It’s that time of year again: GamesBeat NEXT 2026 is almost upon us, and with it comes another iteration of your favorite panel: The BOSS Mode Breakfast, formerly known as the Women in Gaming, Tech and Entertainment Executive Breakfast. This will be our 18th women-centered breakfast panel at our events.
This year, we’re holding a panel featuring several leaders in the gaming space. In addition to the panel itself, guests are free to enjoy breakfast and networking during this time. The breakfast begins on November 3 at 9 a.m., with the panel beginning at 9:20 a.m., with the title, “BOSS Mode: Leading with Impact — Women in Gaming & Tech: Driving Business in the $200 Billion Interactive Economy.”
The panel will explore the opportunities emerging across these industries, how women leaders are driving innovation and measurable business impact, and what it takes to turn new technologies, platforms, and ideas into growth and ROI. We’ll also look at how brands are showing up across the interactive economy — including gaming and other emerging platforms — and the role women leaders are playing in building what’s next.
Who’s who
I’ll have the pleasure of moderating the discussion once more, and I’ll be joined by four fascinating panelists:
Kimberly Pointer Corbett is the CEO of UltraLayer, a marketing services company. Before that, she left her mark on the games industry as the SVP of digital publishing at Warner Bros. Games, where she worked on titles like Hogwarts Legacy, LEGO Star Wars and Mortal Kombat. She was also previously the Chief Publishing Officer at Fortis Games and VP of user acquisition at Zynga.
Anne Shoemaker is the co-founder and game designer at Fullflower Studio LLC, a developer that focuses on Roblox-based titles such as Mermaid Life and My Droplets. The mandate of her studio is about “creating experiences that bring people together, spark joy, and inspire wonder.” Shoemaker appeared on the Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2024.
Karin Johnson is the founder and Chief Product Officer at Magic Potion Games, the studio behind Imagine Island, an online social gaming platform designed with children in mind. She’s previously worked on Disney’s iconic Club Penguin platform. She also worked in production at Epic Games, and in visual effects at Industrial Light & Magic, as well as Amazon Studios.
Hilary Mason is the CEO and co-founder of Hidden Door, an AI-driven game- and world-building platform. She previously founded Fast Forward Labs, which was acquired by Cloudera; she worked at the latter company as general manager of the machine learning unit. She’s previously been the subject of a BOSS Mode interview with GamesBeat.
Get ready for BOSS Mode live!
We’d like to thank the community partners for being part of this event, including:
- Women-led Games
- Women in Technology: Hollywood (WiTH)
- WIGI
- Women X AI
- Moms in Gaming
- Black in Gaming
- Black Girl Gamers
- Latinx in Gaming
- IGDA Foundation
- Games for Change
- Video Game Bar Association
- Games for Love
- Collegiate Games Challenge
- Midwest Games
- Firstboard.io
- Zebra Partners
- DICE marketing trade
- The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (GEMA)
- Pocket Gamer Connects
- ThinkLA
If you want to be present for the conversation, then you still have the chance to get a ticket. Spots are selling out, so act fast! Register for your ticket here and use the code GBNBOSSMODE50 to get a discount.