It’s our honor to announce a dream panel of game legends that will kick off our GamesBeat Next 2026 conference in San Francisco on November 2-3.
The event will start with a historic panel I plan to moderate with the former heads of game console makers, together on stage for the first time. They include Doug Bowser, former president and COO of Nintendo of America; Shawn Layden, former president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment; and Peter Moore, former president of Sega of America (also former COO of Electronic Arts and former corporate vice president of Microsoft’s interactive entertainment division).
The panel will follow our theme for GamesBeat Next, which is all about what’s coming next for the game industry. We hope the panelists are all dreaming of a bright future for games.
This reminds me of a panel at one of the first Electronic Entertainment Expo events I attended back in 2001 in Los Angeles. The panelists included the then-current leaders of Sony’s U.S. PlayStation Kaz Hirai; Nintendo of America marketing head Peter Main; and Microsoft’s chief Xbox officer, Robbie Bach. Game analyst John Taylor of Arcadia Investment moderated the panel.
I recalled this panel of the Big Three console makers as a collegial panel of rivals who frequently joked and jabbed each other about the console wars. Hirai, who went on to become CEO of Sony, teased Bach, saying, “Follow our lead.” I got the feeling that Bach, the new kid on the block, was irritated by the ribbing from the veteran console rivals.
They all believed in very different futures for gaming. Main said that gaming software was the key to success. Bach believed that the broadband connection and PC-like online gaming represented the future, and Hirai suggested the PlayStation 2 could be a Trojan Horse in the living room, as it was an all-in-one machine that got into the house as a game console and could take over as the home’s entertainment hub, wresting that position from the Windows PC. It was a study in contrasts. But, for whatever reason, that panel never happened again.
This new panel is not quite the same thing. We are gathering former heads of the game console divisions on our panel, and so it’s not looking inward so much at the current competition of the game companies. They all served in different eras of gaming. So for this session, we’ll focus on sharing their views of the future of the game industry.
I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for a gathering of leaders for our GamesBeat community to listen to the wisdom of gaming leaders who once had the responsibility of guiding the major game console companies into the future. It’s especially relevant as so many things are unclear — perhaps the foggiest since I’ve covered the game industry over the last few decades.
It’s privilege to moderate this session, which came about because Gina Joseph, CEO of GamesBeat, urged me to think about a dream panel that we could do at GamesBeat Next. Let me know what kind of questions you’d like to see asked.
Who they are
Unless you’re an old timer like me, you might not know these gaming giants.
Our game legends include Peter Moore, who has spanned multiple industries including shoes, gaming and soccer. Moore most recently served as SVP/GM of Sports and Live Entertainment at Unity Technologies, a role he commenced with the global platform leader in January 2021., focused on bringing real time 3d to sports and entertainment experiences.
Peter was previously at Liverpool FC as CEO, joining in June 2017, a role that brought the lifetime LFC supporter back to his hometown of Liverpool. He was named Premier League CEO of the Year in November 2019.
Prior to Liverpool FC, Peter served as COO of EA, providing strategic leadership for all global operations that enabled the world’s biggest video game publisher to bring products to market via retail and digital direct-to-consumer channels. He also previously held the position of President of EA Sports, overseeing the delivery of some of the top-selling sports videogames from franchises including FIFA, Madden NFL, NCAA Football and NHL. He oversaw the growth of the FIFA Interactive World Cup, growing it into one of the world’s largest gaming tournaments.
Moore has more than 35 years of experience in gaming, entertainment and consumer products. He has held leadership positions as the Corporate Vice President of the Interactive Entertainment Business of Microsoft, heading the Xbox platform business
He was also President and COO of Sega of America, where he oversaw the launch of the Sega Dreamcast, and Senior Vice President of global sports marketing at Reebok International Ltd.
He was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Liverpool He has his own charitable entity, the Peter Moore Foundation, that helps disadvantaged families in Liverpool. He also currently serves as a VP of Special Effect, a nonprofit that uses technology to enhance the quality of life of people with physical disabilities, and he and his wife Debbie are honorary presidents of Fans Supporting Foodbanks, an organization that delivers meals to thousands of needy families in the Liverpool City Region.
In 2020, he was part of the advisory team, headed by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney that acquired Wrexham AFC. He is currently founding owner of Santa Barbara Sky FC, a professional soccer club that will commence play in USL Championship in 2026. More recently he became an owner of Wisla Krakow of the Polish League One
Peter’s autobiography, Game Changer, documents his life from his early days in post war Liverpool to the present day as a seasoned executive in multiple high profile companies.
