Partner Content, presented by Xsolla
Gamescom returns August 20-24, 2025 in Cologne and this year, GamesBeat LIVE (GB LIVE), sponsored by Xsolla, will bring two conversations developers and business decision makers won’t want to miss. From next-generation developer tools to an entire city reinventing itself as a gaming powerhouse, these sessions explore how the industry is changing and where it’s headed next.
Recorded in Germany during Gamescom week, the exclusive talks will be broadcasted on GamesBeat Channels on Tuesday, August 26th at 11 AM PT.
Powerful new D2P tools for mobile game developers
First up, Chris Hewish, President of Xsolla, will sit down with GamesBeat’s Editorial Director Dean Takahashi to break down a major milestone: Xsolla’s most expansive platform update ever in its 20 year journey to help video game developers to launch, grow and monetize their games around the world.
Developers are facing some big challenges — acquisition costs continue to rise, platform restrictions undercut monetization strategy, and regional fragmentation makes user acquisition a hassle. Direct-to-player monetization is the key to thriving in a complex market.
In its most expansive platform update ever, Xsolla is introducing brand-new flexible, direct-to-player (D2P) infrastructure, bringing together modular SDKs, Web Shop innovations, regional payment solutions, and a powerful new LiveOps Management Suite to amp up monetization strategies and make mobile game developers competitive on a global scale.
In this session, explore how developers can use the newly launched SDK Suite, Payment Facilitator model, and immersive commerce tools in practice, so they can scale across mobile, web, PC, and cloud while maintaining ownership, control, and global reach.
Dubai’s big bet on games
The second GB LIVE session zooms out to a global view. Dean Takahashi welcomes Faisal Kazim, director of future foresight at the Dubai Future Foundation, to discuss how Dubai is launching its game market ambitions on a global stage.
Through the Dubai Program for Gaming 2033 (DPG33), Dubai is aiming to become a top ten global gaming city, generating 30,000 jobs, and adding $1 billion to GDP, all within the next decade. This ambitious plan focuses on talent, content, and technology, creating training programs, supporting entrepreneurs, and forging partnerships with leading studios and universities worldwide.
In this GB LIVE at Gamescom conversation, you’ll learn how Dubai is building a hub designed to attract developers, designers, and tech companies from across the globe, why Dubai is the next big opportunity in the game market, and more.
Whether you’re an indie studio looking for smarter monetization strategies or an industry veteran keeping their eye on gaming’s next big growth markets, these sessions offer an inside look at the forces shaping the gaming industry right now.
GB LIVE 2025 at Gamescom, will be available to watch online for all viewers globally, Tuesday August 26th, 11am PT on GamesBeat.com, followed by post event coverage.
To learn more about the current state of Dubai’s gaming industry, you can access the latest exclusive GamesBeat report here, supported by Dubai Program for Gaming.
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GB LIVE is GamesBeat’s coverage of industry events in tech, AI, entertainment, and gaming — featuring exclusive footage either streamed live or filmed on-site and then aired at a scheduled time. Whether broadcasted in real time or released later, GB LIVE delivers high-impact conversations, insights, and thought leadership from the forefront of innovation. Content is streamed across GamesBeat and social channels, then also made available on demand as part of post-event coverage.
Select GB LIVE segments may be produced in collaboration with sponsors and are labeled as partner content. To learn more or to explore partnership opportunities, reach out to partnerships@gamesbeat.com.