2026 San Francisco Agenda
- Day 1Monday 26 October
- Day 2Tuesday 27 October
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08.00 - Badge Pickup & Coffee
Gavin Leung, Fractional CMO & Growth ConsultantGavin LeungFractional CMO & Growth ConsultantGavin Leung, VP of Growth Marketing, is an experienced marketer, specialized in working with entertainment and technology companies to find and grow their audience.
Joseph Kim, CEO, LILA GamesJoseph KimCEOLILA Games
Chris Hughes, Founder, GFLChris HughesFounderGFL
Yannik Hellmich, Founder, Germania Game StudiosYannik HellmichFounderGermania Game Studios08.55
Gamesforum Unfiltered: San Francisco Edition
No recording and no holding back. Our flagship off the record panel comes to San Francisco, with industry leaders giving their unvarnished take on the state of mobile gaming and what needs to change.
Hahn Kim, Head of App Monetization, MetaHahn KimHead of App MonetizationMetaHahn leads the commercial business for Meta's Audience Network in the Americas. With more than 12 years at Meta, he has been instrumental in the platform's growth, partnering with top gaming and non-gaming app developers.
Amit Bhojwani, Global Director, 3P Ads, MetaAmit BhojwaniGlobal Director, 3P AdsMetaAmit leads Meta's Third Party Monetization Partnerships , including the Audience Network business. Prior to his 8 years at Meta, he ran product and partnerships at Amobee, Opera Mediaworks, Verisign and Thomson Rueters.
10.00
Meta Audience Network Recharged: Enabling the Next Chapter of Publisher Growth
In-app advertising is growing fast, and the publishers capturing that growth are rethinking how demand reaches their inventory. Join Amit Bhojwani and Hahn Kim of Meta's App Monetization team on where Audience Network is headed — and how to be ready.
Aki Sano, CEO, DeNA NAAki SanoCEODeNA NA10.30
Momentum Before Efficiency: What Global Publishers Miss in Japan
Global publishers bring performance playbooks to Japan and stall. Japanese marketing builds momentum and shared empathy first, then harvests it efficiently. Using real creative examples, this session shows why that first stage stays invisible from outside Japan, and what entry demands.
11.00 - Morning Networking Break
Noman Ahsan, Founder, Creative DistrixNoman AhsanFounderCreative Distrix11.30
Every UA Dollar Is an Audit of Your Game: Scaling UA, Monetization, and Design as One System
Every game team is asking one of two questions: "why aren't we growing?" or "how do we scale more without breaking?" Both answers live in the same place, every UA dollar test your marketing, monetization & game design. You just have to read them as one System, this session shows how to read them, find what's blocking scale.
Tomas Jenneborg , CEO, Reactional MusicTomas JenneborgCEOReactional Music11.55
Walking on Sunshine: How Hit Music Is Fast Becoming the New Performance Engine for UA
Reactional Music CEO Tomas Jenneborg leads the company’s pioneering work bringing global hit music to UA. Tomas will share the first look at new performance data from live campaigns - what happens when hit music stops being a vibe and starts being a measurable UA lever.
Music that reacts to gameplay outperforms the same track played as a static backing layer. Powered by Reactional’s real-time music engine, publishers are re-skinning playable ads and video with commercial hit music at scale - and why that’s changing how UA creative gets built.
Kristina Taylor, UA, EAKristina TaylorUAEA
Erkay Uzun, Co-founder, Unico StudioErkay UzunCo-founderUnico Studio
Tina Shaw, Creative Director, Activision Blizzard MediaTina ShawCreative DirectorActivision Blizzard MediaA multiple Emmy award-winning creative, Tina is a Creative Director for Activision, leading a diverse team in innovative content across multiple international territories in Mobile Growth Marketing & Emerging Franchises for players around the world on Call of Duty: Mobile, Warzone: Mobile, Spyro: A Realm Beyond, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4, and Crash Team Rumble.
Prior to that, she was a Group Creative Director driving strategic creative campaigns across digital, experiential, interactive & AR/VR for entertainment brands NBCUniversal, Netflix, HBOMax, Hulu, TNT, Showtime and FaZe Clan (eSports).
