BELL HARBOR CONFERENCE CENTER, SEATTLE - 23-24 OCTOBER 2018
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23-24 OCTOBER 2018 BELL HARBOR CONFERENCE CENTER, SEATTLE
WHAT IS GAMESFORUM?
ABOUT GAMESFORUM SEATTLE
Gamesforum Seattle is a two day conference that brings together senior exec-
utives, influential managers and ambitious independent developers with the aim
of supporting cross platform game developers.
It is taking place on the 23rd and 24th October in the Bell Harbor Conference
Center in Seattle, playing host to a hundred speakers from leading developers,
publishers, brands and service providers discussing topics across six fascinating
content tracks.
The event will also play host to a number of additional micro events, including a
game pitching competition, a meet the publisher session and workshops
Furthermore, there will be plenty of opportunities to meet new people in our
exhibition area, at our meeting zones and at the legendary Gamesforum party.
WHY IS YOUR EVENT CROSS PLATFORM?
We believe that barriers between platforms are dissolving. While mobile,
console and PC still retain their own distinct characteristics – which need to be
respected – the extent to which they divide the industry and by which games
are enclosed by them has never been more in question.
Game developers are pushing at the edges of the boundaries between console
and PC, with games like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Minecraft spread-
ing across platforms.
Additionally, hardware creators such as Nintendo and Razer are redefining the
divisions between device categories with the line between mobile, console and
PC hardware becoming ever harder to define.
Finally, business models and practices are permeating between each sector.
At the same time as we see console and PC developers embrace games as a
service, we increasingly see mobile developers focusing on strengthening their
brands and enriching their game mechanics to maintain their competitive edge.
Therefore, we believe that a cross platform focus will help us to best serve the
industry and – as a result of that – the players who make it what it is.
WHO ATTENDS GAMESFORUM?
Gamesforum brings together the games industry’s decision makers.
Whether they’re ambitious independent developers choosing a publishing part-
ners, technical leads scoping out new development tools, CxO leaders discuss-
ing strategies or something else entirely, all our attendees have real power to
support your business.
83% of our attendees at Gamesforum London 2018 were CxO, director, senior
manager or founder level, with 80% working for developers or publishers. These
are the people who attend our events and who you’ll have a chance to meet.
GAMESFORUM SPEAKERS
HEAR FROM OUR GREAT SPEAKER LINE-UP THIS OCTOBER. WITH A MIXTURE OF
PRESENTATIONS, PANEL DISCUSSIONS AND FIRESIDE CHATS, OUR SPEAKERS WILL
ADDRESS THE KEY CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS IN THE GAMING MARKET TODAY
AND ALSO WHAT’S IN STORE FOR THE FUTURE
Alim Jaffer Ariella Lehrer Dave Pottinger Elise Kates
VP of Product President Founder Founder
Heroic Labs Hitpoint Studios Bonus XP Elise Kates Audio
Production
Ellie Moon Erik Desiderio Erik Smith Christina Barleben CK Wang
UX Director Composer Marketing Director Creative Director CEO
Kabam Erik Desiderio Music Treasure Data Thoughtfish Kooapps
Mike McCain Nathan Sellyn Witek Radomski Max Szlagor
Game Director Chief Creative Officer Co- Founder Design Director
Harebrained Schemes Flowmotion Enjin 343 Industries
Entertainment
AGENDA - DAY 1 23rd October 2018
08:30 Registration
Welcome to Gamesforum
09:25 Opening remarks
Gamesforum’s Event Director will make some brief opening remarks about the conference, including an outline of what to expect from both days and some much needed housekeeping.
John Speakman, Event Director, Gamesforum
09:30 State of the industy: The age of consolidation (and what it means for your video game business)
Our opening panel of the day discusses how to thrive in the age of video games industry consolidation. As well as explaining why consolidation is happening, this session will explore what it means for
larger and smaller industry players alike - helping to guide the strategy of your games business.
