Discover new markets, explore the future of gaming and discover how to increase your player base at Pocket Gamer Connects Digital #8. Today we can reveal dozens of top names who will be helping you do just that.

The leading series of B2B mobile games industry conferences returns for an eighth digital edition from September 27th to October 1st, with the team carefully crafting a star-studded line-up of speakers ready to share their expert insights with you.

Each talk, panel, keynote, and seminar is streamed live, recorded, and made available on-demand, so you can catch up on anything you may have missed at a more convenient time.

We’ve already revealed some of the amazing speakers who are joining us next month, which you can view here.

But today we can exclusively reveal more industry insiders. Who else will you be hearing from online at Pocket Gamer Connects Digital #8?

Are you a budding game developer who doesn’t know where to start? Sample Rate Audio Production CEO Taras Terletskyy and Masquerade Media president Dayan Paul offer their first-class practical tips for first-time game developers alongside other panelists.

Perchang creative director Ben Murch discusses with a panel whether there are any barriers to becoming a game developer.

Playable Worlds executive producer John Eberhardt hosts a solo session for developers where he argues just because you have a playground, it does not mean you have a game.

Bellyfeel interactive storyteller Krishna Stott explains how they set up and ran immersive live role player story games using just three rules while offering some behind-the-scenes tips for making things go smoothly.

Imperia Online JSC marketing and business development manager Aleksandar Ivanov explores the key elements of live ops and why they are crucial for the sustainability and longevity of your game - sharing 15 years of experience.

Meanwhile, Nekki COO Dmitry Pimenov shares and discusses some of the lessons he and his panelists have learned from their game economy mistakes.

Guerrilla Games narrative director Ben McCaw and Ravenous Wolf CEO Douglas Ferguson share some of the best practices to get your team engaged in ideation without losing focus.

Esports, influencers, and industry values

As esports becomes more mainstream, will the changes in demographics and viewership affect its content? META Games COO Philipp J. Karstaedt dives in and discusses with a panel of experts.

Esports Nigeria president Emmanuel Oyelakin and Isle of Man Government head of esports Chris Kissack explores emerging esports and what we can learn from growing markets on an esports specialised panel.

Reach the masses with effective marketing campaigns through esports engagement with ibMedia Group CEO Frank A. Sliwka’s seminar. With user acquisition and retention, how do you pick the ideal tactic for your target demographic? Traplight Games head of UA Matej Lancaric shares his views with a panel.

As influencer marketing starts to become a popular form of promoting your brand and games, should influencers be at arm’s length or considered part of your team? AFK Creators CEO Matthew Woods and Viral Talent director Alex Chavez-Munoz debate their views on a panel.

Traplight Games chief growth officer Filippo De Rose and Talewind Studios COO Georgina Felce discuss how you can deal with conflicts within your team.

Splash Damage diversity and inclusion adviser Cinzia Musio, LudiqueWorks co-founder and CEO Douglas Ogeto, A Thinking Ape VP, people and culture Natania Mathany, and dmb crew founder Deborah Mensah-Bonsu ponder the challenges that lie ahead as diversity and inclusivity become norms.

Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Let’s Play co-founder and community manager Paul Scherer joins us for a fireside chat where he goes over the MDA Let’s Play community.

Publishing and scaling up

Remote control productions business development manager Katerina Burbela compares and contrasts the differences between going self-publishing and working with a publisher.

iEntertainment Network president and chairman JW 'Bill' Stealey provides an analysis of how game publishing has changed throughout the years. Whereas Curve Digital VP of partnerships Bobby Wertheim features on two panels, where he looks at whether new IP or remake is the way to go when looking for a publisher, as well as what the best practices are to deal with conflicts with publishers.

Quicksave Interactive CEO Elina Arponen leads a focused session on fundraising for a game start-up.

Elite Game Developers CEO Joakim Achren and Magmatic Games CEO Florian Stronk share their opinions on what developers should consider when choosing the right investor on a panel.

Is bootstrapping and self-financing still a thing in game development? 8 Circuit Studios founder James Mayo and Hiro Capital venture director Spike Laurie discuss. Agnitio Capital managing director Shum Singh debates whether acquisition is still the way to go.

Ranking eighth among the world’s largest internet population and the fourth largest gaming market in 2020 in terms of app installs, Mail.ru Group head of gaming business unity David Olubowale provides an analysis of the gaming industry in Russia.

And elsewhere, Wargaming (DPS Games) monetisation and live ops director Sarah Tilley, Code Wizards managing director and software architect Stuart Muckley and Critical Force’s Mikael Silvennoinen discuss the challenges of a player-centric approach in long-term engagement.

Hypercasual happenings

BoomBit VP publishing Jon Hook walks us through building a hypercasual team, and discusses how processes map to profitability, answering questions such as what is a good target ARPU for hypercasual games.

Jestercraft CEO Klaus Kääriäinen discusses some of the challenges of being innovative and unique in the hypercasual market with a panel.

(And don’t forget that we’re still accepting submissions for the conference’s first-ever Big Hypercasual Pitch).

Beyond the mobile space

Pocket Gamer is famed for championing the mobile sector. But for many years now we’ve supported PC, console, virtual reality, blockchain, and other technologies too, both within our family of websites and also at our conferences.

For instance, at Pocket Gamer Connects Digital #8, Axir Infinity COO Aleksander Larsen discusses the sustainability of play to earn in blockchain gaming. Fridai co-founder Mark Engelhardt features on a panel that looks at the growing popularity of gaming NFTs and going beyond the ‘hype’.

Splinterlands CEO Jesse Reich dedicates his solo session to mainstream blockchain gaming with Splinterlands. Gamee CEO Bozena Rezab explores the differences between a successful blockchain game and a successful standard game.

The future of gaming offers many possibilities. MetArena CEO Marcus Howard dives into these possibilities with other expert panelists.

How will cloud gaming and new platforms change gaming as a whole? Plug In Digital CEO Francis Ingrand and Softgames CEO Alexander Krug discuss with a panel. Meanwhile, Cooperative Innovations CEO Simon Barratt explores whether indie dev kits, cloud gaming, UGC, and metaverse platforms are the way of the future.

Brave Entertainment Asia executive creative director David Edwards, Core Game founder consultant Kelly Vero and Dimoso CEO Jacki Vause unite for a curated panel on creating characters across music, games, and beyond. Vauce also appears on a panel alongside Traplight Games lead marketing artist Akseli Virtanen on the secrets of designing the perfect game ad.

We’re also very excited to hear from Robot Cache EVP business development Philippe Erwin and Legacy Games CEO Ariella Lehrer share their expert insights with us at Pocket Gamer Connects Digital #8.

Book now, save $190

You could join us for Pocket Gamer Connects Digital #8 and learn from the games industry’s finest minds. Book your tickets now and save up to $190 with our Mid-Term discounted offer.

We have a limited number of free tickets available for indie developers (apply here), jobseekers (apply here), and students (apply here).