Interview

Speaker Spotlight: JetSynthesys' Scott Prather to discuss driving mobile growth in emerging regions at PGC Seattle

Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle 2019 will take place on May 13th to 14th

Speaker Spotlight: JetSynthesys' Scott Prather to discuss driving mobile growth in emerging regions at PGC Seattle

Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle 2019 will take place on May 13th to 14th. To give you a taste of what to expect, we'll regularly be publishing interviews with the speakers at the show.

For more details on PGC Seattle and to book a ticket, head to the website here.

Today we're speaking to JetSynthesys business development VP Scott Prather ahead of his talk entitled '2019 - Driving growth for your mobile game from emerging regions'.

Prather leads all exploration and partnership efforts within the JetSynthesys arm of the JetLine Group. He has more than 15 years of experience in the wireless industry and has been involved in mobile entertainment since early 2000.

Prather has led all business development and partnership efforts at multiple mobile-focused companies such as a Reliance Entertainment, PlayPhone, OpenFeint and I-Play Partners.

Prather also held a leadership position at the Walt Disney Company where he drove strategic planning, licensing and alignment of Disney’s digital content catalogue.

PocketGamer.biz: Could you tell us a bit about the company?

Scott Prather: JetSynthesys is the JetLine group's most innovative company with a vision to create world-class digital products, platforms and services to play an active role in your digital daily life.

We are a games developer and publisher and look forward to helping all developers bring their product to market by offering a variety of available development services.

What does your role entail?

I lead all global business development, licensing and partnership efforts. This means I get to play lots of games and help developers make their game the best it can possibly be!

Why did you want to work in the games industry?

I love the mobile games industry. It's an extremely rare combination of bleeding edge technology, psychology and fun!

What advice would you give to anyone looking to get into it?

Be prepared to do your homework just to be able to understand the language. Gaming uses a ton of industry-specific jargon!

What are your thoughts on the industry in the last 12 months?

Over the past 12 months, we have seen a movement away from random loot boxes as a form of monetisation and made a positive move towards actually trying to make the gamer happy, instead of just trying to monetise each user.

What major trends do you predict in the next 12 months?

Competitive multiplayer will evolve and grow, mobile gaming discovery will continue to be driven via social word of mouth, and off-app store content will continue to grow.

I also believe the "standard" 30 per cent rev share going to app stores will be reduced.

How has the games industry changed since you first started?

In 15 years? A tonne! File sizes have grown significantly, we now have full colour available and the technical capabilities of devices has improved in ways I didn't think possible.

The industry as a whole has also now acknowledged mobile games as a legitimate form of gaming!

Which part of the Connects event are you most looking forward to and why?

PG Connects! It's always a great show - good informational panels and a chance to connect with games developers from all over the world.

Find out more about Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle 2019 on the website.