Luke Stapley, China Video Game Analyst | Michael Chang, SVP Corporate Development, NCSoft West | Henry Lowenfels, SVP Business Development, Scopely | John Peterson, Director Corporate Development, Jam City
10:15 AM networking break
A 30 minute netoworking break to meet fellow attendees over a coffee
GAMES MARKETING FORUM GAMES BUSINESS FORUM DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT FORUM WORKSHOP ROOM
10:45 The next mobile wave 10:45 ew high score? defining success in
N 10:45 Cross-Platform Publishing: 10:30 Workshop space opens
In this presentation Eric Seufert will discuss the growth of new business models the games business Rewards and Hazards
on mobile (hypercasual, subscription) , its implications for games marketing and It can be hard to work out what success actually looks like in the games industry. Big opportunities exist today to take the same game to multiple screens and
monetization and what it might mean for your games business. While our attention is all naturally drawn to billion dollar hits, what does success audiences, but there are plenty of risks and dangers as well.This talk will draw 11:00 Games business workshop
Book your appointments to meet our experts in law, accountancy, recruitment and HR to
Eric Seufert, Platform, N3twork look like for over 9/10 developers where that doesn’t apply? In this talk, CK Wang upon Kongregate’s experience (and scar tissue) as a cross-platform publisher, and
help fast track your business
CEO of Kooapps will talk about how even though surviving aas an Indie studio owner of Kongregate.com web and Kartridge PC platforms.
seems impossible, Kooapps used concrete survival tactics to grow Pictoword Josh Larson, CRO, Kongregate
from 0 to 20 million users and a top word game on both iOS and Google Play.
CK Wang, CEO Kooapps 13:00 Lunch
11:05 The video game marketing mix 11:05 Messenger games: The state of play for 11:05 Operations: How to keep your live 14:00 Deconstructing the Kooapps Ad
his session will set the agenda by discussing the state of play in video game
T
HTML 5 titles game going Monetization Stack
marketing today. Our panel will discuss: 1) What are the current trends in games With more than 30 million downloads across 30 ad-supported titles on iOS and
Messenger games have been hyped up by the industry as a new cross platform For the increasing number of games that are always online, managing live
marketing? 2) With acquisition cost far outstripping retention costs should we Android, the monetization team at Kooapps knows a thing or two about mobile
gaming outlet, retention tool and marketing device. But how do they truly operations is increasingly essential. In this session, our panellist will talk about their
change the mix? 3) How should we engage users outside our game? ad monetization. Join Tenjin’s CEO, Christopher Farm, and Kooapps’ CEO, CK
measure up now? We gather experts working on games across browser and experiences in running a live game and share their advice on how to manage the
Moderator: Randy Waxman, CEO, Blind Ferret messenger applications to get their thoughts on whether this is HTML 5’s process successfully. Wang, as they take a step-by-step walk through the networks, mediation tools,
David Jumper, Sr Director of User Acquisition, Disruptor Beam break out moment. and measurement partners they use to effectively monetize their thriving global
Moderator: Mark Val, GM Playfab
Warren Woodward, Exec. Director of UA, Nexon Mobile games. Attendees can look forward to first-hand testimonials of which tools work,
Moderator, Josh Burns Sam Fisher, President, Hyper Hippo Games
Conrad McGee-Stocks, UA Lead, Uken Games which ones don’t, and how they too can build the right ad monetization stack for
Alim Jaffer, VP Prodcut, Heroic Labs Mike Wallis, Sr. Director of Product, DoubleDown interactive their business.
Daniel Todd, CEO,Influence Mobile Cynthia Du, Co-Founder, Synative Daniel McLaren, Senior Game Designer at ArenaNet.
Andrey Kuznetsov, CEO, KamaGames
Kevin Urie, Managing Director, Screenzilla
11:50 No More Secrets: Restoring Credibility to UA 11:50 How Brands use tokens to attract and retain 11:50 Not just Flipping: Using Licensed Assets
A crisis of trust has been created through lapses in data privacy and data breaches. customers - a KamaGames Perspective in your Game
The increase in scale and frequency of these events has created a heightened Using Kama Games own learnings, challenges and successes, this talk explores the Christian Allen from Epic will be takling about cross-platform games development
state of sensitivity from the level of the individual consumer to the highest levels introduction, application and growth of Blockchain and cryptocurrencies/tokens using the Unreal Engine using case studies.
of government. GDPR, new regulations and enhanced privacy concerns make one in both the social gaming industry and the wider games industry as a whole and Christian Allen, Unreal Evangelist, Epic Games
thing clear -- It’s no longer business as usual.Your users are core to your long- where the Kama Games sees the future in gaming of Blockchain technology.
term success and you don’t want to risk losing them unnecessarily. The definition
Andrey Kuznetsov, CEO, Kama Games
of insanity is doing the same thing over again, expecting different results. What
actions will you take to protect your users and your business?
