On April 26-28th, GamesBeat Summit 2022 will be the largest event for game leaders.
Here's Dean Takahashi's opening speech for :
Since the epidemic, we have returned to our first in-person session for a GamesBeat Summit. I'm so grateful to see those who made it here in person, and I'm also pleased that many of you are watching the video.
I'm so pleased with receiving opening speeches online, but I'm disgruntled about it in person. Perhaps it's better if I can give my speeches in the metaverse.
This is our sixth GamesBeat event that has taken place since the epidemic began, and this is our first hybrid event combining both physical and online meetings that I hope will serve as a guideline to reunifying our community.
While we are grateful you are here, please be cautious of staying safe and healthy. My own way of greeting people at the summit is the elbow bump. It's my way of saying we like you and we don't want you to catch anything while you're here as our guests.
I'd like you to see this one image. It isn't remarkable, but it's what I'd call an example of ground truth. Pavel Izotov, a game developer in Cherkasy, Ukraine, has been experimenting with a game called Rebuild Ukraine, and he has gone back to his apartment for showers, although it is not completely safe from rocket attacks. It struck me that they believe in the world's ability to do good in the middle of a war zone.
On Friday, the Ukrainians held a game conference entitled "game dev under bombs." Geopolitics has reminded us how important entertainment is to life itself. I wish to protect any game creator living in a dangerous area.
Once more, we want to thank game developers and publishers for providing us with entertainment that unstuck us and saved us during the epidemic. One of our speakers will say, "Play is a empathy multiplayer."
We want to thank our sponsors who have heard about our call to support a fantastic GamesBeat community and a free and independent press capable of authentically covering games. Thanks to our speakers and advisors.
This event is different from the metaverse event we held in January and from the GamesBeat Summit Next event we held last November. These events were a tribute to the industry's leading edge, and sometimes the bleeding edge.
The 2022 GamesBeat Summit is a major event focused on the industry's core. It does not have much hype as the edge. However, it is still very rewarding. In 2021, there were $85 billion in gaming deals, nearly triple the previous year, and Drake Star Partners is anticipating it to reach $150 billion by 2022.
I do not want to get us too busy. Yet an investment banker recently said game people should envision their industry not in the hundreds of billions of dollars, but in the trillions of dollars.
As games reach the heart of all entertainment, investors have taken notice of things that they have never experienced before. Netflix's intention to make an Exploding Kittens cartoon show alongside a mobile game is only one of many that we will see big platforms make.
Even in the face of a shady stock market and a persistent pandemic, investors are investing money into new game studios. They're also investing money in new technology or ideas like the NFTs and the metaverse. They're also investing money into new game studios in the company's core. And they're also fueling acquisitions that would have never occurred before. This is why we have a significant talent shortage.
All of this means that the core of the technology will change. That is why our keynote speaker, Reggie Fils-Aime, the former president of Nintendo of America, is in a fireside chat with Danny Pena about entertainment being disrupted.
There are individuals who want to see the game industry stay as it is now. That is wishful thinking. Those deals will ensure that there is only more change ahead. We dont need to look at the future with fear. Our beliefs are that we can conceive that the future is so complex as it is.
Both at the small level like what it takes to have 165 employees in Elden Ring, a game that might take me a long time to finish. Or at an important level, like how free-to-play games made the game audience 10 times bigger than it once was.
Both the microcosm and the macrocosm must be able to discern the truth of the game industry, like a ground-level perspective in a first-person game or a strategic perspective in a real-time strategy title.
Our event is intended to bring together thought leaders to understand and explain the changes that are occurring and where gaming is going. I hope that you'll find some answers here and lead us to gaming's golden age.
We want to hold honest conversations about thought leadership, change, and what's coming next. We'll discuss issues such as platforms and decisions, geopolitical challenges, technological disruption, the evolving game development, mental health, diversity, and making the industry and games more accessible.
We kicked off our event with a fantastic Women in Gaming breakfast, the fourth one we've done, and the first time we've received an actual breakfast.
Jon Goldman will talk about how VR may make a comeback, partly because to the potential of the metaverse. He is investing $50 million into this strategy.
