Casual Connect USA is about matching the creativity of the games industry with new media innovation and investment. There will be many talented speakers at Casual Connect USA 2016, and today we are giving you a glimpse of some the esports track speakers. Now that streaming has come of age, esports is a more important sector than ever. Experts will talk about what gaming audiences demand and how publishers, developers and platforms should react.
The speakers come from established developers, investors, and streaming focused companies and all have huge passion for esports.
Saralyn Smith
Saralyn Smith is the Global Director of Community Development at Blizzard Entertainment. They work on the developers global strategies for connecting directly with customers through new digital media channels, helping promote various brand influencers and ensuring that customer feedback reaches the ears of developers.
Saralyn previously served as President and Lead Consultant at Varsity Ventures, helping clients with various management systems. Later, they were Vice President of Development and Implementation for Velocity Sports Development, helping supported franchises with grassroots marketing, community engagement, and sales practices. Saralyn also spent time as a professional beach volleyball player.
Kristian Segerstrale
Kristian Segerstrale is currently the COO and Executive Director at Super Evil Megacorp, investing in the company in June 2014 before joining it full time. The developer has created the mobile MOBA title Vainglory, a popular touchscreen esport.
Kristian was previously EVP Digital at EA and CEO and co-founder of Playfish, which was acquired by EA for $400M in 2009. Before that, they co-founded Macrospace/Glu Mobile in 2001.
Clinton Foy
Clinton Foy is currently the Managing Director and General Partner at CrossCut Ventures. The $100 million U.S. dollar VC fund has investments in companies like Super Evil Megacorp, Mobcrush, Little Labs, Instant eSports and Vulcun. Clinton is also co-founder, co-owner, and executive chairman of an esports franchise called the Immortals.
Clinton’s time in the private industry includes being the international PR representative of Pasona Softbank and an attorney at the Heller Ehrman Venture Law Group. They fully entered the gaming industry as General Counsel, Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs, Corporate Secretary and COO for Square Enix.
Brooke Van Dusen
Brooke Van Dusen has climbed the ladder at Twitch, working in HR/Recruiting back when it was known as Justin.tv before moving into Business Development at Twitch. They later became Director of Business Development and is currently Director of Game Developer Success.
As Twitch’s Director of Game Developer Success, Brooke has lead the Developer Success effort aimed at supporting Twitch Developers and the new “stream first” approach to game design. The program is designed around providing proper tools such, as the Twitch Embed API, and guidance for implementation for games designed for the live streamed experience.
Todd Harris
Todd Harris works at Hi-Rez Studios as the COO, which they helped co-found. The studio has developed multiple titles, though they are perhaps best known for Smite, an action MOBA with over 20 million players.
Todd started as a programmer at NCR before eventually becoming a Project Lead. They later became a Project Manager for Radiant Systems and BlueCube Software.
Influencers: The Opportunity and Responsibility
Players are able to exert influence over the games they play in multiple ways, from being guild and community leaders, to cosplaying, creating YouTube content and being Twitch personalities. It’s important to support these influencers while allowing for their independent voice, though the relationship between the owners of a game and its players can be a tricky one. Saralyn Smith, Global Director of Community Development at Blizzard Entertainment, will discuss ways to protect the authenticity of these consumers along with making sure they are within the bounds of FTC regulations.
Saralyn oversees community development at Blizzard Entertainment among the studio’s myriad franchises. They have worked with the teams for Blizzard franchises such as StarCraft II, Diablo III, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, and (very recently), Overwatch.
Mobile Games Worth Watching: State of the Mobile Broadcasting Market
Mobile games haven’t caught up with PC and console games in the live video market, despite heavy usage and wide market penetration. Brooke Van Dusen, Director of Game Developer Success at Twitch, looks at the mobile titles that have been successful on different live video platforms on this panel. They’ll discuss what mobile developers can do to replicate the success of these titles and build a community of streamers around their games.
Brooke’s career path has taken them through the ranks at Twitch and now they’re leading the Developer Success effort aimed at supporting Twitch developers and the new “stream first” approach to game design. With the proper tool sets, like the Twitch Embed API, games can be specially built for the live streamed experience.
Can eSports Go Mobile?
