League of Legends studio CEO headlines DICE summit

Riot Games CEO Brandon Beck is the opening keynote speaker at the 2015 DICE summit in Las Vegas, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences announced in a press release this week. Beck founded Riot, the studio behind League of Legends, in 2006. He's poised to take the DICE stage on Wednesday, February 4.

Also scheduled to talk at DICE is Monolith Design Director Michael de Plater, CastAR co-founder Jeri Ellsworth, Ubisoft's New IP Editorial Director Tommy Francois, Funomena CEO Robin Hunicke, and Twitch COO Kevin Lin, among others. See the full lineup in the below press release.

DICE runs from February 3 - 5 at the Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas. The talks and 2015 DICE Awards will be streamed on twitch.tv/dice from February 4 - 5.

[Image: Riot]

Show full PR text

RIOT GAMES CEO BRANDON BECK ANNOUNCED AS KEYNOTE SPEAKER FOR THE 2015 D.I.C.E. SUMMIT

Additional Fourteen Speakers Round Out Full Speaker List

LOS ANGELES – January 22, 2015 - The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences confirmed Riot Games CEO Brandon Beck as the 2015 D.I.C.E. Summit opening keynote speaker taking place Feb. 3-5, 2015 at the Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas. Fourteen additional speakers from among gaming industry technologists, gaming industry pioneers, and D.I.C.E. Awards nominated games will also be taking the stage. Invited speakers will draw from their unique experiences to share their perspective on the conference theme, Without Borders, to examine the ways in which we see barriers being transcended, and how creative industries can continue to drive entertainment forward.

The prestigious group of speakers represents industry leaders from every region and across all areas of game development. All sessions will be live streamed via Twitch on www.twitch.tv/dice on Wednesday, Feb. 4th PST from 9:30 am to 5 pm and will resume Thursday, Feb. 5th PST from 9:30 AM to 4 PM. Following the Summit sessions will be the live stream of the 18th D.I.C.E. Awards on Thursday, Feb. 5th PST beginning at 7 PM.

Newly confirmed to take the stage:

Brandon Beck, CEO and co-founder, created Riot Games in 2006 with a vision to build a game company that prioritizes the player experience in the way games are developed, delivered, and supported. Beck will open up the summit the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 4th.
Mark DeLoura, independent game technologist and previous senior advisor for digital media at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. DeLoura will helm a session titled "The View from Washington, DC."
Michael de Plater, design director at Monolith Productions – de Plater will be speaking on "Player Stories vs. Designer Stories – Empowering Players around the world" to showcase an overview of the key design influences and inspirations for the Nemesis System, and discuss some possible future ideas for narrative systems and the opportunities for new types of collaboration between developers and players.
Jeri Ellsworth, Inventor, Chief Hardware Engineer and Co-Founder at castAR – Ellsworth is a panelist on "The Shape of New Realities" to discuss the future of games and entertainment in this new VR and AR landscape.
Mohamed Fadl, eSports Director at Wargaming – Fadl is a panelist on "Sustainability in the Esports Landscape" discussing the progression of eSports and its future on a regional and global level in 2015 and beyond.
Tommy Francois, New IP Editorial Director at Ubisoft – Francois will discuss "Creative Maturity Through Life Experiences – How to Build Engaging Open Worlds" to explain how Ubisoft teams are building meaningful open worlds that will immerse players through the Game System Story, a first of many out of the box tools that help foster mature creativity.
Alan Gershenfeld, President and Co-Founder of E-Line Media and serves on the advisory board for PBS Kids New Media, iCivics and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center For Educational Media and Research (Sesame Workshop) and Games for Change – Gershenfeld will discuss "Games Thousands of Years in the Making," a case study on the hit Never Alone discussing the launch, as well as his vision for a broader 'World Games' movement.
Robin Hunicke, game designer, producer and CEO and co-founder of Funomena. Hunicke will moderate the panel, "The Shape of New Realities" to discuss the future of games and entertainment in this new VR and AR landscape.
Kevin Lin, COO at Twitch – Lin will moderate "Sustainability in the Esports Landscape," a panel on the progression of eSports and its future on a regional and global level in 2015 and beyond.
Bob Lowe, game director, Avalanche Software – Lowe will present on "Disney Infinity: A Platform Without Borders" to introduce how the Disney Infinity game platform is breaking down borders both inside the Walt Disney Company and in the global gaming universe of consumers and game developers.
Gloria O'Neill, President and CEO of Cook Inlet Tribal Council and Executive Chair and board member of E-Line Ventures, LLC – O'Neill will discuss "Games Thousands of Years in the Making," a case study on the hit Never Alone discussing the launch as well as vision for a broader 'World Games' movement.
Alexey Pajitnov, Tetris creator, will join Henk Rogers, Managing Director of The Tetris Company, on the "Secret Origins of the Tetris Phenomenon" to recount their earliest memories of the struggles, lessons, pitfalls, and triumphs.
Chris Sigaty, executive producer at Blizzard Entertainment – Sigaty is a panelist on "Sustainability in the Esports Landscape" discussing the progression of eSports and its future on a regional and global level in 2015 and beyond.
These industry experts will join previously announced speakers Tracy Fullerton, Interactive Media & Games Division chair at USC's School of Cinematic Arts; Tom Kalinske, vice chairman of Leapfrog; Mark Lamia, studio head at Treyarch Games; Lorne Lanning, chief creative officer of Oddworld Inhabitants; Chris Roberts, chief creative officer and co-founder at Cloud Imperium Games; Brenda Romero, program director of UC Santa Cruz's Master's in Games & Playable Media Program; Kristian Segerstrale, COO and executive director at Super Evil Megacorp; Nathan Vella, co-founder & president of Capy Games; Ru Weerasuriya, CEO of Ready At Dawn Studios; and Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios.

Registration for the 2015 D.I.C.E. Summit and 18th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards (#DICEAwards) ends soon! Book your ticket at www.dicesummit.org.