Where is app user acquisition headed? Join us at GamesBeat 2012 to find out

Without users, it doesn’t matter how innovative your mobile app or game is. At next week’s GamesBeat 2012 conference in San Francisco, we explore the future of user acquisition with speakers such as Rober Weber, a cofounder of W3i; Gabriel Leydon, the CEO of Machine Zone; Ben Vu, a cofounder and CEO of SkyVu Entertainment; and mobile strategy consultant A.J. Yeakel.

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As VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi put it back in April, “What app makers have to spend to get the attention of Apple device users has risen out of control. That’s a tough fact of life that could make survival hard in the Darwinian mobile app ecosystem. Solving this problem is going to require a lot of innovation and clear thinking. And if it isn’t solved, we’re going to see a number of mobile app companies start to die. If Apple and others in the ecosystem don’t handle it right, it could be a bloodbath for developers.”

This year’s GamesBeat conference will also be co-located with our MobileBeat 2012 conference, where we’ll be exploring how design is the new battleground.

App User Acquisition Today & Tomorrow – Where is it all headed?

The cost to acquire users for mobile games continues to rise. Learn from top experts representing game studios large and small how they are evolving their marketing campaigns to find gamers and how they are optimizing their games to maximize profitability. Key topics include how the social space is impacting discovering of apps now and into the future in light of recent changes by social platforms. We’ll talk about which marketing campaigns have been successful and which campaigns are failing, the tactics that are moving the needle with respect to monetization to improve profitability from user acquisition, the changing methods of user identification and the impact on performance measurement, and how indies are competing with large players to acquire users.

Speakers

Gabriel “Gabe” Leydon is the cofounder and chief executive officer of Machine Zone, Inc., a high growth, free-to-play, mobile, social gaming company. Under Gabriel’s leadership, Machine Zone has created top-grossing hits such as iMob, iMob2, Original Gangstaz, and Global War for iOS devices. Gabriel launched the company (then known as Addmired) in September 2007, joined Y Combinator in the winter of 2008, and is now driving Machine Zone to become the leader in free-to-play mobile games.

A.J. Yeakel is currently a mobile strategy consultant and advisor to companies, including Flurry/Activision Mobile Publishing, Presidio Mobile, and Popover Games. Previously, A.J. served as head of mobile marketing and revenue at Zynga, helping to grow Zynga’s mobile division from 100,000 to over 15 million active daily users. During his time in the mobile group at Zynga, A.J. oversaw 15-plus marketing launches across iOS, Android and HTML5.

Rob Weber cofounded W3i in 2000, growing W3i to be a leader in app user acquisition and monetization. For 42 consecutive quarters, the company has turned a profit and has grown to over 120 employees. For more than a decade, Rob worked to create solutions to increase distribution, drive revenue, and heighten engagement for app developers such as DeNA, Gree, Kabam, PocketGems, and many other indie and public developers. Under Rob’s leadership, W3i recently launched a mobile offer exchange that includes partnerships with leading offer providers.

Ben Vu is the cofounder and CEO of SkyVu Entertainment, a Top 50 mobile game developer with over 17 million downloads of their award-winning Battle Bears mobile game franchise. A recipient of TouchArcade’s Best iPhone Games of the Year and iLounge’s Top 100 Games of the Year, SkyVu’s core 3D action games have reached the top of charts in both paid, free, and top-grossing in over 50 countries.

Moderator

Steve Peterson, the West Coast Editor for GameIndustry International

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GamesBeat 2012′s theme is “The Crossover Era.” The game industry as we know it is changing. We’re seeing established companies cross over from one market to another, where once they faced barriers. As companies adapt to change, we are witnessing disruption, change, consolidation, innovation, and the arrival of big money. We’re talking billions of dollars that are at stake.

We want to thank the industry leaders that are supporting GamesBeat 2012: W3i as Platinum Sponsor; King.com as Corporate Sponsor; Flurry and Tapjoy as Gold Sponsors; Greystripe, LifeStreet Media, Ludei and Nokia Developer as Silver Sponsors; and Betable, Game Insight, Gree, Kontagent, Nexage, Paypal, Pontiflex, Swrve, and XYOlogic as Event Sponsors.

GamesBeat 2012 is VentureBeat’s fourth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. This year we’re calling on speakers from the hottest mobile, social, PC, and console companies to debate new ways to stay on pace with changing consumer tastes and platforms. Join 500-plus execs, investors, analysts, entrepreneurs, and press as we explore the gaming industry’s latest trends and newest monetization opportunities. The event takes place July 10-11 in San Francisco, and you can get your tickets here.

Photo via Shutterstock

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