Tomas Jenneborg , CEO, Reactional MusicTomas JenneborgCEOReactional Music
Summer Liu, CMO, SocialPetaSummer LiuCMOSocialPeta12.10
Cutting Through Creative Noise
Ad creative has never been more saturated or more important. Senior leaders from across the industry share how they are building creative strategies that stand out, perform at scale and stay ahead of the curve.
13.00 - Networking Lunch
Josh Vowles, Head of Product, GamesforumJosh VowlesHead of ProductGamesforum
Daniel Helmhold, Head of Product Marketing, Mobile, EADaniel HelmholdHead of Product Marketing, MobileEA
Agnes Liou, Head of Marketing, SupercellAgnes LiouHead of MarketingSupercell14.00
Balancing the Mix: Aligning Performance, Brand and Product Marketing
Create cohesive strategies that drive sustainable growth, stronger player engagement, and long-term revenue impact by aligning your marketing mix across performance, brand and product marketing.
Taya Franchville, Founder, LowTideTaya FranchvilleFounderLowTide14.30
Tested AI Workflows for ASO
This talk will cover how to incorporate AI into creative briefing and keyword research, showing exactly where AI speeds things up and where it doesn't. Expect concrete examples on how creative feedback gets sharper, how assets get more polished, how keyword research scales across regions, and where human judgment still has to do the heavy lifting. If you're tired of hearing, "AI will change everything," with no actual workflow or results behind it, this one's for you.
Alex Kozachenko, CEO, HyperBeardAlex KozachenkoCEOHyperBeardAlex Kozachenko is the CEO of HyperBeard, the largest mobile game developer and publisher in Mexico with over 210M downloads on Apple AppStore and Google Play Store with great games like Campfire Cat Cafe, Adorable Home & Pocket Love! HyperBeard specializes in cute, casual, idle-games targeting an adult-female demographic. Alex specializes in business, product & marketing strategy.
The Future of Mobile Game Growth
The disciplines driving mobile game growth are converging. UA, ASO, creative, performance and product marketing are no longer separate functions. This panel looks at where each is heading in 2027 and how the teams doing it best are joining the dots.
15.30 - Afternoon Networking Break
Jordan Blackman, Principal Consultant, Bright BlackJordan BlackmanPrincipal ConsultantBright Black16.00
Squeeze Less: Mobile Monetization for 2027
The core idea is that the best games are moving away from pure whale-hunting and high-friction monetization, and toward healthier long-term LTV: less player squeezing, more value-driven spending, and monetization that supports retention instead of undermining it.
Jorge G. Ezquerra, CEO & Founder, FunFinity GamesJorge G. EzquerraCEO & FounderFunFinity Games
Julie Dragland, Director of Business Development, Pocket GemsJulie DraglandDirector of Business DevelopmentPocket Gems
Kiel Lebaron, Senior Director of Ad Operations, Creative Services & UA Creative Strategy, Jam CityKiel LebaronSenior Director of Ad Operations, Creative Services & UA Creative StrategyJam City
Evan Smith, Business Development, LoopMeEvan SmithBusiness DevelopmentLoopMe
Teresa Wen, Head of Admob Partnerships, GoogleTeresa WenHead of Admob PartnershipsGoogle16.30
The Gamesforum Ad Monetization Panel
Strategy only gets you so far. This panel gets into the operational side of ad monetisation: the format decisions, demand source management, segmentation approaches and quality controls that separate teams consistently moving the revenue needle from those still leaving money on the table.
Gabriele Bradford Piggot , VP of Advertising, StillfrontGabriele Bradford PiggotVP of AdvertisingStillfront
Charlie Castell, Founder, PubRev+Charlie CastellFounderPubRev+Charlie Castell is the CEO and co-founder of PubRev+, a publisher, monetization consultancy and CTV demand partner. PubRev+ has a strong record of increasing publishers’ revenue, through adops, business development and technical services. Their first app, Rebuild Ukraine, built in Cherkasy, Ukraine, raises money for World Kitchen and Save the Children, by gamifying charitable giving. Charlie has consulted for a number of political campaigns, including Adam Schiff, been shortlisted for a student academy award, and previously led the ads business at Warner Bros TV, Scopely and TextNow.
