Collabsco

✨🎮✨The energy in Austin made one thing clear: the future of live service and mobile games is being rewritten in real time, and Collabsco was proud to help drive the conversation.

✨🤠✨ Austin showed up ready for honest conversation, from how live service models are evolving to how teams and communities shape games together.

✨🎤✨ Featured speakers included
• Warren Spector, Co founder and CCO, OtherSide Entertainment
• Jack Emmert, CEO, Cryptic Studios
• Shmuel Ben-Meleh, SVP, Data and Analytics, SciPlay
• Andrew Ice, SVP Games, Zynga
• Paul Sams, COO, Certain Affinity
• Anthony Mendoza, PMP, Business Development Executive, Xsolla
• Moderated by Alexander Lee, Lead News Writer, GamesBeat
• Hosted by Valerie Vacante, Global Innovator, Collabsco

Each session delivered sharp perspectives on what is working, what is breaking and what needs to evolve.

✨🗞️✨ Headline themes from the room
🎮 Has the live service model made games better or just longer
🫶🏽 Community as co authors of the experience
🧩 How large and small studios operate live games across different scales
🔥 Protecting developers from business pressures
🛠️ What comes after the seasonal content treadmill

✨💬✨ These conversations matter. Some of the most valuable insights in gaming happen in curated rooms like this one, where leaders can be open, honest and genuinely curious together.

✨🙏🏽✨ Thank you to the GamesBeat and Xsolla teams for bringing this community together and to everyone who joined us for an evening of high signal insights.

✨🔮✨ Next stops for GamesBeat Engage LA and Chicago in June, NYC in October: https://events.gamesbeat.com/engage/

✨🎮✨GamesBeat Engage arrives in Austin this Monday, April 27 at Q‑Branch for an intimate debate series bringing together leaders shaping the future of games.

✨🎮✨This gathering brings together an outstanding group of voices to examine the realities of operating games as ongoing services and whether the live service model is evolving or overdue for reinvention.

✨🎤✨Speakers, in order of appearance:
• Val Vacante, Global Innovator, Collabsco, Emcee
• Moderated by Alexander Lee, Lead News Writer, GamesBeat
• Warren Spector, Co‑founder and CCO, OtherSide Entertainment
• Jack Emmert, CEO, Cryptic Studios
• Shmuel Ben‑Meleh, SVP of Data and Analytics, SciPlay
• Andrew Ice, SVP Games, Zynga
• Paul Sams, COO, Certain Affinity
• Anthony Mendoza, PMP, Business Development Executive, Xsolla

✨👨🏽‍🚀✨The conversations explore the questions shaping the next era of mobile and live service games:

→ Has live service made games better, or just longer
→ Do large and small studios need different approaches to sustain live service titles
→ What comes next for revenue models: subscriptions, microtransactions, or something new

✨🎮✨If you are in Austin and working across games, live ops, product, analytics, or creative leadership, this is a room worth being in. High‑signal insights. Curated networking. Real connection.

✨🎟️✨Free to attend. RSVP: https://luma.com/qlsdpgzk

Brands In Play: Episode 58 — Live from SXSW

Episode 58 was recorded on stage at SXSW, where Nic Hill joined Val Vacante right after her panel on the future of play with Chris Down (EVP, Chief Design & Innovation Officer, Mattel) and Mitchel Berger (EVP, Global Commerce, Crunchyroll).

The conversation centered on a core truth shaping the industry:
Brands are bridges — connecting creators with audiences and meeting real human needs like escape, belonging, and emotional connection.

This Week’s Headlines
• Fortnite’s new season is packed with cultural marketing moments
• Meta Horizon’s VR shutdown raises big questions about platform strategy and creator migration
• Fortnite returns to the Google Play Store globally after Epic’s legal battle
• Heineken’s latest campaign leans into fandom, friendship, and human connection

Real-Time Review: SXSW Edition
Val takes us inside the International Innovation Expo, where immersive experiences pointed toward a clear direction: the convergence of physical interaction, storytelling, and emerging technology.

Standout moments:
• Crunchyroll’s Sentenced to Be a Hero activation — an animatronic character experience that turned anime IP into a tactile, emotional encounter
• Snap’s Spectacles and Lens Studio demos — showcasing the rise of spatial computing and creator tools enabling more active, embodied interaction

If you’re following the evolution of play, creativity, and connected experiences, this episode breaks down how brands, platforms, and creators operate inside gaming, UGC ecosystems, and immersive media.

