It’s that time again! We have just over a month left until our conference in Toronto kicks off, and anticipation is building for those two days full of networking opportunities, thought-provoking conversations and overall a wonderful time. We’re lifting the veil on a few of the incredible names that you can look forward to hearing share their expertise with us at our Pocket Gamer Connects Toronto conference next month, and they’ve been generous enough to share a few of their insights with us ahead of time.
If you didn’t know, we’re bringing Europe’s leading b2b mobile gaming conference to Toronto for the very first time on July 6-7. It’s the same PG Connects conference you know and love in an all-new city brimming with untapped opportunities – we couldn’t be more excited to welcome you to our first ever Toronto edition of PG Connects. In line with celebrating Toronto as the most diverse city in the world, we’re highlighting the importance of diversity in the games industry, and shedding light on experts’ thoughts on how we can enhance our diversity and inclusion efforts as an industry.
We have a fantastic speaker lineup lined up for you at our conference and today, we’re spotlighting one of the expert superstar speakers we have among the 150 thought leaders that will be joining us in Toronto next month. The immense wisdom and insight that our talented speakers bring to our conference is a major part of what makes ours the number one mobile gaming conference in Europe, and we couldn’t be more thankful to have them joining us and sharing their time and wisdom with us next month.
It is better to go deeper and have a clear path to a rich experience than a broad promise of what “can be” someday - get players hooked on the base of the game.John Eberhardt
To start off our spotlight series, we spoke with John Eberhardt, Executive Producer at Wizards of the Coast. John grew up a gamer and storyteller on the far south side of Chicago, buying his first copy of Chainmail at Don’s Hobby World, writing his first code on an Apple IIe, and making his first television show in high school. After USC film school - which included time on Tales from the Crypt, he found the intersection of his passions in the gaming world. Having shipped over one hundred games across PC, console, mobile, and live services, he is committed to Fun as a Service - and ensures every game he makes has a strong “you bastard!” loop at its core.
Join us at PG Connects Toronto on June 6-7 to hear Eberhardt discuss the challenges and opportunities of cross platform publishing.
PocketGamer.biz: What’s the most common mistake you see being made in the games sector?
John Eberhardt: You want to build a FRANCHISE - which means having a deep experience that continues to grow is crucial. It is better to go deeper and have a clear path to a rich experience than a broad promise of what “can be” someday - get players hooked on the base of the game. Your MVP (minimum viable) should be about quality of the core game loop, the first-time user experience to get them hooked and wanting to come back to the loop (strong FTUE), and clear/meaningful engagement with the players (analytics & comms pipeline). You need to build the ocean in a straight line out, NOT the entire beachfront.
What is the single biggest challenge facing the mobile games industry today?
As crazy as it sounds, the biggest challenge is that we are coming out of a pandemic (albeit still an epidemic & teetering at various points and places back towards lockdown). People have been locked inside with their games for the last two years and want to experience life again. To that end, you cannot rely on what has been a success over this period moving forward - there will be fatigue, as well as a desire to have a more connected experience with the people and world with which people have lost touch. It is time for new, connected games and past predictor of success should have a HUGE asterisk next to it.
Be it socioeconomic differences, cultural differences, racial differences, orientation differences, age differences - absolutely everyone brings a unique experience to the table.John Eberhardt
What game do you think offers something new, and exciting that hasn’t yet hit the mainstream?
Pokémon Go was a groundbreaking game - but it was focused on the segment of Pokémon players, and it was halted when people could not go outside of their house. A more “common” AR game, with the same utilization of real-world locations and data will become a genre of its own, with a deeply immersive, social, and experiential gameplay which can move the needle beyond where it has been to date.
What is the most overhyped trend from the last 12 months - and why?
Do I have to use those three letters? I guess I would have to, because I cannot show you a monkey picture without paying for it.
Why did you decide to go into the games industry?
I went to film school to both provide immersive stories and narrative lines where people could find comfort and relief, while inspiring them along the way. That is exactly what gaming is, as an ACTIVE versus PASSIVE medium experience. Gaming provides stimulation, community, and fun - and when the real world becomes overwhelming, a place of calm and order to help people find their moment of Zen.
Why do you think it is important to see diversity represented in the games industry?
Multis vocibus ad unum cantum. Game makers do not look like the people playing our games. While that sounds like a platitude, it is true - no one looks the exact same as anyone else. Therefore, we need to make games fun for EVERYONE. Part of that means having as wide a variety of inputs as possible to make sure that there are viewpoints and perspectives that you do not bring to the table. Be it socioeconomic differences, cultural differences, racial differences, orientation differences, age differences - absolutely everyone brings a unique experience to the table. Pulling from that difference of viewpoint in every aspect of game development (design, art, audio) makes an experience more rounded and authentic to the audience which will play it.
Connect with our superstar speakers
Looking to expand your network and include the likes of John Eberhardt and other incredible industry experts? Join us at Pocket Gamer Connects Toronto, there’s no place like it to network to your heart’s content and take your business and network to the next level. Secure your spot now with our limited time flash sale celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee – you can save a whopping 30% on top of our Early Bird sale prices, so you can get in on massive savings if you act now. Head over to our Eventbrite via this link and the discount will be applied instantly.
