GamesBeat@GDC Confirms OnLive, GameStop, PlayStation Home Speakers

Author: by Staff

The GamesBeat@GDC Summit taking place at Game Developers Conference in San Francisco next month has announced new keynote and panel speakers including OnLive's Steve Perlman, GameStop Digital's Chris Petrovic, and Sony's Jack Buser. The summit is a partnership between technology site Venturebeat and the Think Services Game Group, and will take place on Wednesday, March 10, the second day of the GDC Summits. The theme for the business summit is "Disruption 2.0," and according to the organizers it will "focus on the next disruptions that will happen in the video game industry." "In the past couple of years, social games with virtual goods business models have proved themselves and shaken up the status quo," the description reads. "The iPhone has become a hot platform and Apple hopes to extend further into games with the iPad. Digital distribution and online games are growing. Will these trends gather more momentum and prove to be sustainable, or will new platforms and business models disrupt the disruptors?" As well as an already-confirmed "fireside chat" with Electronic Arts COO John Schappert, GamesBeat@GDC organizers have confirmed a keynote featuring OnLive's Steve Perlman. The serial entrepreneur has created a service that lets you play high-end games "on demand" -- that is, over the Internet from a conventional low-end PC with no download -- and will be discussing plans and technical specifics in the keynote. Newly announced speakers for other sessions or panels at the networking-replete executive summit include: - Chris Petrovic, senior vice president and general manager of GameStop Digital Ventures. The executive will appear on a panel on game investments to discuss his steps to integrate a digital strategy with GameStop’s core retail business. - David Helgason, CEO of rising game engine middleware firm Unity Technologies. He will participate in a panel on disruptive innovation, examining how lower-cost game engines leveraged across multiple platforms might be changing the shape of the game technology market. - Jack Buser, director of Sony PlayStation Home. He will be part of the panel on Disruptive Game Platforms, talking about the virtual world for the PlayStation 3 -- which has 10 million registered users and recently launched Sodium, a social game within the virtual world that is monetized through a virtual goods model. Other notable just-confirmed panel spakers include Owen Mahoney, CEO of Outspark, Keith Lee, founder and CEO of Booyah, PopCap Games co-founder John Vechey, hi5's Alex St. John, and Zynga's Brian Reynolds. Overall, the Summit will "discuss the fate of the game platforms, where investors are putting their money in games, how big companies and brands are adapting to the growth of social and mobile gaming, new trends such as cloud-based gaming, and games as a service." Attendees can access GamesBeat@GDC -- which will be programmed by veteran game journalist and business writer Dean Takahashi -- with several different passes, including a GDC All Access pass, a Summits and Tutorials pass, as well as a GamesBeat@GDC pass.