Contributor Bio

Chris Besendorfer

Head of Citi ThankYou Rewards

Global business builder who has grown and transformed multibillion-dollar businesses. Known for turnaround and innovation leadership, he has led more than 8,000 employees across 21 countries, using customer insights and data to launch new opportunities and improve both economics and customer experience.

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Ranjita Iyer

Executive Vice President of Services, Mastercard

Product innovation and corporate development executive with global experience spanning fintech/payments, digital initiatives, business development and strategy consulting. Diverse background includes business, technology, corporate development, M&A, and investment banking experience within leading banks, technology companies, consulting firms and Fortune 100 companies.

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Sergey Budkovski

Co-founder and CEO, Skich

A pioneer of alternative mobile game distribution. He is building a next-generation mobile game store, with personalized discovery and social features for players and better economics for game developers.

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Maksim Sazonov

Director of Product Analytics, Xsolla

Senior Analytics Leader with over 10 years of experience driving business growth through data strategy and advanced analytics, having built teams of up to 21 people and delivered over $2M in incremental revenue across fintech, travel, and e-commerce.

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Stuart Muckley

Co-founder, Code Wizards Group

Engineer, videogames and esports veteran, and co-founder of Code Wizards Group who spent decades helping studios launch, scale, and keep players engaged during high-pressure moments. Once a hands-on coder, he now focuses on untangling tough technical problems, sharing lessons learned, and asking hard questions early, before they turn into expensive ones.

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Andy Jennings

Head of Growth Marketing, Xsolla Ads & Rewards

Head of Growth Marketing for Xsolla Ads & Rewards, and a mobile growth marketing leader with over a decade of experience driving user acquisition and performance marketing for games and mobile apps.

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Emilien Eychenne

Chief Growth Officer & Co-Founder, Adikteev

Co-founder of Adikteev, an adtech company he built with a high school friend from a gamification platform in 2012 into a business generating $250M+ in revenue. Under his leadership, Adikteev expanded into performance marketing and ROAS campaigns, opened offices in the US and APAC, and grew into a leading player in app retargeting with a recent expansion into CTV advertising.

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Brian Crecente

Editorial consultant to the video game industry

Founder of Kotaku, co-founder of Polygon, former games editor at Rolling Stone and Variety, and founder of Pad & Pixel, an editorial consultancy serving the video game industry. He writes the Substack newsletter Game.

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Loon Cheah

Senior Business Development Manager, Payments, Xsolla

A results-oriented Business Development Manager with 8+ years of cross-industry experience across FinTech and Telecommunications. I focus on identifying high-value growth opportunities, both in untapped markets and within existing client relationships, and turning them into sustainable business outcomes.

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Yueran Wei

Director of Business Operations and Strategy, Xsolla

Consumer & Creator Marketing Leader with 11+ years across gaming and PC/consumer technology in Greater China, turning products into stories, communities, and measurable growth.

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John Park

Head of Business Development, APAC, Xsolla

Someone who knows how to manage multiple stakeholders’ interests and to deliver tangible results without losing sight of the overall objectives and goals.

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Elena Svergunenko

UX Research Director, Xsolla

CX/UX leader with 8+ years of expertise across digital products, shaping strategy through a deep understanding of game studios, publishers, and players to drive business growth.

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Shawn Layden

Former Chairman of SIE PlayStation Worldwide Studios, Game Industry Strategic Advisor

Shawn Layden is a games industry veteran who spent more than 30 years at Sony, holding leadership roles across PlayStation in North America, Japan, and Europe before serving as Chairman of Worldwide Studios. He now works as an independent advisor, helping companies navigate the evolving global games and entertainment technology businesses.

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Chris Hewish

President, Xsolla

Author of Durable Advantage: Five Pillars of the Modern Game Business, and a trusted game and technology executive with operational and strategic leadership experience at Activision, DreamWorks, and Xsolla.

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Derrick Stembridge

Vice President of Global Public Relations, Xsolla

Leading global strategy for communications and media relations, and telling the story of how Xsolla helps developers launch, grow, and monetize their games.

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Mark Caplan

Global IP licensing advisor, Xsolla Agency

Entertainment and licensing executive with 30+ years building global consumer products, gaming, and licensing businesses for major film, television, and sports entertainment properties.

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Berkley Egenes

Chief Marketing and Growth Officer, Xsolla

Creator of successful data-driven partnerships, collaborations and campaigns for brands and organizations to elevate their awareness, perception and experience in the market place.

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Gauri Sheth

Senior Business Development Manager, APAC Region, Xsolla

Seasoned professional with a proven track record in the internet industry. Highly skilled in online gaming, content production, customer service, e-commerce, business development, and marketing strategy.

