GamesBeat

Thank you one more time for the best GamesBeat event ever. I really had a wonderful time these past two days. The event felt more full, interesting, and varied than ever before. It was so nice to see my friend mike knox there supporting Gamers for CHOC, along with Mike Morhaime and Amy Morhaime. And what a lovely way to end the event with this Visionary Up-and-Comer Award and the deeply moving comments from my friend Richard Browne, with so many of my best friends and colleagues in the audience. I was also so delighted for Susanna Pollack, and I really appreciated Leo Olebe and his thoughtful remarks and very kind words to me. Throughout the event, Gina Joseph kept saying something to me very kindly: “I hope you really feel celebrated these two days, because that’s what I really want.” Gina is a unique human being. But I will say this in return, especially with regard to this great honor: To anybody out there in the industry who does not feel seen right now, whether you are struggling, uncertain, exhausted, unemployed, underemployed, or simply wondering if anybody notices your effort, I hope you really feel seen by me. Every single day, I am trying my very best to make people feel supported, valued, and cared for. This is a week I will never forget. And once I have the final official cut of both my remarks and Richard’s remarks, I’ll share them with the community. Thank you again, everyone. Safe travels home, and I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the month.

The Dubai Films & Games Commission is doubling down on its ambition to position games as a force for positive global impact, announcing a strategic headline partnership with the Good Game Club Podcast. Announced at GamesBeat Summit 2026 in Los Angeles, the partnership places the Dubai Films & Games Commission at the center of a growing international conversation around the cultural, economic, and societal impact of video games. Launched earlier this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Good Game Club is hosted by Jude Ower MBE, CSO at PlanetPlay, and Mathias Gredal Nørvig, CEO of SYBO. Building on their book Gaming For Good, the podcast brings together leaders across games, culture, business, and policy to explore how video games are shaping modern life. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eh49fgYV

I attended the GamesBeat Summit yesterday and started the morning off at the Boss Mode: Women in Gaming, Entertainment, and Technology breakfast. One idea from the panel has been sitting with me: Leadership is not just about having conviction. It is about creating enough trust, clarity, and psychological safety for people to take risks with you—especially when the market is uncertain. That feels particularly relevant right now. Gaming, media, and entertainment are all moving through a period where the old playbooks are being challenged. Teams are being asked to innovate, protect the business, move faster, and manage risk, all at once. One of the panelists talked about the importance of being transparent with teams—both about the opportunity and the risk. That stuck with me. People can handle uncertainty when they understand the why, the stakes, and the path forward. What is harder is being asked to move through uncertainty without context. The best leaders I have worked with are not the ones who pretend to have every answer. They are the ones who create clarity, invite curiosity, make space for smart risks, and bring people along with honesty. Really grateful for conversations like this, and for rooms that remind us that leadership is not just about what you build, but how people feel while building it with you. Thank you to GamesBeat, Amanda Kruse, Leanne Loombe, Zoe Bell, Sophia Lisaius, and Rachel Kaser for providing inspiration to myself and so many other women in gaming. #gamesbeatsummit #womeninleadership #gaming #entertainment #media

Former BioWare, Inflexion Games, and Timbre Games developers are coming together to launch Studio Reset, a new independent studio built around a simple idea: scale down ambition to scale up intention. “Studio Reset is smaller by design,” said Kaelin Lavallee, producer and creative director at Studio Reset in a press release. “We are not trying to recreate blockbuster development at a smaller scale. We want to build original worlds with focus, intention, and a team that can stay close to the work, the creative vision, and the players we are making it for.” Founded by Lavallée, Kris Schoneberg, and Francis Lacuna, the studio is made up of developers with credits across Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Anthem, and The Long Dark. Their debut project is a neon-noir supernatural mystery set in a stylized Canadian cityscape. Read more from Sam Smith: https://lnkd.in/gPZh4Csb