More GamesBeat@GDC speakers: Helgason, Pham and Mahoney

VentureBeat’s upcoming GamesBeat@GDC executive game conference is set for March 10 in San Francisco at the Game Developers Conference in the Moscone Convention Center. Here are some of the latest speakers we’ve added to the program:
David Helgason, CEO of Unity Technologies. He will be on a panel on Disruptive Innovation. Helgason’s company makes a 3-D game engine that enables just about anybody to create 3-D games that run inside a web browser, with no need for a huge game download. The company has more than 90,000 registered users who are making web-based games for the PC, Mac, and Apple’s iPhone. The technology is enabling a new age of garage developers, who can create high-quality games with a small amount of capital. Big companies are also using the technology, including Electronic Arts, LEGO, and Cartoon Network.
Alex Pham, staff writer at the Los Angeles Times. She will moderate a fireside chat with John Schappert, chief operating officer of Electronic Arts, on social games and how big companies are adapting to the changes in games. Alex Pham covers digital content and video games for the Los Angeles Times. She has been a business reporter for more than two decades, writing for the Oregonian, the Washington Post, USA Today and the Boston Globe before joining the Times in 1999 as a technology reporter.
Owen Mahoney, CEO of Outspark. He will be on the panel entitled Next Generation Social Games. Mahoney joined Outspark last year as the company’s business was taking off and it became clear, of course, that our future is all about dance games (I jest). Outspark takes massively multiplayer online games from Asia and refashions them for Western markets as free-to-play games with virtual goods business models. The company has millions of players a month coming to its web site and is recruiting third-party publishers to make their games available on its portal. Mahoney has 15 years of experience in digital media, including nine years at Electronic Arts, where he was senior vice president of business development in charge of investments and acquisitions.
Here’s a review of our theme for the conference:
Disruption 2.0. We’ll focus on the next disruptions that will happen in the video game industry. In the past couple of years, social games with virtual goods business models have proved themselves and shaken up the status quo. The iPhone has become a hot platform and Apple hopes to extend further into games with the iPad. Digital distribution and online games are growing. Will these trends gather more momentum and prove to be sustainable, or will new platforms and business models disrupt the disruptors?
The big game companies and brands are maneuvering into the market, even as successful startups are consolidating their gains and acquiring companies. Are console game makers poised to make a comeback as the recession ends? As growth returns to the industry in 2010, who will be poised to take market share and define the next-generation of games? Game companies that are doing the disrupting, adapting and growing will be speaking at the conference.
For more conference info, check out our GamesBeat 2010 web site and our Facebook Group for GamesBeat@GDC. Our sponsors include the Georgia Department of Economic Development and hi5. For sponsor info, send a message to sponsors@venturebeat.com.