GDC scores GamesBeat event partnership

The second annual GamesBeat business summit has made official ties with the Game Developers Conference, event organisers have announced.

GamesBeat will take place in San Francisco this March on the second day of GDC. It’s standout feature thus far is an open-format chat with EA COO John Schappert as he discusses the firm’s swing towards the casual and social space. The event will also host a startup competition where judges and the audience can vote for the best game startup.

Last year, GamesBeat was a standalone “complementary” event to GDC, taking place at the same venue during the same week. The show is run by the business and tech media outlet Venturebeat and has featured speakers such as John Smedley of Sony Online Entertainment, Curt Schilling of 38 Studios, Mark Pincus of Zynga, Sebastian DeHalleux of Playfish and Mitch Lasky of Benchmark Capital.

“Teaming up with GDC makes sense," said Dean Takahashi, lead writer at VentureBeat. “We think it will lead to a much more compelling conference for our speakers and attendees.”