Marking our first conference in North America, Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco is happening on 7-8 July at The Village.
And tickets are still available.
So to give you a hint at what you can expect, we're shining the spotlight onto our speakers to provide a deeper look at the personalities who will be taking the stage.
Jeremy Horn is general manager at San Francisco developer TinyCo, which is best known for Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff.
At Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco 2015, he's talking on the subject of How to Stand Out from the Free-to-Play Crowd on 8 July at 10.50am.
PocketGamer.biz: What do you think has be the biggest story in the mobile gaming industry of 2015 so far?
Jeremy Horn: I would say: Super Bowl advertisements.
The game had not just one but two major ads run for mobile games this year - Clash of Clans and Game of War.
Mobile games have been big money for a while but they are now officially part of the highest degree of mainstream culture. You can't go bigger than being a commercial during the Super Bowl!
We're starting to see the growth in mobile gaming revenue slow down in western markets, while in most Asian countries it's still very high. Is this changing the way you approach the sector?
The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
Kabam successfully launched Marvel: Contest of Champions to China, Gameloft has found better payoffs in the Asian market with Dungeon Hunter 5 than in the western markets... The examples are numerous.
Asia has its own set of rules and the products have to be adapted to fit their habits if you want a slice of the pie.
Brands and celebrities continue to get more important. Is this a good thing for mobile gaming?
Players want to have their favorite brands and associated games easily accessible.
Focusing on these types of projects [brands and celebrities] is a short term vision.Jeremy Horn
As long as users want it, big brands and celebrities will be a good thing.
However only focusing on these types of projects is a short term vision, and it will be important to keep portfolios diversified for when the wind turns (especially when the market will become saturated with low-quality products surfing this trend).
There's lots of hype about wearables, VR and AR at the moment. Do they excite you as gaming platforms?
Immensely! We are still far from actually having portable and convenient devices that are available to a mainstream audience.
It's a brand new market but that is fairly unproven at this point. In my opinion, it is too early to talk about mass-market gaming on these platforms.
What's been your favourite game of 2015 so far. Why?
Bloodborne. For that feeling of a unforgiving experience with minimal handholding that brought me back to NES games were success actually felt rewarding.
On mobile I have been addicted to Ingress, released on iOS this year, and how it has penetrated my daily life.
What are you most looking forward to at Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco 2015?
I'm especially excited by the Indie Survival Guide track!
What can you reveal about the talk you're giving at Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco 2015?
I will be discussing how to differentiate a product in a saturated free-to-play market.
