This panel, dubbed Disruption + Adaptation, examines the state of investments in the game industry and the disruptive forces that are shaping startups. Our records show that 145 game companies raised $1.54 billion in funding in 2011, and that’s only among the companies that disclosed the amounts raised. That was up 47 percent from the $1.05 billion raised by 91 companies in 2010. This year, mobile game companies and social casino game companies have been raising a lot of money.
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Will the trend continue? What will be hot in the future? Is the bubble bursting, or are the good times just starting? The panel features some of the most interesting experts on the topic today:
GamesBeat 2011’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.
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Our previously announced speakers are Mark Pincus of Zynga, Will Wright of Stupid Fun Club, Bing Gordon of Kleiner Perkins, David Perry of Gaikai, Mitch Lasky of Benchmark Capital, Chris Petrovic of GameStop Digital Ventures, Riccardo Zacconi of King.com, Peter Vesterbacka of Rovio, Seamus Blackley of Innovative Leisure, Will Harbin of Kixeye, Brock Pierce of Clearstone Global Gaming Fund, David Bezahler of Blitzoo, Nicholas Talarico of 12 Gigs, Jesse Jasonov of Zynga, Christopher Griffin of Betable, Tim Schafer of Double Fine Productions, Cindy Au of Kickstarter, Brian Fargo of InXile Entertainment, Jesse Divnich of EEDAR, Phil Eisler of Nvidia, Greg Canessa of Activision Blizzard, and Jamie Berger of Activision Publishing.
We’re expecting 500 movers and shakers from throughout the game industry — social, mobile, online, and console. Please join us.
We want to thank the industry leaders that are supporting GamesBeat 2012: W3i as Platinum Sponsor; King.com as Corporate Sponsor; Flurry & Tapjoy as Gold Sponsors; Greystripe, LifeStreet Media & Nokia Developer as Silver Sponsors; and Game Insight, Gree, Kontagent, Nexage, Paypal, Pontiflex, Swrve & Betable as Event Sponsors.