Brett Bauer, CEO, Appfluencer
12:10 ASO and organic marketing 12:10 Blockchange: How blockchain could transform 12:15 Panel: Red vs Blue - how to create, run and
The Panel will discuss how Organic Marketing can complement paid UA to help the games industry support online multiplayer games
developers grow their users.Through practical examples we will discuss how to This panel will discuss how blockchain can revolutionise how we acquire, engage and Online multiplayer has been a big component of the video games industry for the
optimize your games discoverability. retain players and what this new business model means for the games industry. past decade, but it has grown massively in the past few years. In this session, we
Gabe Kwakyi, CEO, Incipia Moderator: Tony Pearce, Co-Founder, Reality Clash explore how studios can go about creating their own online multiplayer games.
Enric Pedro, CMO, Lab Cave Games Witek Radomski, CTO & Co-founder, Enjin Whether you’re starting out or experienced in working online, this session will offer
Itai Keshet, Head of ASO, yellowHead Maurice Gallegos, Blockchain Evangelist useful advice on setting up cloud infrastructure, building multi-player matchmaking
Aykut Karaalioglu, CEO, Mobile Action successfully and creating compelling games that keep your players hooked.
Mickey Maher, Head of Revenue, CryptoKitties
Marissa Loew, Marketing Manager, Big Fish Games Edmar Mendizabal, Director, i3D.net
Jeff Hilbert, Founder, First Strike Games
Doug Pearson, CTO, Flowplay
Amir Rahimi, VP and General Manager, FoxNext
13:00 Lunch 13:00 Lunch 13:00 Lunch
14:00 Top 5 reasons no one is playing your game 14:00 Understanding M&A & Funding Opportunities 14:00 Outsourcing games development
aving first-hand experience growing a game from zero to millions of players, John
H for Your Game Studio in a Mature Market In this panel we will be discussing working with external partners, the pros and cons of
will take a humorous and educational look at common pitfalls and best practices In a mature market, what fundraising opportunities exist for both new & existing working with external development partners and it’s implications for your business.
to highlight how developers can get the most bang for their marketing buck.. game studios, whether focused on PC, mobile or console, as well as emerging are- Moderator, Lauren Freeman, Director of XDI, EA
John Getze, CMO, Kixeye as like blockchain? In this session you’ll hear from experts with expertise spanning Phil Dennison, Sr Producer, Monolith
the globe & understand what opportunities may exist for your company & how Phil Knowles, Art Outsource Manager, Oculus VR
that will change in the future. Rob Olson, CCO, Lakshya Digital Redmond
Josh Burns, Founder, Digital Dev Connect Alison Slavin , Cinematics Producer, Bungie
David Bluhm, Managing Director, Agnitio Capital
Jim Ying, Head of International Gaming and Mobile Practice, CVCapital
AGENDA - DAY 1 23rd October 2018
GAMES MARKETING FORUM GAMES BUSINESS FORUM DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT FORUM WORKSHOP SPACE
14:20 Ad fraud in gaming 14:25 The publisher roundtable 14:45 Why Gaming Companies Need Autonomous 15:30 Networking break
According to 2017 study by Business Insider, the cost of ad fraud to the digital advertising Ahead of our Meet the Publisher session in the afternoon of Day 1, we’ll take the pulse of
industry is projected to rise to over $60 billion by 2019. In this panel we’ll be looking at how video game publishers.This panel will provide an overview of the publishing landscape, discuss
Analytics... and Some Real World Best Practices
to recognize fraudulent patterns, how to protect your traffic and how machine learning can the rise of boutique publishing houses, contextualise publishing within the games as a service
Gaming companies are in a unique position, with the growing prevalence of free-to-play
models requiring them to learn and adapt in real time.The industry has seen explosive
16:00 M
eet the Publisher - Mobile - Your chance to
help protect your busines. economy and provide that all important advice on how to find the right partner to work with.