Phil Suh, SVP, Ad Monetization, ZyngaPhil SuhSVP, Ad MonetizationZyngaPhil Suh Vice President of Ad Monetization, ZyngaPhilSuhis the Vice President of Ad Monetization at Zynga, a wholly owned publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. In his role, Suh leadsteams that manage the company’s Ads business and provide platform products and services to its portfolio of game studios and advertisers. He previously was a Lead Product manager for Zynga’s studio developing Farmville mobile games.
With 10 years of experience in Ad Tech, Gaming, and Financial Products, Suh combines analytical rigor with a customer-focused mindset to drive innovation and growth across Ad Tech, Product, User Experience, and Monetization.
Suh holds a Masters’ degree from MIT and Harvard, and as a West Point graduate, also served as a US Army Signal officer in Germany and Iraq.
Ammar Banatwala, Director, Analytics & Revenue, Ads, ScopelyAmmar BanatwalaDirector, Analytics & Revenue, AdsScopelyI've worked in the Ad Mon industry for over 5 years now and in that time, we've all witnessed unprecedented change with widespread consolidation through M&A and evolution of the ad stack towards bidding. Having worked on some of the top grossing F2P mobile games, there's always the expectation of growth despite external circumstances. With my background in Economics and Statistics, it has led me to a highly data driven approach to Ad Mon with a huge emphasis placed on things like Segmentation to maximize the value of every single cohort within our games.
Hahn Kim, Head of App Monetization, MetaHahn KimHead of App MonetizationMetaHahn leads the commercial business for Meta's Audience Network in the Americas. With more than 12 years at Meta, he has been instrumental in the platform's growth, partnering with top gaming and non-gaming app developers.
Mat Harris, VP of Product, Xbox MediaMat HarrisVP of ProductXbox Media17.00
Short-Term Revenue vs Long-Term Retention: Rethinking Ad Monetization Balance
An unfiltered discussion on balancing short-term revenue with long-term retention, exploring best practices across ad and IAP monetisation to better engage players, maximise lifetime value, and build more sustainable, player-first growth strategies.
18.00 - Networking Drinks
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09.00 - Networking Breakfast & CoffeeJosh Vowles, Head of Product, GamesforumJosh VowlesHead of ProductGamesforum
Brittany Channer, Game Production Manager, Sago MiniBrittany ChannerGame Production ManagerSago Mini10.00
Edu-tainment at the Cross Section of Apps x Games
The lines between learning and playing have never been thinner. This session explores the production and product decisions behind building educational games and apps for kids that genuinely engage, teach and retain young audiences.
Solomon Ruiz-Lichter, Founder, Dual Pulse AdvisorySolomon Ruiz-LichterFounderDual Pulse Advisory10.30
Events Across Mobile: Unpacking LiveOps in Apps & Games
LiveOps is no longer just for games. This session unpacks how apps and games are using events to drive engagement and retention.
11.00 - Morning Networking Break
Mike Hay, Marketing Effectiveness & Analytics ConsultantMike HayMarketing Effectiveness & Analytics Consultant11.30
Attribution Is Solved. Differentiation Isn't.
AI has leveled the playing field on attribution and lower-funnel optimization: predictive LTV, automated bidding, and creative testing are now accessible to studios of any size, not just AAA. So the old edge (out-measuring the competition) isn't much of an edge anymore. What's left to differentiate on is what feeds the funnel in the first place: real qualitative insight that gives creative something distinctive to say, since AI-generated creative tends to converge toward "what's already worked."
Josh Vowles, Head of Product, GamesforumJosh VowlesHead of ProductGamesforum
Heather Gainer, Senior Marketing Manager, Ares InteractiveHeather GainerSenior Marketing ManagerAres InteractiveHeather has been in the gaming industry for 11 years and education for 6. She has worked primarily in mobile user acquisition, but has had the pleasure of getting to try a little of everything in game marketing, including but not limited to: mobile and web paid user acquisition, email marketing, cross promotion, ASO, trade show organization, social media strategy, sweepstakes and influencer marketing. Currently she works for Series Entertainment.
Tanner Hanson, CEO, RevUTanner HansonCEORevUTanner Hanson is the CEO of RevU, where he is responsible for the business’ growth, product, and account management. He joined RevU in 2022 to transform the business into a multi-platform solution for publishers and advertisers.
