GamesBeat speaker spotlight: Facebook's Sean Ryan on evolving social games

We’re pleased to announce that Sean Ryan, the head of game partnerships at Facebook, will describe the state of the Facebook game ecosystem in a fireside chat at our GamesBeat 2013 conference on Oct. 29-Oct. 30 in Redwood City, Calif. Zynga hasn’t had the easiest year as social gamers move to other platforms, but other players have moved into the gap on Facebook.

Above: Sean Ryan

Image Credit: Facebook

I will moderate the talk, “Facebook’s evolving role in the game ecosystem.” We’ll discuss how things have changed as Facebook has adapted to mobile and its game developers have done so as well. We’ll talk about the desktop’s future, where the next big hits will come from, how developers can engage with Facebook, and the latest on Facebook’s own mobile-game publishing business.

Ryan has a rich history in the leading edge of digital technology. He helped start the digital-games division at News Corp., was the chief executive officer of LiveJournal, and was head of the teen virtual world Meez. He also worked at RealNetworks, ran Listen.com, and ran business development for SegaSoft Networks in the early days of online games.

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

• Mike Gallagher, president and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association
• Bing Gordon, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
• Tim Chang, the managing director at Mayfield Fund
• Victor Kislyi, the CEO of Wargaming
• Julie Uhrman, the CEO of Ouya
• John Riccitiello, an active game investor and former CEO of Electronic Arts
• Tony Bartel, the 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
• Robin Hunicke, the co-founder 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
• Clive Downie, the CEO of DeNA West
• Kevin Chou, the 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 gamemakers. 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. Our judges, meanwhile, are already busy picking the finalists in the Who’s Got Game Innovation Showdown for the best game startup.

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, Games Analytics, NativeX, Renren Games, and Tapjoy as Gold Sponsors; Flurry, Kontagent, Playnomics, Storm8, and LifeStreet Media as Silver Sponsors; AppFlood, Twitch and Slashdot as Event Sponsors; Akamon Entertainment, Arkadium and OnLive as contributing sponsors. If you’d like to become a sponsor, please send a message to sponsors@venturebeat.com.