growth in the “casual” gaming market, forcing even the most steadfast console and desktop meet publishing partners for your game
Inna Ushakova, CEO, Scalarr Moderator: Ioana Hreninciuc, CEO, GameAnalytics studios to create mobile versions of their games.To cater to these requirements (and not fall
Eric Seufert, Platform, N3twork Matt Leopold, Director of Business Development, Tilting Point behind), studios are required to iterate and develop faster than ever. To manage the risks of
Featured Publishers Xsolla
Sam Sultan, Adjust Allison Billas, COO, JoyPac outages, bugs, playability, and churn, mobile gaming companies need a new approach to apply Humble Bundle, Bandai Namco
AI/ML across ALL their business and IT operational metrics for self-service monitoring and
Kay Chan, Marketing Manager, East Side Games Eric Williams, COO & Cofounder, Rogue Co. root cause analysis in real-time. Come learn the best practices for how leaders like King are
Gabriel Lewis, Director of Advertising, Mistplay deploying Anodot Autonomous Analytics. 17:00 Meet the Publisher - PC/ Console - Your chance
Steve Kirkpatrick, Solutions Engineer, Anodot to meet publishing partners for your game
Featured Publishers: Foxnext, Screenzilla, Netease
15:05 Under the Hood of a Successful Idle Game - 15:05 How Monster Strike Became the Biggest 15:05 Building Better Games With the Right DevOps Tools Foxnext, Screenzilla, Netease, Rogue Co, Bandai Namco
A Deep Dive into Full Live Game Operations Mobile Game in the World Next to talent, source code is a game studio’s most valuable asset.
Seamless and precise source code management for game developers is about building stronger
“Idle Games” doesn’t mean idling developers.The best games maintain constant
communication with their player-base, deliver time-sensitive content, and are built to scale.
Monster Strike, a potent mix of monsters and pinball action, is not just an unexplained
phenomenon. Behind the scenes, XFLAG’s will to be different, strategy, and planning all have
teams and ultimately better games. But with the ever-changing landscape of cloud development, 18:00 Conference closes for Day 1
securing and managing source code is only getting more complex.Who’s got time for that?
We explore how the team behind “Idle Miner Tycoon” built player-centric events to increase contributed to the game’s immense success. Come join us as we take an in-depth journey into
Join Perforce and Assembla as they discuss:
user satisfaction and generate revenue. the beginnings of the number one game in Japan for the past consecutive years.
• DevOps for game development and its pesky nuances
Nate Barker, Director of Business Development, Fluffy Fairy Games Langer Lee, Director, Corporate Planning & Strategy, • Versioning best practices for game development
Digital Entertainment, Mixi • H
ow to map your source code management solutions to your DevOps lifecycle for a more
secure, more exact and less expensive DevOps ecosystem”
Jacek Materna, CTO, Assembla
Chuck Gehman, Technical Marketing Engineer, Perforce
15:30 Networking Break 15:30 Networking Break 15:30 Networking Break
16:00 Community service: how to make friends and 16:00 Service charge: how to monetise ever 16:00 UX in a cross platform age
influence gamers present games With games increasingly playable across multiple platforms with significantly different input devices
Community has never been more important than ever. Whether you’re building a group and interaction methods, UX design has never been more important. In this session, we’ll discuss
Games as a service is the dominant business model on mobile, has found a home on PC and
of dedicated fans ahead of release or supporting them afterwards, supporting the people how to create a great user experience for cross platform games and explore where designers will
is growing rapidly on consoles. In this session, our panellists will draw from their experience
who make your game a hit is essential. But what are the best ways to do that? And wht need to compromise to succeed.
to share best approaches for how to monetise service based games.
