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

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 is a huge range of 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!

Before the event kicks off, we're highlighting some of the incredible speakers and participants who are taking to the stage to share their insight, knowledge and perspective on the mobile games market.

the PocketGamer.biz team spoke to Piyush Mishra the Head of Growth Marketing for Product Madness about what he's planning to talk about - and his thoughts on games as a whole.

Piyush's role at Product Madness is to improve the efficiency of user acquisition (UA) through strategic input. Her team is primarily responsible for all things Adtech - Attribution, Reporting, Privacy Changes (including SKAN), and other strategic projects with Data Science & Tech like Incrementality, Media Mix Modeling, pLTV, Cross Promotion and more.

PocketGamer.biz: What topics are you covering at PGC London?

Piyush Mishra:  Adam Smart & I are doing a live podcast of our ongoing podcast show on Spotify and Apple - In the Sandbox With.

We will be speaking with Shalom Michaeli, MD EMEA at Digital Turbine about the evolution of the supply side over the last couple of years and what's bound to change in the future, especially 2023.

What's the most common mistake you see being made in the games industry right now?

The most common mistake that I see is gaming companies becoming big with the success of one game but being unable to replicate a similar level of success with another launch. When the first game dies down a bit, the company struggles with finding another game that would resonate with the consumer.

If you could give other mobile game companies one piece of advice, what would it be?

My answer could be a bit biased towards marketing as that's my domain, but having a greater synergy between marketing and product teams would help the company a lot. Users don't care about who is showing the ad and who is working on the product, so from a user standpoint, the first touch point of an impression should resonate with how the final product is.

Instead of separating the journey from impression to install (typically marketing) and then install to lifetime value or LTV (typically product), one should focus on looking at the entire journey through the lens of a user.

What are the next big opportunities emerging in the mobile games market?

The next big opportunity in the mobile games market could be a big shift to gaming in the VR world. Again, I used the word 'could' because the cost of hardware needs to come down.

The other areas in the next 10 years are obviously Web3 gaming & metaverse evolution, but the near future ones are - How the side-loading on Apple will pan out & the rise of Apple Arcade (or any subscription-based gaming platform)

What's the most important KPI for you - and why?

For us, the key KPI from a marketing standpoint is obviously return on ad spend (RoAS). Obviously, it's not the only KPI that we look at.

In the new privacy-era world, the KPIs keep on changing as the post-install data is inconsistent for different platforms. 

What mobile games company do you admire?

I would say Supercell - When I entered the industry, they were dominating it and that has sort of stayed with me. Now, I also like a couple of great investments that they made into other games companies.

I would also say Product Madness as this is my first gaming company and I am really enjoying it :)

What do you think the next big disruptor in mobile games will be?

I am scared to say it but if it can be cracked - Web3 gaming.

What is the single biggest challenge facing the games sector in 2023?

Again, my answer is from a marketing standpoint - gaming as a genre heavily relies on marketing. With the privacy changes, it's becoming difficult to assess the return on your investment, especially on iOS.
Also, it's becoming difficult for hypercasual gaming, which relies on Admon, to thrive as the growth is down year on year.

What areas do you think have been undervalued by the games industry?

I would say Brand Advertising. Branding needs to be a key aspect of the growth marketing going forward, in my opinion.

What key trends do you think we are going to see in gaming in 2023?

With mobile gaming, there is a problem of plenty for each genre. There are too many games for each sub-genre on the app store, with none of the brands standing out sometimes.

What role do NFTs have in gaming?

I do believe NFTs would continue to be a major part of future of games, although the volatility in the price needs to reduce in the future.

What do you enjoy most about working in the games sector?

The people - You meet very interesting smart people in this industry.

Can people get in touch with you at PGC London?

Yes, I am happy to connect with anyone in the Gaming space. 

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.