Super Evil Megacorp’s Kristian Segerstrale and IGDA’s Kate Edwards join GamesBeat Summit

According to Super Evil Megacorp’s COO Kristian Segertrale — whose pedigree includes executive stints at EA, Playfish, and Glu Mobile — the mobile gaming ecosystem took a lot longer to reach the first billion dollar mobile game than people thought. Earlier this year he told GamesBeat that everyone thought this would happen back in 2004 (when he was at Glu Mobile), when the reality is, it didn’t happen till 10 years later.

He has a lot of views on why that happened. The transition to mobile first began with lifting Facebook games to touchscreens (not terribly successful), followed by trying to cram a console or PC game into a tablet (also not particularly successful). It’s why Super Evil Megacorp has been focused solely on the development of core gaming for touch devices evidenced with the company’s multiplayer online battle arena, Vainglory, released last November.

Segerstrale joins an esteemed group of industry execs at the upcoming GamesBeat Summit. Distinct from our hugely popular annual GamesBeat conference, the Summit is an invitation-only event creating an intimate setting where peers can freely open up about current industry challenges and opportunities ahead.

We’re also thrilled that Kate Edwards, executive director of the International Game Developers Association, will be joining GamesBeat Summit. It’s been a busy year for Edwards, responding to Gamergate and taking proactive measures on changes she believes are essential for the industry to thrive going forward. While tackling sexism is essential, diversity for Edwards is a larger issue. It also includes attracting more people of color. And for both, Edwards see the importance of ensuring a future pipeline by outreach and getting to students far earlier. All impact the perception of the industry, sure to be one of the important topics at the Summit.

Check out some of the other speakers

Yoichi Wada, the founder and CEO of Shinra Technologies, and Jacob Navok, senior vice president of business development for Shinra join a fireside session. Shinra recently demoed its cloud supercomputer that breaks the one-processor, one-user model, and will enable developers to create huge worlds that can measure as much as 20 miles-by-20 miles of virtual space.

David Haddad, the executive vice president and general manager of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Peter Levin, the president of interactive media and games at Lionsgate, will be on hand for a couple of those main stage discussions.

Unity Technologies CEO John Riccitiello is also part of the Summit. Unity is one of the most important companies in game development thanks to its Unity game engine, a cross-platform technology that enables developers to make works for just about any device that plays games. The company recently announced its Unity 5 tools at the Game Developers Conference 2015 in San Francisco.

Few people have had as much influence on the game industry over the last 20 years as Riccitiello. He served as the chief operating officer for gaming giant EA in his first stint at the company and returned to be its CEO, helping the publisher as it became a major player in the mobile and online gaming sectors.

Also speaking at the Summit is Thomas Hartwig, cofounder and chief technical officer of King, one of the biggest publishers of mobile games. King was the No. 2 mobile game publisher in the world for 2014, thanks in part to its major hit Candy Crush Saga. If you play games on your phone or tablet, chances are good that you’ve crushed some candy on it since its 2012 release. And Hartwig’s role at King has helped change how we play games — and pay for them — on our mobile devices.

The focus of GamesBeat Summit is on bold ideas, the kind that will propel the industry forward, particularly in a global context. Limited to only 180 senior execs, we’re looking forward to the kind of open sharing that happens when like-minded visionaries come together.

For more info and to see if you qualify, go here.