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Pranab Punj

Strategic Advisor, India, Xsolla

Seasoned global business leader, entrepreneur, and board director with a proven track record of pioneering innovation in the gaming, media, and technology sectors.

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Jana Hodgins

Director of Strategic Partnerships, Ecosystem, Xsolla

Speaker and strategist delivering systematic alignment to drive clarity, momentum, and sustainable business outcomes.

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Afef Grimil

Head of Creator Partnerships, Xsolla Partner Network

18+ years of experience, lead cross-functional teams and manage high-impact initiatives at TikTok, Xsolla. Driving operational excellence and strategic growth across digital marketing, influencer partnerships, and large-scale campaigns.

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Manny Hachey

Senior Director of Developer Success, Global Strategic Initiatives & Partnerships, Xsolla

Senior Director of Developer Success at Xsolla, Accelerator Program Director. Co-Founder & Creative Director at Positive Impact Games, games business, investment & studio growth.

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Kirill Tokarev

Vice President, Industry Insights & Strategy, Xsolla

Senior Executive at Xsolla. Developer advocate, ecosystem builder, and content strategist with 15+ years of experience leading community and DevRel efforts across AI, cloud, and 3D/VFX industries. 80 Level founder, ex Industry Relations Director at Gnomon.

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Viktoria Steshina

Senior Program Manager, Game Biz Institute, Xsolla

Senior manager with 8+ years of marketing and operations leadership expeirience in the video games industry, Guest Lecturer at the Higher School of Economics, and Ambassador for Women in Games.

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Lisa Sirlin-Hall

Senior Marketing Copywriter, Xsolla

20+ year copywriter, content editor, and content producer for the gaming and entertainment industries, including Netflix, Electronic Arts, and Warner Brothers.

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David Jagneaux

Head of 80 Level

The Head of 80 Level and a veteran tech industry journalist, comms manager, and consultant with over 14-years of experience covering the world of gaming and consumer technology.

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Daniel Brown

Measurement & Experimentation, Xsolla

Building Analytics/BI/Data Science organizations from scratch at multiple startups, working at established metrics driven organizations, and conducting research within Academia.

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Ivan Martinez

Developer Evangelist, Xsolla

Game Developer with 15+ years of experience designing and developing games across a wide range of genres, platforms, and gameplay systems.

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Edward DiNola

Developer Evangelist, Xsolla

Leader with nearly two decades of experience working in games. Worked in many environments, from large traditional studios, to small indies, and has a broad range of experience as an individual contributor, team leader, studio head, and advisor.

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Alexandra Kurennykh

Localization Manager, Technology, Xsolla

Localization Manager at Xsolla with experience across documentation, legal, and product localization, combining linguistic expertise with hands-on automation engineering.

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Alex Sevastyanov

Senior Game Evaluation Analyst, Global Strategic Initiatives & Partnerships, Xsolla

Senior Game Evaluation Analyst with 25+ years of multiplatform gaming experience and some experience developing mobile games.

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Sergei Kubyshkin

Head of Influencer Discovery, Partner Network, Xsolla

Leading influencer discovery at Xsolla's Partner Network, helping game developers connect with the right content creators to grow their audience through strategic creator outreach programs.

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Sam Tubtimcharoon

Head of Growth Advisory and Strategy, Partner Network, Xsolla

Growth and partnerships leader with 5+ years in payments and gaming, building reseller, creator, and brand programs across APAC and globally.

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Eliza Chrichton-Stuart

Head of Operations, GAM3S.GG

Head of Operations at GAMES.GG, a platform building discovery infrastructure across a fragmented gaming ecosystem.

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Richard Bartle

Game Design Professor, University of Essex

Co-creator, MUD1. Author of the first book about virtual world design "Designing Virtual Worlds", New Riders, 2003. Independent consultant, Emeritus Professor of Game Design.

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Machaiah Kalengada

Program Director, GDAI

Program Director at Game Developer Association of India, the national industry body representing India's game development ecosystem.

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Shawn Fischtein

Co-founder and CEO, Gaggle Studios

CEO at Gaggle Studios, the creative force behind the hit multiplayer social deduction game, Goose Goose Duck.

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Elizaveta Savenkova

Chief Business Development Officer, ZiMAD

CBDO at ZiMAD, mobile games developer and publisher, leading global business development, managing partnerships with industry giants and driving long-term growth initiatives.

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Andrew Naicker

Senior Product Manager, Skystone Games

Senior Product Manager at Skystone Games, a multiplatform gaming company built for the world, full-service publisher, and a partner helping independent developers bring their ideas to life - built to last and built on fun.

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Lexi Sydow

Chief Analyst & Founder, The ATTN Economy

Co-founder of The ATTN Economy, an independent media company and consultancy on a mission to make the dynamics shaping public attention visible, understandable and actionable.

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