It’s time to introduce new speakers. We’ll delve into the investment climate for the gaming ecosystem with a panel moderated by Amitt Mahajan, a managing partner at Presence Capital, at our upcoming GamesBeat Summit 2017: How games, sci-fi, and tech create real-world magic. This roundtable session will examine the climate for game startups and how to get funding for them.
GamesBeat Summit 2017 will take place on May 1-2 at the historic Claremont resort hotel in Berkeley, Calif., just a short distance from San Francisco. You can secure your seat here. Register today and receive 20 percent off current ticket prices. Use the code Deantak.
The session is called “Deals: The latest on how to get them done.” Our experts will look at how to raise money for game companies, the environment for fundraising, and the hottest sectors experiencing the most investment.
Mahajan will moderate the session. Presence Capital is a $10 million fund dedicated to investing in virtual reality and augmented reality technologies that could transform the world. Mahajan was previously the chief technology officer of MyMiniLife, which was sold to Zynga and formed the core of the team that created Zynga’s FarmVille title. He was the CTO of Zynga Japan and also served as the CEO of Toro, which was acquired by Google. Prior to starting companies, Mahajan was an engineer at Epic Games on the Unreal Engine and Gears of War.
Above: Michael Chang, senior vice president of NCSoft.
Our panelists include Michael Chang, the senior vice president of corporate development at NCSoft; Sean Lee, the chief corporate development officer at Wargaming; and Phil Sanderson, a general partner at IDG Ventures.
Chang is a veteran of many GamesBeat events. He works to identify new opportunities to grow NCSoft’s product portfolio, which includes games like Lineage, Guild Wars, and Blade & Soul. He previously led Electronic Arts’ acquisition and investment activity in free-to-play mobile and PC gaming. Prior to that, he worked in the venture capital and private equity industries.
Above: Phil Sanderson of IDG Ventures
Sanderson has been at IDG Ventures since 2006, and before that he was at Walden VC. He has invested in game companies such as Telltale Games, and he still sits on its board. He also worked at Goldman Sachs and Robertson Stephens. He also writes his own blog and runs in 100-mile races.
Above: Sean Lee is chief corporate development officer at Wargaming.
Lee has served in corporate development and strategy roles at Wargaming, the maker of World of Tanks, since 2013. His roles included chief strategy officer and head of corporate development. Prior to that, he was the director of business development at Tencent and a principal at KVP.
The session is one of six roundtables that will take place during the lunch hour on May 2. We hope you can attend.
Other speakers include Jazy Zhang, former CFO at Giant Interactive Group; James Zhang, CEO of Concept Art House; Lisa Cosmas Hanson, managing partner of Niko Partners; Jim Ying, senior adviser at CV Capital; Kim Pallister of Intel; Austin Grossman of Magic Leap; Adam Gazzaley of UCSF; Listen.com founder Rob Reid; Tim Chang of Mayfield Fund; science fiction writer Eliot Peper; tech writer Violet Blue; Thomas Geffroyd, brand director at Ubisoft; Michael Condrey and Glen Schofield, founders of Sledgehammer Games; Rod Chong, chief commercial officer of Slightly Mad Studios; and Laszlo Kishonti, CEO of AImotive.
And still more include Ted Price, CEO of Insomniac Games; Mike Gallagher, CEO of the Entertainment Software Association; John Underkoffler, CEO of Oblong Industries and science advisor for Minority Report; Gary Whitta, the screenwriter for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story; Richard Marks of Sony PlayStation; Akshay Khanna of the Philadelphia 76ers; Greg Richardson of Team Dignitas; Megan Gaiser, CEO of Spiral Media; Guy Bendov, CEO of Side-Kick Games; Rami Ismail, cofounder of Vlambeer; Asra Rasheed, executive producer at Disney; Asi Burak, founder of Power Play; Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Epic Games; Owen Mahoney, the CEO of Nexon; Rich Hilleman of Amazon Game Studios; Chris Roberts, CEO of Roberts Space Industries; and Jamil Moledina of Google Play.
Above: Chris Roberts of Roberts Space Industries.
Inspiring moments lead to disrupting the worlds of gaming, tech, and entertainment. Who hasn’t been influenced by great novels like Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash, which gave us virtual worlds, or Tom Cruise’s data gloves and gesture-controlled computer in Minority Report? Now those things have become real, and we want to see what’s coming next.
Our theme is about what inspires game developers, executives, and investors to be creative. Part of the event will focus on the inspiration cycle that is accelerating as the walls between science fiction, video games, and real-world technology come down. We don’t think there’s another conference that focuses on the seams between these industries.
This event will focus on inspiration and creativity. So much of what used to be science fiction is coming true, and it is inspiring even more accelerated visions of the future in games and other entertainment. We hope to inspire you by taking you to the moments that led to great ideas across multiple industries. You’ll leave refreshed and ready to change the worlds of gaming, technology, and more.
We think this conference will offer a rare chance for cross-pollination and networking between high-level people in different industries, and we believe that insights in one place can lead to inspirations in another.
This conference is for high-end gaming executives, startup CEOs, developers, investors, publishers, marketers, tech experts, entertainment industry professionals, sci-fi experts, AR and VR executives, and other professionals. I should also point out that this is where we try to create an actual GamesBeat community with our supporters, readers, and attendees. We gather the right people in the room and encourage everyone to get to know each other. Join us.
If you’re interested in sponsoring, message andie.rhyins@venturebeat.com. Thanks to our sponsors Samsung, Intel, Gazillion, Vungle, the Canadian consolate, Concept Art House, Wargaming America, MindMaze, and Blackstorm.
Breakout sessions
- Intersection of sci-fi, games, and tech
- Monetization: How to acquire and retain your user base
- Deals: Follow the money
- Esports and community
- Is the gaming world flat?
- Platforms: Where to place your bets? VR, AR, and more
Advisory board
- Sam Barlow, game developer of Her Story and creative director at Interlude
- Michael Chang, senior vice president at NCSoft
- Daniel Cho, chairman at Innospark
- Jay Eum, managing director, Translink Capital
- Clinton Foy, chairman of the Immortals and managing director at Crosscut Ventures
- Megan Gaiser, co-CEO at Spiral Media
- Lee Jones, global business lead Google Ads
- Perrin Kaplan, principal at Zebra Partners
- Roy Liu, general manager at Linekong USA
- Wanda Meloni, executive director of the Open Gaming Alliance
- Jamil Moledina, game strategic lead at Google Play
- Adam Orth, founder at Three One Zero
- Mihai Pohontu, vice president of emerging technologies at Samsung
- Mike Sepso, cofounder of MLG and senior vice president at Activision Blizzard
- Mike Vorhaus, president of Magid Advisors
- Margaret Wallace, CEO of Playmatics
- Marco DeMiroz, cofounder, The Venture Reality Fund
I’ve been writing about our theme for a while — the accelerating cycle of inspiration between tech, games, and science fiction. I interviewed Shane Wall, HP’s chief technology officer, about the connection between sci-fi and tech. The Westworld TV show also explored the seams between artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and video games.
