GamesBeat Summit 2023 online day features transmedia debate and other hot topics

One of the most exciting moments of our GamesBeat Summit 2023 conference will come in a conversation, or debate, on our online day on May 24, between Sharon Tal Yguado, CEO of Astrid Entertainment, and Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox Entertainment.

Both have strong views on transmedia, or the combination of movies and games, which is a big part of our topic at our three-day summit starting Monday. And they don’t agree. This is just one of the reasons why I am so excited about our online day at the summit. We will have two days of in-person talks in Los Angeles on May 22 and 23, followed by our online day on May 24. (You can use this code GBSDEANNEWS to get 40% off the entire event – ​​check out the full schedule here.)

I will also hold a “watch party” during the day online. Ask me how to join on Twitter (deantak) or Facebook.

Tal Yguado hails from television and film, having built studio divisions at Amazon and Fox. He headlined shows like The Walking Dead, The Boys, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Wheel of Time, and Invincible. Pitchford is familiar to us not only as a magician, but also as the creator of games like The Borderlands series. He is now testing a Borderlands movie and more. Watching these two trade observations will be a real treat, and a fiery one. His key talking point is what happens first to turn a single IP into a transmedia hit.

Our day will be expertly introduced by AWS’s Chris Melissinos, a veteran of our GamesBeat Summit events.

The May 24 online show kicks off with a discussion between Animoca Brands’ Yat Siu and Gumi Cryptos Capital’s Miko Matsumura as they discuss the challenges for blockchain gaming in the wake of its cycles of hype and skepticism.

We’ll hear from Chris Cocks, the CEO of Hasbro, about how an iconic toy company is bringing brands like Nerf, Transformers, Monopoly, Dungeons & Dragons, and Magic: The Gathering into the digital space as it moves into its second 100 years. to do business. Drake Star Partners’ Michael Metzger will pull a variety of questions out of his hat for Cocks, who will answer them all.

I had a little laugh when I saw the Insider headline about how “the metaverse is dead.” We’ll also get a perspective on that idea from someone with a completely different perspective in Japan. Hironao Kunimitsu, CEO of VR game company Thirdverse, will talk to me about why he still believes in the metaverse and how VR games like X8 will get him there one step at a time.

Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive, is a notoriously low-key, no-nonsense leader. Mike Vorhaus of Vorhaus Advisers couldn’t get him to talk about Grand Theft Auto VI. But Vorhaus will disarm Zelnick a bit by getting him to talk about the risks he took in the early days of his career. It’s interesting to see how he made decisions and continues to make some of the biggest stakes in entertainment today.

And while it’s great to hear Zelnick talk about things like the metaverse and NFTs, it’s also interesting to hear what his employees think about the ideas that come from workers. We’ll hear from Chanel Ward, director of diversity, equity and inclusion at Take-Two, moderate a panel with three leaders of Take-Two’s employee resource groups. Those have become critical voices for employees to be heard, especially when it comes to diversity issues and how to make games more engaging for all gamers.

The Future of VR and the Metaverse will remind us how our summit began with a focus on the metaverse, and GamesBeat’s Rachel Kaser will moderate a fireside on this topic with Tommy Palm, CEO of Resolution Games. We’ll also hear some joint research from Meta/Facebook Gaming’s Tim Lion and Stephen Gray and Newzoo’s Alexis Pamboris as they explored player sentiment about the metaverse, with some surprising results given the wave of skepticism we’re getting right now.

And ServiceNow’s Shuchi Rana will take our Metaverse Forum into a new chapter with a discussion on the challenges of the metaverse with Nick Tornow, VP of Engineering at Roblox; Wagner James Au, author of Make a metaverse that matters; and Chris Brandt, CMO of Chipotle. They have a lot of strong opinions on how to move the metaverse forward, and they certainly don’t think it’s dead.

We veered into an area of ​​new voices with a discussion on how games can engage people to think more about climate change in a discussion between Sheridan Tatsuno, founder of Dreamscape Global, and Susanna Pollack, president of Games for Change. And we’ll look at thinking about uniting industries beyond gaming with gaming talent to drive better results for climate action and help recruit gamers to save our planet.

As we near our finale, we’ll hear from John Needham, President of Esports at Riot Games, and Jordan Fragen, GamesBeat Writer, on why Riot Games loves esports. It’s been at it for over a decade, and its League of Legends and Valorant esports programs have set industry standards for in-game integrations, scale, production value, and brand partnerships. It is a fascinating journey and it is not over yet.

We’ll close the day online with a discussion between Tal Yguado, who left Amazon Studios to start his own gaming company Astrid Entertainment, and Pitchford, one of the most colorful CEOs in gaming as they debate the best way to find magic with IP. built on transmedia ambitions.