GamesBeat Summit 2023 opening speech: The Next Level

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Connect with top gaming leaders in Los Angeles at GamesBeat Summit 2023 this May 22-23. Register here.

Here’s the speech that I gave at the opening of GamesBeat Summit 2023.

Thank you to our attendees as your energy makes me feel like a video game character. That said, I’m here in the flesh to show I am not an NPC. I am not a robot. I’m not a chatbot. I’m not Dean the Machine Learning.

Thank you for being here in person to hear inspiring and thoughtful talks about gaming. I am glad to have you in our community to show that the metaverse isn’t yet a replacement for being together in real life.

This is our 15th GamesBeat event in as many years. Thank you all for coming out to our sixth Women in Gaming breakfast and the third time we actually had real food.

GamesBeat Summit 2023

Join the GamesBeat community in Los Angeles this May 22-23. You’ll hear from the brightest minds within the gaming industry to share their updates on the latest developments.

The gathering has become an important place to drink from the well of inspiration, and I’m happy that Visa stepped forward to sponsor this breakfast for the first time. Facebook Gaming is sponsoring our first-ever diversity in gaming breakfast tomorrow. Jam City is sponsoring our lunch, and Xsolla backed our reception.

And to me, the presence of these sponsors and all others means that caring about diversity in gaming and telling those stories is good business.

More than 52% of our speakers here come from diverse backgrounds, a standard that we have held to for years now. We know that you’re not here to listen to the same stories from the same people. I have done this work for 27 years because everyone has a story in gaming, whether it’s Jamil Higley, who was the face for Alyx in