The tectonic shifts in player behavior and more, at the GamesBeat & Facebook Gaming Summit

venturebeat.com:

The absolute bonkers boom in the gaming industry is old news at this point, though the numbers are still stunning. The industry was worth $178.73 billion in 2021, an increase of 14.4% from 2020 – and nearly double the initial predictions for the same period, initially made back in 2016.

The pandemic couldn’t have been predicted, of course. But understanding how consumer behavior has changed, and will keep changing, during the years of uncertainty and isolation is absolutely essential for professionals across the industry in order to unlock new growth and monetization opportunities.

That’s why player behavior is one of the big themes of the 2nd Annual GamesBeat and Facebook Gaming Summit, along with other future gaming markets and trends. Lights go up on the digital event on January 25, 2022, for a day of gaming industry leaders digging deep into the most essential topics facing developers and publishers.

Here’s a look at some of the panels that will explore the major changes in player behavior that are impacting the industry now, and will keep driving transformation into the future.

Join Meta’s Oliver Messenger, Jacob Navok, of Genvid Technologies and Matthew Ball from EpyllionCo as they talk about the newest genre of gaming: audience-driven games. Birthed from the confluence of social media, esports, and cloud gaming, these games offer more interactive experiences for fans. Titles like Genvid’s Pac-Man Community let players create their own mazes, and creators can invite followers to play, or invite the audience to participate in the game in an interactive way. Genvid has also pioneered Massive Interactive Live Events (MILEs), such as Rival Peak, which are part-game, part-TV show. The panel will talk about the good, the