Shawn Layden is the former Chairman of PlayStation Worldwide Studios for Sony Interactive Entertainment, where he led first-party game strategy and development. Over more than 20 years at PlayStation, he also served as President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment America and President of Sony Computer Entertainment Japan. He sits on the board of Girls Make Games and advises a number of startups in technology and entertainment.
And Doug Bowser is former president and COO of Nintendo of America. Bowser led operations across the Americas, working with the NOA Executive Management Team to develop strategies and priorities for the business and organization. Doug also served as an Executive Officer of Nintendo Co., Ltd. (NCL), Kyoto Japan. He partnered closely with NCL and Nintendo of Europe (NOE) executives to align on worldwide initiatives. Doug retired from NOA in January 2026.
Doug first joined NOA in May 2015 as Vice President, Sales, to oversee all sales-related functions including Retail Strategy, Retail Marketing and In-Store Merchandising. In August 2016, Doug was promoted to Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing, providing oversight of sales and marketing activities in the United States, Canada and Latin America. In April 2019, Doug was promoted to President of NOA.
In July 2021, Doug was appointed to the NOA Board of Directors. Doug also represented Nintendo within the U.S. games industry as a Chairman of the Entertainment Software Association Executive Board.
Prior to joining Nintendo in 2015, Doug spent eight years at Electronic Arts, most recently as Vice President of Global Business Planning, a role that made him responsible for EA’s console, PC and mobile game strategic planning and forecasting. Prior to EA, he worked at Procter & Gamble for 23 years in various sales leadership roles in Asia, Latin America and the United States.
It was in college where he developed his passion for video games, playing endless hours of the Donkey Kong arcade game.
GamesBeat Next 2026
This is just the kickoff of sessions we are holding across a day and a half. GamesBeat Next is built for senior leaders and meaningful business connections, with attendance strictly limited to 500 executives. After selling out in 2025, GamesBeat Next is expected to sell out again. September 1 is the deadline for submitting speakers for the event.
A limited number of Early Bird VIP passes are available while supplies last. VIP passes include full conference access, the VIP Lounge, AMA roundtables with CEOs, founders and GamesBeat editorial leadership, priority access to executive programming, on-demand sessions and a one-year GB MAX Premium Membership with year-round access to exclusive content, private events and the GamesBeat executive community.
Register for GamesBeat Next before Early Bird pricing ends and passes sell out.
Additional speakers and programming details will be announced in the coming weeks. GamesBeat looks forward to welcoming leaders from across the industry to San Francisco in November 2026.
Interested in speaking? Speaker applications are open through September 1. Apply today
Interested in sponsoring GamesBeat Next? Connect with our Partnerships team
Sponsors: GamesBeat Next sponsors include Overwolf, Tebex, Arkadium, ThinkingAI, VOID and Medal, with more to be announced.
Community Partners: ASGC, Black Girl Gamers, Black in Gaming, Collegiate Games Challenge, Firstboard.io, Games for Change, Games for Love, IAB, Latinx in Gaming, Moms in Gaming, Midwest Games, Pocket Gamer Connects, ThinkLA, the Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (GEMA), the Video Game Bar Association, WIGI, Women in Technology: Hollywood (WiTH), Women X AI, Women-led Games and Zebra Partners, with more to be announced.
Advisors: Adam Boyes, founder & CEO of Vivrato; Lisa Cosmas Hanson, president of Niko Partners; Don Daglow, president & CEO of Sausalito Games; Peter Levin, strategic adviser to GamesBeat and managing partner at Griffin Gaming Partners; Sibel Sunar, founder & CEO of fortyseven communications; Tara Bruno, president of Tara Bruno PR; David Hoppe, managing partner of Gamma Law; Tammy McDonald, chief business officer of Distinct Possibility Studios; Mike DeLaet, CEO of Ares Interactive; Noah Falstein, director of experience design at the George Lucas Educational Foundation; Mike Vorhaus, founder of Vorhaus Advisors; Eric Goldberg, co-founder of Playable Worlds; Michael Metzger, managing partner of Drake Star Partners; Elizabeth Olson, owner of Strategic Marketing; Perrin Kaplan, co-founder of Zebra Partners; Sarah Anderson, former chief marketer at Amazon Games; Cooper Jackson, SVP of business development at Electronic Arts; Maureen Fan, CEO and co-founder of Baobab Studios; Kate Edwards, CEO of Geogrify; and Gordon Bellamy, professor of the Practice of Cinematic Arts, Interactive Media & Games at the University of Southern California.