kinds of mistakes should you avoid? This panel brings together a number of leading com- Moderator: Sean Webster, VP of Business Development, Applovin Moderator: Jacek Materna, CTO, Assembla
munity managers and influencer marketers discuss how to bring players together - both Ellie Moon, UX Director, Kabam
in a practical and metaphorical sense - and to give them a chance to share a few of their Andy Ulery, VP Business Development and Strategy, IQzone
stories from the community frontlines. Chris Early, VP Partnerships and Revenue, Ubisoft Max Szlagor, Game Design Director, 343 Industries
Moderator: Adam Lieb, CEO, Innervate Damir Slogar, CEO, Big Blue Bubble Orvar Halldorsson UI/ UX Director, Bungie
Nate Price, Head of Community - Digital Games, Wizards of the Coast Arjun Balaram, Game GM, EA
Nico Nottin, Head of Community Development, Flaregames
Andy Johnson, Head of Production and Game Operations, Stoic
16:40 sing a megaphone - The influencer
U 16:40 How our audience shaped our journey from 16:40 Increasing User Stickiness with Live Voice and Video
It’s not enough that people play your game once or even twice.You have to keep your users
marketing panel mobile to PC games coming back again and again and staying engaged. An increase in user stickiness can create
Influencer Marketing has become an increasingly important part of marketing game Mike McCain from Harebrained Schemes talks about how identifying their core audience
more channels for monetization, contributing to the overall success of your gaming app.
yet campaigns can often be run poorly and its effects misunderstood. In this panel helped plot the studio’s journey from ShadowRun Returns to Battletech
The talk will focus on how embedded voice and video can increase engagement among
we’ll be considering how to select and approach the right influencers? What risks are Mitch Gitelman - President and Co-Founder, Harebrain Schemes players and with mobile games. Agora will explain how this increase can:
there? How do I make sure my influencer stays on message and a wider look at the
• Lead to more channels for monetization, like virtual gifting
influencer ecosystem.
• Lead to more opportunities for advertising
Moderator: Adam Lieb, CEO, Innervate • Lead to partnerships with notable brands
Alaskan Savage, Influencer Reggie Yativ, COO, Agora.io & Selcuk Atli, CEO, Bunch.live
Jon Radoff, CEO, Disruptor Beam
Jamar Edoho, Sr. Account Manager, OPG
17:00 Bad Data = Bad Results 17:10 Falling on Your Own Harpoon: How Fire Emblem
Are consumers more than willing to share their data in return for a value exchange? In this
talk, followed by a fireside chat, Shane Minte,VP, Publisher Development, and Valerie Husky,
Heroes Tuned one game designer into a whale.
F2P designers should know every freemium trick there is, and be well aware of the well-worn
Director of Growth and Monetization at Magmic , will give their perspectives & insights on
paths a game lays out before its players - from store listing to download, from tutorial to
the impact data and advertising has on publishers business.
Day 1 retention, from player to purchaser, and finally from purchaser to whale.This talk will
Shane Minte, VP Growth, Ogury & Valerie Husky, Director of Growth and recount how one game designer fell victim to the harpoon, shamefully throwing thousands
Monetization, Magmic of dollars on the fire in the pursuit of Fire Emblem heroics and ultimately becoming another
developer’s whale.
Nathan Sellyn, Chief Creative Officer, Flowmotion Entertainment
17:20 The future of video game marketing 17:20 Working with IP: The making of Stranger 17:30 Hey, listen! Making the most of video game audio
What does the future hold for video game marketing? How will further developments Video game audio is - rather ironically - one of the areas of game development that you hear
in marketing technology change the sector? And what do marketers need to do to stay
Things: The Game less about.That’s why we’re bringing together this panel to allow audio experts to sound off
Dave Pottinger and Mike Escudero join us for a fireside chat about the creation of games
ahead? Our panel will debate this - and more - in our final session of the day. about composing soundtracks, designing sound effects and practically implementing audio into
based on well-established brands and IP. Dave will share the story of how Stranger Things:The
Moderator: Doron Kagan, Co-Founder, Deemedya a variety of different games.
Game entered production and discuss how the team’s goals allowed them to create a rich
Andrey Kuznetsov, CEO, Kama Games “Link to the Past” game for mobile devices. Mike sits on the other side of the table and looks Ben Gannon, Product Manager, Dolby
Scott Mclellan, VP Ad Product and Ad Operations, RockYou for top mobile developers to make games based on Twenty First Century Fox TV shows and Erik Desiderio, Composer
films, such as Family Guy, Bob’s Burgers, Aliens and Planet of the Apes. It is a perfect pairing Elise Kates, Founder, Elise Kates Audio
Charlie Patterson, Client Partner - Gaming Activation, Facebook as Mike is a fan of Stranger Things:The Game and thinks it an exceptional blend of game play,
art style and IP.
