Making sure you start the year in style, Pocket Gamer Connects London is happening on 13-14 January 2015 at Vinopolis.

And tickets are available now.

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 at PG Connects London 2015.

East meets west

Based in Berlin, Germany, David Mohr is currently building business development and live operations for Gamevil in Europe.

An industry veteran of 15 years, he has a solid background in gaming journalism and management. He reviewed games for Cybermedia and Heinrich Bauer Publishing, managed production and distribution for Nintendo and Playstation titles at ProSiebenSat.1 Media and spent the last years in user acquisition as Director Advertiser Relations at GameGenetics.

Pocket Gamer: We're showcasing the Best of British at Pocket Gamer Connects so how much of an impact have British game developers had in your gaming life?

David Mohr: I'll never forget the original Tomb Raider on the Sega Saturn. Jumping off old ruins and into deep chasms has never been that much fun again - not even in Assassin's Creed.

Why is user acquisition such a challenge in the mobile business today and what can games companies do to give themselves a fighting chance?

I think working with a publisher that already has a big established player base for cross promotion can be very helpful. Gamevil is fortunate to be in a position like that, so are Rovio and a few other publishers.

Aside from that I would suggest to spend smart on UA and concentrate on channels that you can scale and manage in-house.

What are the major challenges currently facing games businesses when publishing abroad?

Understanding the culture and market dynamics in the target region can be very difficult if you don't have a local person helping you.

At Gamevil, we are already benefiting greatly from the South East Asian and European offices we are establishing next to Korea, Japan, China and the US operations.

Having localization, community management, customer support and live operations in the region is extremely helpful.

How can indie developers adapt to survive in the mobile economy?

As a game developer I would try to focus on making the best possible game I can.

If you build something that you are proud of, then chances are that you can either strike a good deal with a publisher, or maybe even publish yourself. In our industry it just comes down to the games all the time.

If they are good, then everything else will follow. That also means that if the project is not so great, then you should think hard about why you are working on it.

Will new technology like wearable tech and VR change the mobile landscape? If so (or not), how?

I honestly don't know but hope that I will be pleasantly surprised. I really look forward to flying a spaceship with the Oculus Rift, but not sure how that might transfer to a mobile experience yet.

What are you most looking forward to at Pocket Gamer Connects?

I'm looking forward to meeting game developers and to talking about their projects.

What's your prediction for the mobile gaming industry in 2015?

Budgets will be bigger, games will be better and Nintendo will surprise us all.

Grab your tickets for Pocket Gamer Connects London 2015 here!

Don't forget to keep up-to-date with content from our speakers via the Speaker Spotlight hashtag.

And you can check out speaker talks from PG Connects Helsinki 2014 here.