Prior to RevU, Tanner led US account management across advertisers and publishers at ironSource (now part of Unity Technologies), overseeing both ad network and offerwall clients. He started his mobile career after a post-college stint in retail on the agency side, running app campaigns for clients including Square, Eventbrite, and Meta. Tanner is Bay Area born and raised, currently based in San Francisco.
Jahaan Bharucha, Head of Enterprise Partnerships, Besitos & KashKickJahaan BharuchaHead of Enterprise PartnershipsBesitos & KashKick12.30
State of Rewarded UA: Retaining Over Time
Explore how studios are building rewarded UA strategies that go beyond payback period, selecting the right rewarded channels and maximizing the impact of quality installs.
13.00 - Networking Lunch
Josh Burns, Founder, DigitalDevConnectJosh BurnsFounderDigitalDevConnectJosh founded & operates DigitalDevConnect, working with both emerging & leading companies in the mobile and/or gaming space across business development, partnerships, sales, marketing, product and other areas. Prior to DigitalDevConnect, Josh led the US product team at social & mobile game publisher 6waves as well as holding multiple business roles at EA's Pogo.com casual gaming division.
Levi Buchanan, Sr. Director of Strategic Partnerships, Ares InteractiveLevi BuchananSr. Director of Strategic PartnershipsAres Interactive
Fabien-Pierre Nicolas-Kim, Growth Marketing ExpertFabien-Pierre Nicolas-KimGrowth Marketing Expert14.00
The IP Playbook: Building, Licensing and Leveraging Intellectual Property in Mobile Gaming
IP can make or break a mobile game's growth trajectory. This panel explores how studios are building original IP from the ground up, working with major IP holders to bring beloved titles to mobile and using established IP to breathe new life into older games.
Arturo Ruiz Valdes, CPO, PerBlueArturo Ruiz ValdesCPOPerBlue14.40
Old Game, New Revenue: How We Scaled D2C to 22% on a Legacy Live Title
How an 8-year-old mobile game scaled D2C from 2% to 22% of revenue and what building for direct monetization from day one actually looks like.
Ted Verani, Advisor, Vectorial AITed VeraniAdvisorVectorial AIA veteran in mobile technology companies, Ted Verani is Commercial Advisor for Vectorial AI, a human behavior simulation platform that helps you see how your target audience thinks, reacts and responds before you build, launch or make a decision.
Ted is also Commercial Advisor for modl.ai, an AI company building advanced solutions to improve game development pipelines. Ted is wappier VP of Business Development responsible for sales and partnerships. Prior to joining wappier, Ted was VP of Business Development for Scientific Revenue, a pioneer of dynamic pricing for mobile games. Ted is experienced in sales, marketing and business development having had leadership roles with mobile technology start-ups, including Trilibis Mobile, Enpocket (acquired by Nokia), and Landmat (acquired by Enpocket). Earlier in his career, Ted worked in product management for Vodafone, where he was responsible for Content & Applications, and AirTouch Cellular (now Verizon Wireless) where he launched some of the first SMS products in the United States.
15.05
Pricing in an Inflationary World
15.30 - Afternoon Networking Break
Joel White, VP of Product , Kingsisle Entertainment, Gamigo GroupJoel WhiteVP of ProductKingsisle Entertainment, Gamigo GroupJoel White is a 24-year professional in the games industry and currently VP of Product for KingsIsle Entertainment.
Dafna Ben Onn, GM, PLAYSTUDIOSDafna Ben OnnGMPLAYSTUDIOSBrittany Channer, Game Production Manager, Sago MiniBrittany ChannerGame Production ManagerSago Mini
Yaroslav Popov, CEO & Founder, Coleplay GamesYaroslav PopovCEO & FounderColeplay GamesYaroslav is Co-Founder & CEO of Coleplay, the mobile games studio behind Junkineering, an original-IP RPG featuring modular robots co-designed with the community. He leads product strategy, with a focus on player-driven design and LiveOps.
16.00
Building Player Experiences: Retention, LiveOps & Communities
Keeping players is no longer just a product challenge. This panel explores how studios are building retention strategies, running ambitious LiveOps programmes and fostering communities that turn casual players into long-term advocates, and what separates the games that last from the ones that do not.
17.00 - End of Conference
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