[Gaming Summit] Into the Metaverse

'Ready Player One' set the stage for the Metaverse in 2011 and we're now on the cusp of realizing that future… or has it already arrived? Daniel Sturman (CTO, Roblox) joins Caroline Hyde (Co-Host, Bloomberg TV) to discuss all things Metaverse; whether it already exists through Roblox today, what challenges lie ahead as it becomes more prevalent, and how it will augment future interactions.

The past couple of years have shown both tremendous growth and highlighted tailwinds for blockchain gaming. Ryan Wyatt (CEO, Polygon Studios) and Jeff "Jiho" Zirlin (Co-Founder, Sky Mavis) join Dean Takahashi (Lead Writer, GamesBeat) to discuss the merits of blockchain gaming, how to operate in today's dynamic market, and their predictions for the future of this segment.

Fortnite isn’t available on the App Store… but you can still play it on your phone today? With new services from Xbox, PlayStation, Amazon, and NVIDIA, as well as an M&A race to own the best gaming content, it’s clear that cloud gaming has finally arrived. Maneet Khaira (Co-Founder & CEO, Backbone) shares his perspective on how gameplay is evolving and why the next decade of gaming will be defined by the cloud.

After dominating mobile app charts for the past 10 years, Ilkka Paananen (Co-Founder & CEO, Supercell) and Sebastian Knutsson (Co-founder & former CCO, King) reflect on their learnings and share perspectives on operating in today's environment of remote work, Web3, and new form factors.

Games are the new shopping mall. It's where friends interact with one another, discussing all sorts of topics regardless of whether or not they relate to the game itself. Elizabeth Hamren (COO, Discord) and Nick Fajt (Co-Founder & CEO, Rec Room) discuss how games have evolved to fit this need, the differences between social gaming platforms and incumbent social media platforms, and what problems need to be addressed as gaming emerges as the future forum for socialization.

At their best, games become a home for players to experience and express themselves for years on end. But what makes a great game great? Soner Aydemir (Co-Founder & CEO, Dream Games) and Jenova Chen (CEO, ThatGameCompany) discuss how to approach game design, find your target audience, and create memorable and enduring game experiences.

Index Partner Mike Volpi and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman talk robots and the apocalypse.

Index Partner Nina Achadijan interviews Ameet Bendov, the Co-Founder & CEO of Gong about his journey building the company and his advice for future entrepreneurs.

What are the practical aspects of AI? Index’s Erin Price-Wright speaks with Alexandr Wang, Founder of Scale AI, Anima Anandkumar, Director of ML Research, NVIDIA and Martin Chavez, Sixth Street Partners.

Today, we are privileged to have Cade Metz join us. Cade is a reporter at the New York Times, and covers artificial intelligence and machine learning, driverless cars, robotics, virtual reality, and other emerging areas. Before the New York Times, he was a reporter at Wired. Cade has written what we think is one of the seminal books in AI called The Genius Makers, which is the story of the emergence of AI, from the 1950s to today. In the process of writing this book, he had conversations with some of the brightest and most capable people in the world of AI. He's joining us to share some of the narrative and what he’s learned through the process of writing.