Episode 58 is now live on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you listen.

Val Vacante Brands in Play Live from SXSW - The Future of Play

🎙️🌟 Collabsco joined the first LIVE episode of Brands In Play, where Collabsco's Val Vacante and Nic Hill of Sawhorse Productions explored how play, creativity, and community are evolving across gaming, immersive media, and connected ecosystems.

The episode featured Chris Down, Chief Design and Innovation Officer at Mattel, Inc., for a powerful conversation on how legacy brands are shaping the future of play.

💡 Valerie Vacante's Key Insight: The most iconic brands are no longer defined by a single product. They are becoming multi‑platform ecosystems that meet players, fans, and communities wherever they are.

🎮 Luxury brands inside Resident Evil Re:Cre8
Hamilton Watch and Porsche Cars North America are redefining product placement through story‑driven integration. These collaborations prioritize narrative value over visibility, reflecting how younger audiences expect brand moments to feel native, not interruptive.

📊 Redefining what “good gaming” means
Newzoo’s 2026 report shows Roblox and Minecraft players have very little interest in high‑fidelity AAA titles. Roblox playtime is up 50% year over year. This generation values creativity, social play, and community over graphical realism, shaping a new definition of “good.”

🌐 Epic Games and Google’s metaverse browser
Epic and Google are exploring an open browser experience that could host platforms like Fortnite, Roblox, and Minecraft. The goal is to create more equitable economics for developers and studios by reducing the layers of platform fees that impact UGC revenue.

🎬 Netflix acquires Ben Affleck's GenAI startup
Netflix’s acquisition of InterPositive for up to $600M signals a major shift in post‑production. The technology enhances filmmaker‑generated content rather than replacing it, accelerating workflows while keeping creative intent at the center.

🍔 Invincible Burger Mart with PepsiCo's Brisk
One of SXSW’s most talked‑about activations brought Invincible’s Burger Mart into the real world. Powered by Brisk, the experience delivered long lines, high fan energy, custom merch, and a fully realized IRL translation of the animated world. A strong example of fandom meeting physical space.

🎤 Conversation with Chris Down, Mattel, Inc.
Chris shared how Mattel is designing for connected play across physical, digital, and entertainment touchpoints.

A few standout themes:
• Every brand and IP has an inherent purpose that guides how it extends into new worlds
• Culture and consumer signals shape where brands show up next
• Hot Wheels continues to innovate from Hot Wheels ID to the global Legends Tour, now the largest traveling car show in the world with 800,000 attendees

https://youtu.be/Bagdh-5rvu4?si=Q2-tENGpSFoQT1bX

Brands in Play LIVE at SXSW - Barbie, Hot Wheels and the Future of Play Episode 57 of Brands In Play was recorded live at SXSW at the Red Thread X House, with Val Vacante joining Nic Hill on stage for a conversation with Chris Do...

🎙️🌟 At Collabsco, we explore how creativity, community, and technology shape what is next across gaming, UGC platforms, and immersive media.

Valerie Vacante joins Sawhorse Productions’ Nic Hill as co‑hosts of Brands In Play.

The first episode together featured Katie Perera, Director of Conference Strategy at SXSW, for a powerful conversation on the ideas influencing SXSW 2026.

💡 Valerie Vacante's Key insight
The physical world is still how people experience life. The digital world is where those experiences become shared, social, and culturally meaningful. The brands leading today design for both.

🎮 Cloud gaming
Amazon’s shift from AAA publishing to a cloud‑first strategy with Luna highlights the complexity of building persistent games. The opportunity for brands is understanding where communities already gather and integrating in ways that feel native, not disruptive.

🃏 UNO across Roblox and Fortnite
Mattel’s expansion of UNO into Roblox and Fortnite continues to set the blueprint for evolving legacy IP.
• PRELOADED and Mattel launched UNO Bridge Clash on Roblox with fast‑paced, movement‑driven chaos
• Look North World and Mattel reimagined UNO Royale for Fortnite with crafting, loadouts, tournaments, and collectible skins

🎥 Creators as storytellers
10,800 creators applied for 60 storytelling roles at DICK’S Sporting Goods. Creators are no longer being asked to promote products. They are shaping the narrative itself. Community is not a marketing layer. It is the engine.

