Dr. Annurag Batra, Chairman & Editor in Chief, BW Businessworld & exchange4media group

Vaibhav Dange, Founding Director and Member, FEAI

PANEL DISCUSSION
The Decade of Gaming and Gaming Investments

The session explores Investments in the gaming sector in India. India's online gaming industry witnessed record investment in the first nine months of 2021, on the back of surging popularity of mobile games during the pandemic. Gaming platforms and Fantasy Sports attract majority of investments, With the rapid growth of the country's gaming market, several global players are also likely to explore the India market through partnering/acquiring domestic companies.

It is noteworthy to study that the last decade has seen the rise of gaming as an investable bet sans a firm policy outlook, however that has changed in 2022 - it is for the first time the GoI has taken cognisance of the sector and is establishing the AVGC taskforce. North star being - the prospective market size of INR3,00,000Cr by 2025.

Abhishek Issar, Founding Member, FEAI

Rajan Navani, Founder & CEO – JetSynthesys

Gagan Narang, Founding Member, FEAI & President, Telugu Esport Association

Vishal Gondal, founder of GOQii and nCore Games

Salone Sehgal, General Partner, Lumikai Ltd.

Ruhail Amin, Sr. Editor, BW Business World and exchange4media, Executive Editor, BW Applause (Session Chair)

- Game marketing market size
- What kind of brands are advertising in gaming
- In game marketing growth opportunities
- Qualitative aspects of India's gaming story
- Game Marketing Performance benchmarks - Esports category spends in 2020-21 and future trends

- Profile of gaming audiences
- What gamers are playing and why
- Innovations to enhance the gaming experience
- Online gaming communities - Esports go global

PANEL DISCUSSION
Making Gaming Work for Brands
A look at how brands are tapping into the passion of online gamers by seeking to engage them within the gaming environments they inhabit.

- India is home to 1 out of 10 gamers worldwide, and is the 5th largest mobile gaming market globally. Breaking away from stereotypes that games are for GenZ, mobile gaming is enjoyed by people of all ages, generations, and genders across India. How can brands leverage this to meet the consumers where they are and continue to stay relevant

- 43% of mobile gamers in India are women. More than 77% of women gamers are playing at least once a day. Are brands able to create gender neutral campaigns or taking a more direct approach?

- PUMA used swipe up game to lure its audience and created AR filter for Instagram and launched its pack of sneakers. What it means to not only engage a gamer through the game, but also create a relevant digital campaign around it for better results

- Esports is being acknowledged as real sport giving brands host of opportunities including sponsorships, tournament organisation and branded content. What will the future hold for brands trying to engage the esports community

Alakshit Tripathi, Industry Head - Consumer Packaged Goods, InMobi

Shreya Sachdev, Head, Marketing, PUMA

Santosh Iyer, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Mercedes Benz

Anurag Khurana, CEO & Founder, Newgen Gaming

Subhamoy Das, Sr. Business Director at ESP Properties (Session Chair)

PANEL DISCUSSION
Winning the Hearts of Gamers
The session explores what gamers care about brands; how brands can create meaningful value for gamers through events, content and community support; how they can stay relevant, exciting and newsworthy; and how they need to impact at a national (perhaps, global) level to get noticed. How can they promote brand loyalty among gamers?

PANEL DISCUSSION
Future of Real Money Gaming

- How can game owners cater to consumer needs which keeps changing overnight and new sensations take over the market

- What strategies are being used and can be used in the future to engage and retain customers?

- How can innovation drive growth during the development stage and help in better integration of additional revenue streams- like brand integration, in app purchases, in app ads. What Adtech solutions fit best for this category?

- How will Metaverse affect? Will parallel digital life enhance game play?

- How is AI in RMG improved since 2019 and what can we expect in 2022 and beyond

- Real money gaming is biggest revenue generator and advertising spender category in gaming in India, will it remain so or will Esports, casual gaming take over?

Minhaz Hazarika, Director - Digital Marketing, Gameskraft

Nalin Dhupia, Head of Digital Marketing, Octro Inc

Amit Kumar, Head - User Growth & Retention, Hike

Alok Pandey, VP - Sales & Marketing, Xapads (Session Chair)

The new knights of gaming: AR/VR/MR, NFTs, DeFi, Blockchain, Crypto currencies, 5G and Metaverse.

- How is new technology shaping the gaming universe

- How will the innovation in gaming and Esports lure more gamers and create an ecosystem of successful digital businesses

- Future of payments in gaming- Crypto and game tokens

Anirudh Pandita, Founder, Loco

Michael Heina, International Sector Director, Esports and Gaming, YouGov, Germany

Jacob Shrader, GM of Esports at ZenSports, USA

Marcus Howard, Author, ‘INNOVATE:Gaming & Esports’ & Member, Blockchain Game Alliance

Niraj Ruparel, Head of mobile and emerging tech, groupM (Session Chair)