Vancouver Agenda
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08.00 - Badge Pickup & Welcome Coffee
Josh Vowles, Head of Product, Gamesforum
Josh VowlesHead of ProductGamesforum08.55
Welcome to Gamesforum Vancouver 2026
John Koetsier, Founder & Senior Contributor, Sparkplug9 & Forbes
John KoetsierFounder & Senior ContributorSparkplug9 & Forbes
Tayber Voyer, CEO, A Thinking Ape
Tayber VoyerCEOA Thinking Ape
Jim Wagner, CPO, East Side Games
Jim WagnerCPOEast Side Games
Sean Megaw, Game Director & Studio Manager, AllAceGames
Sean MegawGame Director & Studio ManagerAllAceGames09.00
Gamesforum Unfiltered: Vancouver Edition
No recordings. No filters. No holding back. Our flagship off the record panel returns, this time making its Canadian debut. Industry leaders give their unvarnished take on the state of mobile gaming, where it's headed, and what nobody else will say out loud.
10.00
Keynote Session To Be Announced Soon!
Check back for more information!
Russ Ovans, Founder & Author, ARPDAU Industries & 'Game Analytics'
Russ OvansFounder & AuthorARPDAU Industries & 'Game Analytics'10.30
Playing Favourites: Maximising Profit Across a Portfolio of Games
Every studio with multiple live titles faces the same question: which games deserve user acquisition (UA) budget, and how much? This talk presents a portfolio-level forecasting framework that models legacy cohort decay, new install accumulation, and optimal fixed-budget UA allocation.
11.00 - Morning Networking Break
Macarena Cáceres, UA Lead, Hyper Hippo Entertainment
Macarena CáceresUA LeadHyper Hippo Entertainment11.30
UA Optimisation for 2027: Campaigns, Creatives & Choosing Networks
UA in 2027 is not just about spend, it is about precision. This panel breaks down how mobile gaming teams are optimising campaigns, building creative strategies that cut through and making smarter decisions on which networks actually deliver.
Colton Kaufman, Product Marketing Specialist, Sago Mini & Piknik
Colton KaufmanProduct Marketing SpecialistSago Mini & Piknik12.00
Scaling Global Growth with App Store Localization
Pull back the curtain on our 2026 localization framework. I’ll share the data that shows why text-only localization can actually hurt your conversion rates (CVR) by creating a disjointed experience. I will also reveal how we are now scaling this process more rapidly by removing time-intensive creative hurdles (such as caption-less video trailers) to supercharge our expansion into Swedish, Dutch, Mexican Spanish, Arabic, Danish, and beyond.
Jenny Pacheco, Director, User Acquisition, Golden Hearts Games
Jenny PachecoDirector, User AcquisitionGolden Hearts Games12.30
The Comeback: Retargeting in Mobile Gaming
Acquisition gets the headlines but retargeting is where smart teams find their edge. This fireside chat digs into the strategies, tools and targeting approaches bringing lapsed players back and making them stick.
13.00 - Networking Lunch14.00
Building to Last: Data Infrastructure for Game Growth
Too many studios build data systems for where they are, not where they are going. This panel gets into what it takes to build infrastructure that scales with your game, supports smarter decisions across growth and monetisation, and does not fall apart the moment you need it most.
14.30
Presentation To Be Announced Soon!
Check back for more information!
Josh Vowles, Head of Product, Gamesforum
Josh VowlesHead of ProductGamesforum
Wes Favro, Senior Ad Monetization Manager, Hyper Hippo Entertainment
Wes FavroSenior Ad Monetization ManagerHyper Hippo Entertainment15.00
Short Term Revenue vs Long Term Retention
Evaluate the balance between retention and revenue, comparing ad monetisation and IAP trends to maximise long-term player value.
15.30 - Afternoon Networking Break
Mike Gallagher, Founder, Untitled Ad Lab
Mike GallagherFounderUntitled Ad Lab
Oliver Birch, Head of Product Marketing & Growth, Northern Forge Studios
Oliver BirchHead of Product Marketing & GrowthNorthern Forge Studios
Jen Maclean, CEO & Co-founder, Dragon Snacks Games
Jen MacleanCEO & Co-founderDragon Snacks Games16.00
Beyond the Game: Community & Discoverability in Building Mobile Ecosystems
The most successful mobile games are not just games anymore. This panel explores how studios are building communities, driving organic discoverability and creating ecosystems around their titles that keep players invested long after the install.
Neb Mitrikeski, Lead Product Manager, Scopely
Neb MitrikeskiLead Product ManagerScopely16.30
The Product Triage: Strategy, Retention and Economy in Mobile Gaming
Great games are not built by accident. This session digs into how product strategy, retention mechanics and game economy design work together, and what happens to your game when they do not.
Josh Vowles, Head of Product, Gamesforum
Josh VowlesHead of ProductGamesforum
Leon Fernandes, Game Lead, YallaPlay
Leon FernandesGame LeadYallaPlay
Callie Jenkins, Head of Product Marketing, Ares Interactive
Callie JenkinsHead of Product MarketingAres Interactive17.00
Retention & LiveOps: Lessons from Player Engagement
Keeping players is harder than finding them. This panel unpacks the LiveOps strategies, engagement loops and retention tactics that separate games that last from games that don't.
17.30 - Evening Networking Drinks
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