During our online days, we have people like Phil Sanderson and Frankie Zhu, who have raised roughly $800 million to invest in games. They'll discuss with Alina Soltys and Chris Petrovic about the importance of big acquisitions for the entire game industry.
While we're excited, we should be wary of the wolves among us. There are always snake oil sellers. We can see them in many areas of the NFT gaming industry. But you have to distinguish the metaverse, including business concepts such as subscriptions, platform fees, targeted advertising, and privacy. GamesBeat Summit is about embracing a large ensemble of ideas and tossing the bad ones.
When you create AI characters for humans to interact with in a virtual environment, you may be modeling behavior for how they will treat people in the virtual world, according to geopolitics. If we have problems with diversity in the virtual world, like at Activision Blizzard, we may also expand into game realms.
As we push hard into the future and strive to make the game industry bigger and bigger, it pays to remember the relationship between virtual and real worlds.
Our new Metaverse Forum will consider thought leadership in remaking the metaverse without forgetting about societal issues. This time, our Metaverse Forum conversation will take place on Wednesday (day 2 of our online sessions) in a roundtable about Science Fiction, Tech, and games.
What science fiction can teach us? Ready Player Two, led by Ernest Cline, was conceived to make YouTube a repository of uploaded content where we could show people exactly what it is to see the world from our perspective, to see it as an LGBTQ person, or to see it as a person with accessibility difficulties. With the metaverse, we should be able to actually walk in someone else's shoes.
It is important to think about how game designers have provided amazing virtual worlds for us to gain ground, but sometimes they work in extremely extreme conditions, as I learned when I wrote an investigative story about Moon Studios, the creator of the Ori games, and the alleged toxicity of the founders.
We have a roundtable discussion on how game businesses should go beyond advising self-care for their employees and should be more aggressive in terms of improving mental health.
I'm looking forward to the discussions over NFTs that will begin at the end of the day between David Kim of Wax and Rami Ismail.
We have a great conversation, with Rachel Kaser and Glen Schofield of Striking Distance Studios, where Rob Pardo of Bonfire and Ilkka Paananen of Supercell talk about developing company cultures. Ilkka often talks about making his own big mistakes as easily he talks about his team's accomplishments.
We are grateful that there are so many speakers willing to share their views with us. GamesBeat Summit is a location in which you may drop your swords and shields at the door. It's a safe place.
We are not fake news. We believe in understanding it and covering the day to day activities in this most interesting of all industries. We report for duty every day. Our conferences follow this philosophy, as we seek for thought-leadership and actionable insights.
According to Drake Star Partners, 128 blockchain game companies raised $1.2 billion in Q1, but the reality is that VCs and strategic investors invested $3.4 billion in private game companies in 287 agreements. ProbablyMonsters alone raised $250 million for triple-A games.
We don't need game reporters to shake fear that one type of game is crowding out another. Blockchain games might be a big success or a huge crater, but unlike free-to-play mobile games a decade ago, we don't have to worry that they will kill off triple-A games. In fact, blockchain games will succeed if they become triple-A.
I feel that as a game journalist and event organizer, I have a genuine desire to do justice. Following a few recording sessions, one of the senior women in our industry said, "Thank you for giving us a voice. It's a lot." In my story on Moon Studios, with alleged toxic creators, one source said, "I accomplished what I wanted. I encouraged those who came behind me to go into Moon with their eyes wide open."
Those words made me feel adamant that we have chosen to give people a voice and a stage so they could simply say who they are, that they are here, and that they belong to this industry. I enjoy how they all shine when they come here or record their videos and deliver their important messages. This is why we do this.
Remember that in the fall, we'll have our next stop in our event schedule. Our GamesBeat Summit Next event details will be inSF, and details are coming soon.
We are in the golden age of gaming. However, let's not just think about it from a financial perspective. Let's aspire to reaching a golden age of mental health, diversity, workplace equity, and even community equity.
These concerns have been considered as sideshows on the core game business in the past, but I would insist that they should be the focal point in any debate.
So here's what you'll be getting at the GamesBeat Summit in 2022.
When it comes to gaming, GamesBeat's belief is, "where passion meets business," and what does it matter to you. Whether you read our articles, listen to our podcasts, or watch our videos, GamesBeat will assist you learn about the industry and encourage your involvement.