Wilbert Roget, II, Composer
Dave Pottinger, Co-Founder, BonusXP & Mike Escudero, Penka Kouneva, Penka Kouneva Studios
Exec. Director of BD, FoxNext
17:40 Working with IP: The no end story
No End, a story driven RPG mobile game targeting female and LGBT+ audiences and it’s
based on successful web comic IP of the same name.This talk will explore how Full XP chose
the IP and how working with IP doesn’t necessarily mean overwhelming budgets and millions
in funding.
Nikolina Zidar, CEO, Full XP
18:00 Conference closes for day 1 18:00 Conference closes for day 1 18:00 Conference closes for day 1AGENDA - DAY 2 24th October 2018
09:00 Registration
09:55 Opening remarks
Gamesforum’s Event Director will make some brief opening remarks about the conference, including house keeping.
John Speakman, Event Director, Gamesforum
10:00 How Reality Clash combines AR, Crypto and the Blockchain: Tony Pearce talks about what happened after their ICO and the ups and downs along the way.
In September 2017 Reality Clash successfully closed an ICO (one of the first mobile games companies to do this). Reality Clash is the first AR combat game (think Pokemon Go meets Fortnite) which integrates
blockchain technology alongside several cutting-edge AR immersive technologies. In addition to the game Reality Clash launched an armoury store 2 months ago, where users can purchase digital assets (weapons)
which can be used in the game or traded on their Digital Trading Platform which launches next month and is integrated with the blockchain. Since launching the armoury store they have sold over 3,000 weapons and
had over 500,000 Reality Clash Coins (RCC) spent in the store.
Tony Pearce, CCO & Cofounder, Reality Clash
10:30 Morning networking break
A 30 minute break to grab a coffee and prepare for the day ahead
VR/AR FORUM GAMES STUDIO CULTURE FORUM ESPORTS FORUM 1WORKSHOP ROOM
11:00 A presentation from Oculus 11:00 The everlasting gobstopper: How to transform 11:00 The Audience Revolution - Building Games 11:00 orkshop space available for hire.
W
The opening session will look into the size of the VR gaming market across the world.
Exploring how different devices are doing in different sectors and diving into the perfor- employee retention with Viewers in Mind Book your appointments to meet our experts
A lot of top talent moves out the games industry in search of external opportunities. No The gaming world is undergoing a revolution: streaming platforms and eSports are allow-
mance of different games, this is an important starting point for the day’s debate.
matter what you do, good employees will always look for change. Though 0% attrition is ing fans to engage with games and players in ways never seen before. We may soon be in in law, accountancy, recruitment and HR to help
Deborah Guzman, Developer Strategty, Oculus an impossible, and potentially dangerous, goal to attain, there are certainly steps that we, a world where audiences vastly outnumber players, expanding the industry and opening fast track your business
as people leaders, can put forth to better understand our teams and make sure good up new business models for studios and publishers, but only if they can harness insights
employees keep working. from these new engagement models. Unfortunately, most studios and developers are
Through this talk, I’d like to share some of my own successes and failures in retaining and still focused exclusively on the player experience, which is impacting their ability to take 13:00 Lunch
growing my team. Additionally, I’ll put forth some key points for discussion: advantage of this new market.
Trainings and learning, Career Paths, Motivation, Crunch Time and More! Jialing Chen, Founder, DuoPeak
Kaushal Singh, QA Manager, Keywords Studios
11:25 Examining content genres for AR and VR 11:25 Games Studio recruitment: Immigration 101 11:25 The next generation of eSports
With the emergence of many types of new content for AR and VR this presentation will Talk Synopsis to be confirmed The eSports industry has principally been defined by the same games dominating tour-
examine what kinds of experiences are flourishing in this marketplace as well as what Lola Zakharova, Immigration Attorney, MacDonald Hoague & Bayless naments and events across the world. In this session, our speaker will make a case for
we can expect to see in the future. This talk will dig into a discussion of what works supporting the next generation of competitive virtual sports - as well as giving advice on
and what doesn’t for these new mediums in terms of monetary success as well as how to position your game in that space.
