Everything you need to know about tomorrow’s Games Retail 2020

Games Retail 2020 – our first event dedicated to the future of selling video games – kicks off tomorrow.

It features talks from some of the biggest names in retail, from both inside and outside of the industry, who will discuss digital retail, merchandise, social retailing, virtual reality, mobile and PC games, plus three major pieces of research will be detailed on stage by Chart-Track, Juniper Research and IGN.

There are still a few tickets available. If you’re interested, they cost 149 each (with discounts available to retailers). Either click here to book or contact Sara.Mather@intentmedia.co.uk or call her on 020 7354 6001 / 01992 535 646 to find out more.

When is it?
Tomorrow (Tuesday, September 16th). Doors open at 9am, the conference starts at 10am.

Where is it?
BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, London. The nearest tube stop is Piccadilly Circus.

How much does it cost to go?
It costs 149 for a normal ticket. But there are discounts available for retailers. Go here to buy tickets http://www.gamesretail2020.com/rates-and-registration, or contact Sara.Mather@intentmedia.co.uk or call her on 020 7354 6001 / 01992 535 646.

Hang on a second, what’s the schedule like?
Ah, of course. Full schedule is below.

9:00am-10:00am
Registration and Coffee

10:00am-10:05am
Conference Start: Introduction
Michael French, Publisher, MCV

10:05am-10:25am
The Generation Game

How successful are the latest consoles of Generation 8? Dorian Bloch of GfK Chart-Track will present the facts and outline how retailers can benefit from the physical distribution of videogames, hardware and gaming accessories?.

Speaker: Dorian Bloch, GfK Chart-Track

10:25am-10:45am
The road to 2020 in numbers

Juniper Research offers a look at what the future holds for the games market, drawing on its extensive research and forecasting ahead until the year 2019. With annual global games revenues predicted at $41bn in the next five years, what does that mean for sales of console and PC games? When is the next round of games hardware due to arrive and what boost will that provide?

Speaker: Eva Hunyadi, Juniper Research

10:45am-11:15am
PANEL DISCUSSION: Toy story: why games merchandise is booming

It’s not just DLC that keeps franchise in the forefront of gamers’ minds: official merchandise is turning brands like Minecraft and Metal Gear Solid into year-round powerhouses. Our panel of experts in games merchandise discuss the future of this category – and how it aids retailers.

Speakers include:

Emma Cairn-Smith, Egmont Books,
Sandra Arcan, Konami
Jon Rhodes, Insert Coin

Chair: Kelvyn Gardner, LIMA UK

11:05am-11:20am
This year’s most anticipated games (and how people are going to buy them)

This talk from IGN/Ziff Davis will delve into new research from the media giant that examines the hottest titles of Q4 and where their readers are expecting to buy them.

Speakers:
Adam Hopkinson, IGN UK
Chris Shepperson, IGN UK

11:20am-11:50am
Coffee/Tea Networking Break

11:50am-12:10pm
Mobile: Uniting digital and High Street strategy

Dan Wagner, CEO and founder of Powa Technologies, the company behind mobile commerce app PowaTag, discusses how the games industry can use mobile technology to keep high street sales alive in the face of digital purchases and meet the needs of an increasingly demanding consumer group. This includes bridging the gap between traditional and online retail strategy with mobile commerce, and using mobile and Bluetooth technology to gain the same level of insight into customer behaviour as eCommerce.

Speaker: Dan Wagner, Chairman and CEO of Powa

12:10pm-12:30pm
Virtual reality: What does it really mean for retail?

The hype around Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus may well be justified but until these are real products in the marketplace, how can retail benefit from virtual reality? And will retail be able to sell its experience via virtual worlds? London agency Figure Digital explores these questions, referring to its work on virtual reality retail spaces for the likes of Tesco.

Speakers: Ben Paterson, FIGURE Digital

12:30pm-2:00pm
Networking Lunch

2:00pm-2:30pm
The PC keynote you never get to see at E3

Leading UK retailer Green Man Gaming gives Games Retail 2020 attendees a look at why PC remains the fastest growing platform for games on the planet. Why is it so popular? What is the impact of digital downloads? And how can retail get involved in the PC opportunity? Using its data-driven insight into the market via both digital distribution and online physical sales, and through delving deep into player’s in-game behaviour, Green Man Gaming’s Darren Cairns has the answers.

Speaker: Darren Cairns, Green Man Gaming

2:30pm-3:00pm
Selling Games by Marketing in the Moment

Twitter talks Games Retail 2020 delegates through how social media can be used to sell games

Speaker: Samir Bhana, Twitter UK

3:00pm-3:30pm
PANEL DISCUSSION: How to sell digital content

Top brass from a leading UK format-holder, third-party publisher, online retail and games development close the day with a panel discussion examining the art of selling digital games online and in physical retail.
Speakers:

Panel chair: Debbie Bestwick, Team 17
Pawan Bhardwaj, Xbox UK
Tony Pearce, gamesGRABR
James Schall, Sega

3:30pm-3:35pm
CLOSING REMARKS

Who else is coming?

We have 62 companies in the room. These include Activision, Amazon, Asda, CHIPS, Contact Sales, Games Centre, GAME, Games Workshop, Green Man Gaming, Go 2 Games, GameStop, Nintendo, Hitari, Xbox, Sony, Sega, Konami, Koch Media, Toys R Us, Tesco, UKIE, Twitter, The Field, Insert Coin, IGN, Scanarvo, Reload Games, Powa, Nordic Games, Insane 4 Games, GB Eye, gamesGrabr, ERA, Egmont and Funstock.

Are there any networking opportunities?
Yes, we have a tea break, an extended lunch, and attendees are welcome to visit the bar once the conference is over.