GamesBeat Summit 2026 unveils a slate of expert speakers

If you’re curious who will speak at the next awesome game event, we’re happy to tell you about some awesome speakers for GamesBeat Summit 2026.

Among the new speakers is Gerard “HipHopGamer” Williams, who is always the loudest and most enthusiastic person in the room. Williams did a great job as emcee for our GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood & Games back in December. We will also welcome speaker applications for the summit on this link.

We previously announced Jenova Chen, CEO of Thatgamecompany, will speak at the opening of GamesBeat Summit 2026 about the company’s 20-year history of making deeply emotional games as well as the future of gaming. Michael Metzger, managing partner of Drake Star Partners, will moderate the talk with Chen at the event, which takes place on May 18-19 at the Marina del Rey Marriott on the shore of the Pacific Ocean in Los Angeles.

Our other speakers include Adam Boyes, a 30-year veteran of gaming and founder of Virato, a new advisory service fo building a healthier, more resilient games ecosystem. He is former co-CEO of Iron Galaxy and head of third-party games at Sony PlayStation.

Tom Kang, president of Nex. We also have Tom Kang, president of Nex, the maker of the Nex Playground motion-gaming console. Lisa Cosmas Hanson, president of Niko Partners, will do a fireside chat with Kang.

Kang is president of Nex. He oversees strategy, corporate and business development, business operations and international expansion. Nex’s mission is to “Connect Families and Friends through Active Play,” and it is the maker of Nex Playground, an active play game console based on motion detection. He previously served at Walmart, Walmart Amazon Games, Amazon Web Services and Disney Interactive, as well as multiple startups as CEO.

Lisa Cosmas Hanson, President of Niko Partners Lisa Cosmas Hanson is founder and president of Niko Partners, a market research and consulting firm covering the Asia games market and its consumers. Lisa founded Niko Partners in 2002 and has since honed her expertise on the Asia games industry that has benefitted Niko’s clients, companies that are global leaders in game publishing, game services, hardware, and investments.

Mark Stanley is CEO of Syndicate of Play. Mark Stanley will moderate a couple of panels for us. Stanley is CEO of Syndicate of Play, an advisory service with a focus on boss-level strategy and player-first mindsets. He is an adviser for Women in Games International and Playing 4 The Planet. He is on the board of Games for Change and the Oceanic Society.

Jim Greer is engineering leader at Roblox. Jim Greer is engineering leader at Roblox. He leads a game solutions team working with select partners to bring novel games and strategic partners to Roblox. He was also cofounder of Kongregate with his sister Emily Greer.

Leanne Loombe is head of games at Annapurna. Leanne Loombe is executive vice president and head of games at Annapurna. She also previously worked at Netflix, Riot Games and Electronic Arts. She is on the board of Women in Games International and and an adviser to Astrid Entertainment.

Joe Traverso is vice president of product development for EA Experiences at EA.

Joe Traverso is vice president of product development for EA Experiences at Electronic Arts. He leads product development within EA Experiences, contributing to the evolution of subscription services and delivering products that grow community engagement and lifetime value for players. Previously, he was in product management and leadership roles at Zynga and Activision. He focuses on growth in and around the game.

Mike DeLaet is president of Ares Interactive. Mike DeLaet is president of Ares Interactive, which recently raised $70 million. He leads the entire company and its growing portfolio of hit games across all platforms. DeLaet has more than 25 years of experience in gaming and digital entertainment. He has held roles at Mattel, Scopely, Rogue Games, Kabam, Glu Mobile and Sprint, working on blockbuster franchises including Marvel Contest of Champions, Marvel Strike Force, Star Trek Fleet Command, Yahtzee, The Walking Dead, Uno, and more.

Amir Satvat is a game jobs champion and also a business development director for Tencent. Source: GamesBeat Amir Satvat is business development director at Tencent Games in North America by day. By night, he is the founder of Always Serving the Games Community. He assembles job boards for the game industry and has helped thousands of people find jobs in gaming through his website. Through that work, he has become an expert on transparency in gaming careers and an advocate for gaming professionals.

Ninel Anderson is CEO of Devoted Studios. Ninel Anderson is CEO and founder of Devoted Studios, a production company that manages external development with a network of 1,400 professionals. She is a serial entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in video games and external development. She champions responsible game development and equal opportunity for talent to work on projects they love.

Jonathan Stringfield of Microsoft Advertising. Jonathan Stringfield is vice president of Microsoft advertising & gaming business leadership. He oversees cross-functional readiness across Microsoft ad multi-format marketing solutions crossing channels, segments, and geographies around the world. He previously worked at Activision Blizzard.

Jen MacLean is CEO of Dragon Snacks Games. Jen MacLean, cofounder and CEO of Dragon Snacks Games, a new game studio creating social experiences that leverage user-generated content and cooperative gameplay. She is formerly the General Manager of Creator Partnerships for Xbox, where her team managed Xbox’s largest partner relationships and she co-led content strategy for new initiatives. She was also executive Director for the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) and IGDA Foundation.

Andrea Rene, on-camera host, producer and content creator. She’s a veteran of podcasts such as Whats Good Games.

Ben Granados. Ben Granados is the CEO of Publsh. He is an executive who has spent his entire 29-year career in the video game industry. He cofounded, operated, and exited Petrol Advertising after 21 profitable years. He has helped strategically launch well over 1,000 games finding common ground between business, development, and marketing.

Michael Metzger is managing partner at Drake Star Partners. Source: Drake Star Partners Our GamesBeat crew speaking at the event includes me, Dean Takahashi, editorial director; Alex Lee, lead new writer; and Rachel Kaser, writer.

Jenova Chen is CEO of Thatgamecompany. Source: Thatgamecompany Chen will do a fireside chat with Michael Metzger, managing partner at Drake Star Partners, about: “Lessons and inspirations: At thatgamecompany’s 20-year milestone, CEO and Creative Director Jenova Chen reflects on redefining games as emotional, artistic, and deeply human experiences, and looks ahead to the future of interactive entertainment.”

The crowd at GamesBeat Summit 2024. This is one of dozens of talks we’re planning for GamesBeat Summit 2026, which takes place May 18-19 in Marina del Rey in Los Angeles at the Marina del Rey Marriott. We’ll have cool experiences like a golf tournament and a yacht event.

We’re looking forward to the fireside chat at the start of our two-day conference, which will focus on the theme of Experience Meets Acceleration. It’s about how the fast-moving game industry needs sharper leadership to navigate at speed through the challenges of technology, talent, business models and how audiences connect with content.

GamesBeat Summit 2026 is where experience meets acceleration. It’s where the industry’s most influential decision-makers, innovators, and builders come together to challenge assumptions, compare notes, and align on what comes next — without losing sight of what already works.

We’ll dive into the trends actively shaping gaming’s future — from AI and UGC ecosystems to platform dynamics, live services, new monetization paths, and cross-media storytelling — with a focus on what’s working now and where the biggest opportunities are emerging.

Expect candid conversations, practical takeaways, and high-value connections that turn insight into action — and ideas into real-world partnerships, strategies, and growth. We’ll be revealing more of our great speakers soon.

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