entertainment and practical application. Justin Burnham, Creative Director, Dreamhack
Andrew Goldstein, CEO, Otherworld Interactive
11:50 Tools of the trade: What do you need to 11:50 Building a culture of success - building on the 11:50 The hidden appeal of competition in
create VR games? foundation of your company culture non-core games
The current generation of VR headsets have existed for over five years now, which In just over 3 years, Paladin Studios have grown organically from 10 to 45; it’s been quite In this presentation, we’ll look at what is special about competition in casual games that
means that developers are better placed than ever to recommend the best ways to a ride. Derk de Geus will share Paladin’s journey and how the company’s values have attracts and retains users, and look in more detail at the competition in two casual games.
design VR games. In this session, our speaker looks at the best tools for VR game shaped it’s growth. We’ll share what Amazon has learned about implementation of competition in different
development and provides you with advice on how to use them to effectively create Derk de Geus, CEO, Paladin Studios genres of casual games, and discuss what characteristics could make your game well-suit-
compelling gaming experiences. ed to get increased engagement and retention from competitive opportunities.
Shaun Leach, Owner, Clever Coyote Games Peter Heinrich, Developer Evangelist, Amazon
12:15 Panel - Location Based Entertainment: How 12:15 Mirror Image - Games as a representation of 12:15 Esports - The broadcasting panel
A great broadcast experience is essential to the success of any competitive esport title.
premium immersive experiences as making VR our Studios But how do you construct one? This panel brings together developers, broadcasters and
Studios create games that it’s creators want to play. Our panel will consider how women
more accessible. in gaming and diversity in the workplace can give studios a creative edge and why it’s
casters to discuss how to make your esport an epic experience to view.
LBE VR revenue will be a $1 billion market by years end. This panel will dicsuss, how LBE
essential for companies to have a culture in placeto support it’s workforce. Moderator: Erik Smith, Marketing Director, Treasure Data,
can support AAA VR productions? Whether this is the gateway to wider VR engagement
Moderator: Alison Stroll, Games Industry Veteran Jialing Chen, Founder, DuoPeak
of truly immersive experiences and what you the content producer needs to know.
Nikolina Zidar, CEO, FullXP James Reilman, BD Manager, Twitch
Russell Williams, CEO, Holospark
Allie Ast,Founder, Sundew Studios Daniel Yang, CEO, Ardent Blade
Chanel Summers, VP, Creative Development, VR Studios
Jeff Ludwyck, CEO, HyperspaceXR Ninel Gryuner, CEO, Devoted Studios
13:00 Lunch 13:00 Lunch 13:00 Lunch
14:00 Cross platform VR gaming. 14:00 Seattle as a Global Hub for Game Development: 14:00 How a Mobile FPS became a hit eSport
The VR gaming market has been fragmented by the emergence of different headsets for This talk will tell the story of how Critical Ops became a hit eSports title and took care
mobile, consoles and PC. In this session, we discuss with VR game designers and hardware
Insights and Tools to bring back to your studio of marketing and retention along the way.
There are over 400 game companies in the Greater Seattle region, 23,000 employees in
manufacturers about the similarities and differences between designing for each platform Veli-Pekka Piirainen, CEO, Critical Force
the game business in the Puget Sound area, and over $21 billion in direct revenue.
- offering tips on how to begin bridging the gap between each market segment.
Come hear founders and execs talk about the State-of-the-State of the greater
Moderator: Livio de la Cruz, Freelancer Seattle industry. Hear their views on challenges you need to overcome and the
Ray Davis, CEO, Drifter VR opportunities you can’t miss. How do you compete for talent? How can you improve
Tam Armstrong, CEO, Polyarc Games your culture? What is the number one thing you need to know for 2019? All this and
more. A session not to be missed!
Ryan Payton, Founder Camouflaj
Moderator Ed Fries, Co-Founder, Xbox
Brian Fleming, Producer & Founder, Suckerpunch Productions
Alison Stroll, Games Industry Vet
Ninel Gryuner, CEO, Devoted StudiosAGENDA - DAY 2 24th October 2018
VR/AR FORUM GAMES STUDIO CULTURE FORUM ESPORTS 1WORKSHOP ROOM
14:25 Panel - Structuring eSports competitions 14:00 Game Dev Showdown
A key component of any competitive eSport are meaningful tournaments. This session 10 developers pitch their games to a panel of judges for the chance to
provides advice on how to run competitions - from picking tournament structures and win and be named best in show!
who to partner with - to help give your eSport the best basis for long term success.