🤖 Anime, AI companions, and evolving fandom
Genies and KING RECORDS, part of Kodansha, are bringing anime IP into AI‑powered companions, starting with Hypnosis Mic’s 21 characters. Characters are becoming living, conversational experiences.

👾 Retro revival
Resolution Games’ Retrocade continues the trend of reimagining classic arcade titles for modern devices.

🕹️ The metaverse through a community lens
Nic Hill’s review of Sandbox Season 7 highlighted both the promise and the friction of Web3 worlds. These platforms attract niche, passionate communities who care deeply about identity, creativity, and ownership.

🎤 SXSW with Katie Perera
Katie shared how SXSW continues to evolve as a place where creativity, culture, and cross‑industry ideas collide. From AI and human connection to the return of creativity as a competitive edge, her perspective was a standout moment in the episode.

🌐 Community as the through‑line
Across every story, community is the differentiator. The most successful experiences are built with communities, not around them.

📍 SXSW overviews, tips, tools and more from one of the most creative and innovative events on the planet.

See the full episode: https://youtu.be/gbWIC0O2QjQ

Brands in Play: The Human Questions Defining SXSW 2026 🎙️🌟 At Collabsco, we explore how creativity, community, and technology shape what is next across gaming, UGC platforms, and immersive media. Valerie Vacant...

🎙️🌟 Big moment for Collabsco. Valerie Vacante joined the What Bubbles Up podcast with Barry Fiske and Phillip Golub to unpack the technologies, creators, and experiences shaping what is next after CES.

🔍 A more practical CES
This year’s floor was filled with innovation built for real life — from NOSH cooking robots to Kolibree AR toothbrushes to LEGO Smart Bricks with Star Wars.

🎮 Connected play and a retro revival
Tamagotchi‑style companions, robotic learning creatures, and emotionally intelligent play experiences from teams like Takway.AI, Tombot, Robopoet, and Mirumi showed how nostalgia and modern intelligence are reshaping how people learn, self‑soothe, and express themselves.

🛍️ Experience‑Driven Retail
We shared insights from the official CES retail stage on what turns shopping into something memorable.
• $780 billion is lost when brands fail to deliver simple experiences
• Customers spend up to 140% more with emotionally connected experiences

🧪 Personalization and connected concierges
From Yuka’s ingredient scanning to Ralph Lauren’s Ask Ralph to multimodal assistants like the Glenfiddich Guide and Cheetos’ Chat with Chester, personalization is shifting from recommendations to real guidance.

💫 Community and fandom as cultural gathering spaces
Brands like Crunchyroll are transforming stores into hubs for belonging and creativity — from manga artists in UNIQLO to Jujutsu Kaisen voice actors at the Funko shop.

♿ Accessibility and the creator economy
The expanded accessibility pavilion and a growing Creator Stage highlighted how technology, creators, and early pioneers are shaping a more inclusive future.

🔊 Listen to the full episode: https://lnkd.in/gJ5jW6yG
A huge thanks to Barry and Phil for having us. See you at SXSW.

🚀 Experience‑Driven Retail Drivers for What’s Next at CES, the global stage of innovation.

Valerie Vacante presents the Experience‑Driven Retail Drivers for What’s Next briefing, outlining the core areas of growth, innovation and real‑world activation across the retail landscape.

CES 2026: Experience‑Driven Retail - Five Drivers for What’s Next by Val Vacante Experience‑Driven Retail at CES explores how AI, emerging technologies and consumer behavior are transforming the future of retail. This official CES session...

Congrats to Valerie Vacante, named Product Management Leader of the year by WomenTech Network.
https://www.womentech.net/nominee/Val%20/Vacante%20/94028

WomenTech Network celebrates 100 000 Women In Tech Driving Change with Purpose and Impact.

Don't miss dentsu USAs Valerie Vacante and Jacqueline Touma of ServiceNow in the session "Dominating the Digital Landscape of Modern Marketing," hosted by Friends of the Metaverse

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/friends-of-the-metaverse-season-of-innovation-2023-tickets-626692733837

Don't miss global innovator Valerie Vacante -- from emerging tech to connected experiences she's a master of blending digital and physical in marketing🔮🚀

Get ready for her insights on AR, the Metaverse, gaming and AI at the Season of Innovation by Friends of the Metaverse!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/friends-of-the-metaverse-season-of-innovation-2023-tickets-626692733837