors. If you’d like to become a sponsor, please send a message to sponsors@venturebeat.com.