Moderator: John Mafferi, CEO, Matcherino
15:30 Networking Break
Taehoon Kim, CEO Nway
Veli-Pekka Piirainen, CEO, Critical Force
Lauren Koester, esports Partnership Program Manager, Amazon 16:00 Break
Workshop space closes
14:45 Commercial reality: how to make money from 14:45 Panel - Gaming for Good
This panel will explore how games can be used for societal good. Whether it’s
VR, AR and MR projects. supporting charities, helping people recover from physical or mental trauma or
With the reality bending gaming space still expanding, it’s important for developers to find
highlighting social issues, this panel will give you a different perspective on the devel-
opportunities to make money from commercial partners. In this closing session of the day,
opment process.
we’ll bring together developers working on projects with a relationship with the wider
economy together with businesses outside of games to discuss how the two disparate parts Moderator: Dr Joseph Williams, Washington State
can be pulled together. Daniel Widner, VP, Distinguished Partners, American Cancer Society
Moderator: Derrick Morton, Co-founder and CEO, Flowplay
Ariella Lehrer, President, Hitpoint Studios Kathy Flood, CEO, Cascade Game Foundry
Kathie Flood, CEO, Cascade Game Factory
Andrew Goldstein, CEO, Other world Interactive
15:10 Redzone - The Esports viewing experience for
the casual fan
From the NFL’s redzone to watching pro Golf Championships, the viewing experience
is dominated by highlights and touchdowns. In this session we will look at how esports
and, in particular IBM, are redefining how casual viewers experience esports titles and
competitions, bringing context and excitement to the broadcast.
Bill Le Voir-Barry, CTO for IBM Esports, IBM
15:30 Break 15:30 Break 15:30 Break
VR/AR Forum track ends, room closes Video game culture track ends, room closes Video game culture track ends, room closes
BAY AUDITORIUM
16:00 Game Dev showdown winner announced
The winner of the Game Dev Showdown will be announced live on stage at the conclusion of GamesForum Seattle. We will then close the conference a little earlier than Day 1 at 5pm.
BAY AUDITORIUM
16:15 Wanderword – Step into Your story
Is our brain not the most powerful video game console? We on Team Wanderword believe so. It effortlessly renders complex scenes at incredible speeds. All we have to do is listen.With beautifully written stories, voice-enabled interaction and rich audio-soundscapes, a Wanderword story enables people,
players, listeners and active listeners to step into their story in a truly immersive way.We are excited to share our experiences and perspectives on this growing segment that allows for complete hands-free and heads-up gaming for the mobile and always-connected generation. Don’t expect to see some
high-end demo on a big screen during our presentation, but expect to hear it from the speakers in the auditorium.
Peter Zetterberg, Founder/ Inventor, Wanderword & Thomas Lindgren, Chairman, Wanderword
17:15 Conference closes 17:15 Conference closes 17:15 Conference closesFIND OUT MORE
Want to find out more about how you can take part with Gamesforum Seattle?
Here are the ways that you can support the event.
SPONSORSHIP
For a detailed breakdown of prices for exhibitor booths, speaking sessions,
the cost of sponsoring events like the party and more,
check out our sponsorship package here
Alternatively, email joaooliva@osneymedia.com or
call on +44 (0) 20 3786 4390 to discuss your requirements.
PARTNERSHIPS
If you’re interested in becoming one of our
event or media partners, please contact Naomi.
Email naomi@osneymedia.com or
call +44 (0) 20 3786 4390 for more information.
CONTENT AND PRODUCTION
If you are interested in becoming a speaker or panelist at Gamesforum,
please email john@osneymedia.com to apply with a suggested talk area and synopsis.
GENERAL CONTACT DETAILS
Can’t fi nd a solution to your problem? Email events@osneymedia.com
or call us on +44 (0) 20 3786 4390 to talk to us directly.You can also read
