The leading games industry conference is almost here. Pocket Gamer Connects London is now just a few days away and what a lineup of speakers we have in store.

On January 23rd and 24th Pocket Gamer Connects hits home soil, returning to London for two days of insight-sharing, and contact-making interspersed with our world-famous thought-provoking panels, seminars, keynotes and more.

There are huge networking opportunities and our expert sessions are your chance to get up close and meet some of the biggest names in mobile games in what will be our biggest and best PG Connects London yet!

We spoke to Brendan Fraher, the head of global sales for GameRefinery (a LiftOff company) to find out more about his session at PGC London and to get his thoughts on the global mobile games market.

Brendan leads the account management and sales team at GameRefinery. With over 20 years of experience in global business, he works with developers to identify market opportunities, and unlock growth drivers throughout the game development cycle.

PocketGamer.biz: What can we expect to hear from you at PGC London?

Brendan Fraher: As we work with the majority of the major developers worldwide we see that there are a lot of similar challenges mobile developers are facing across genres. My talk will be an overview of how developers have found solutions to these challenges. Essentially this is an information-sharing session for developers on learnings on overcoming current market turbulence.

What's the most common mistake you see being made in the games sector?

One of the most common mistakes I see is that people only concentrate on their closest genre and do not look at gaming as a platform and understand who their player audience could be.

What one piece of advice would you give to those working in the mobile games space?

Look at mobile gaming as a platform. Look to best-of-breed systems and implementations to learn from what others are doing. The best lessons are often from games that are very different from your own on the surface.

What do you see as the next major disruptor in the mobile games market?

I think it’s going to be platforms and external stores.

What's the biggest challenge facing the games sector?

There’s too much fragmented data that can blind insights. This creates noise that can lead to wrong decisions. Developing a successful mobile game really comes down to successful decision-making if you otherwise have the right resources in place.

What developments do you think are undervalued within the games market?

Really understanding what motivates players and how that translates to gameplay and user acquisition (UA). There is often a real disconnect between games and their creatives. Working with the right partners to unlock that potential can make a big difference.

What's your favourite mobile game?

Call of Duty mobile because it reminds me so much of the feel of playing it on Xbox and I know there is some wizardry that goes into making that happen.

Are there any trends from the PC/console market you see coming to mobile?

Interesting engagement mechanics. Destiny 2 seasons are a good example, they are very player-story driven. The execution is very different from mobile which tends to have less of a story focus.

What's the most overhyped trend in games at the moment?

One could easily say NFTs because they could have been communicated in a much better way as items unique to players. Instead, NFTs were mainly pitched to players as if they were investors. Players aren’t investors, they want to have an experience and NFTs could be part of making that experience more personal.

So what role could NFTs have in games?

There is a wonderful opportunity for players and brands to have unique items in the “metaverse” and that’s wonderful because people want to express themselves but do they want them to just be copies? There is a lot of potential for them to be something special.

What are your thoughts on cross-platform games?

Cross-platform is on every developer's mind. It's definitely going to blur the lines between mobile and console PC experiences and bring games to life in new ways.

Can people get in touch with you at PGC London?

Yes absolutely. I would love to hear more experiences from product managers.

What can delegates do to prepare for your session at PGC London?

Come with an open mind to hear from other people's learnings and mistakes. We work with a variety of developers and they all face similar challenges.

There's still time to get your ticket for Pocket Gamer Connects London. To find out more about the event and secure ticket visit the PGC London website.