While mobile’s share of gaming’s overall revenue continues to increase year over year, the esports scene is dominated by console and PC brands and genres. With the rise of games like HearthStone and Clash Royale, there’s clearly demand for competitive games on mobile platforms. Kristian Segerstrale, COO and Executive Director at Super Evil Megacorp, and Clinton Foy, Managing Director and General Partner at CrossCut Ventures, will discuss ways to take mobile esports to the next level.
Kristian has experience with mobile enterprises at Glu Mobile, Playfish and EA. At Super Evil Megacorp, they oversee the Vainglory, a mobile MOBA titles designed for eSports. Clinton has worked as a counsel for gaming companies and has invested in mobile studios such as Super Evil Megacorp, in addition to Mobcrush, Little Labs, Instant eSports, and Vulcun. Clinton is also co-founder, co-owner, and executive chairman of an esports franchise called the Immortals.
Twitch & YouTube Live: New Platforms That Will Change the Gaming Business in 2016
There are plenty of services for livestreaming gaming, including Twitch, YouTube Live, Azubu and Hitbox. Additionally, they’re also serving as important platforms for building and distributing games, along with making for entertaining watching experiences. Ali Moiz, founder and CEO of Vulcun and TwitchAlerts, will lead a discussion on the leading platforms in this category and what game developers are creating new genres of games that are built for the ground up for livestreaming.
Ali has helped advise several esports gaming start-ups and was founder of Peanut Labs, later acquired by eRewards. They have been quoted as an expert on the esports business by Fortune, Forbes and WSJ and has provided an expert opinion on CNBC and other TV channels.
eSports - Not New, But On Fire
eSports has a history in China and South Korea as well as the U.S. and Europe, but it’s really taken off in the past few years. Our panel, with Ari Evans, CEO of Maestro, Jonathan Pan of BRaVe Ventures and Uri Marchand, CEO of Overwolf, will look at various esports leagues and their relationships with various publishers and developers. They’ll also discuss future developments for esports, including what the presence of large advertisers will add to esports with their advertising and sponsorship strategies.
Ari has been organizing musical concerts, award shows and esports events for the past several years. Jonathan Pan worked as a Product Manager for Riot Games, assembled a professional esports team in Team Elemental, and has provided consulting to esports companies at Vert Media and BRaVe Ventures. Todd Harris is COO and co-founder of Hi-Rez Studios, makers of the popular MOBA and esports game Smite.
eSports vs. Streaming: Are They Different? Should We Care?
Streaming and esports are often confused for being the same thing, but in practice they have different appeal. People wouldn’t confuse reality TV for live sports, but this parallel is often made between esports and streaming. Sebastian Park, CEO and co-owner of Archon Gaming, will look at the differentiating factors between esports and streaming and how the divergence between them can impact what a company chooses to focus on.
Sebastian has done writing and entrepreneur work in esports and currently focuses on esports player development and industry monetization. Currently the CEO and co-owner of Archon Gaming, they previously worked as Head of eSports at Namecheap.
How Indie Developers Can Effectively Work With Streamers
It is expected that in 2016, there will be over 250 million viewers of esports content. Getting noticed in an increasingly crowded field of streamers and established studios can be intimidating for indie developers. Andrew Paradise, CEO of Skillz, will lead a panel of professional streamers and industry executives to talk about how developers of all sizes can get involved in streaming.
Andrew has been on the leading edge of mobile esports since founding Skillz in 2012, with hosting technology allowing for easy creation of esports tournaments. They’ve also founded AisleBuyer and Photrade (which were sold to Intuit and MPA Inc. respectively) and has done venture capital and private equity work for Fort Washington Capital Partners and The Watermill Group.
YouTube and You: Studios and Content Creators
Streaming and esports have enabled personalities like PewDiePie and Daigo to become famous within the gaming community. In the case of the most popular personalities, they’re followed by thousands, even millions of people and have racked up millions of dollars in a short amount of time. Seth Allison will discuss the secrets of being a content creator and how indie studios can benefit from dedicated influencers,
Seth has worked as a game designer, game journalist, streamer and competitive gamer for over a decade. He’s helped design games at Zynga, GSN, Playstudios, and Scopely and has experience shoutcasting esports.
To register for Casual Connect USA, click here.
Comments
