Global Games Show
The entire game development journey, under one roof.
- 27 - 28 January 2027
- Abu Dhabi, UAE
- FUND & FOUND
- BUILD
- TEST & POLISH
- LAUNCH
- GROW
- OPERATE
Powered By
Destination Partner
Global Games Show 2027 is where the entire game development journey comes to life. Building on the success of its previous editions in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, which brought together 5000+ professionals from across the global games ecosystem, Global Games Show returns to Abu Dhabi with an expanded platform connecting the companies that fund, build, ship and grow games
Walk your game through six lifecycle zones. Discover the tools and platforms shaping production. Experience 30 to 50 playable unreleased games on Demo Alley. Gain insight from the studios that shipped and the platform teams that publish them. Build partnerships with the publishers, investors, technology providers and ecosystem partners actively shaping how games get made. Connect. Pitch. Partner. Shape the future of games.
5,000+
verified B2B delegates across two days, no consumer walk-ins
70%
C-level, founders, heads and
directors
44%
game studios and developers, from AAA to indie
Why Global Games Show?
Gain Knowledge from Industry Visionaries
Participate in keynotes and Journey Stage postmortems featuring studio founders, executive producers, publishing and business development directors, platform partner managers, investment partners and government programme leads, covering what publishers fund and what they pay, building a studio in the Gulf, AI in the production pipeline, launch strategy across Steam, console and mobile storefronts, and turning a launch into a living live-operations busines.
Build Valuable Industry Relationships
Network with publishers, venture and sovereign-linked investors, platform and distribution leads, engine and tools vendors, QA and localisation partners, user acquisition and live-operations specialists, and government and ecosystem authorities through Rapid Connect networking rounds, the Hosted Buyer Lounge, exhibition floor conversations and targeted partnership facilitation.
Access Capital and Publishing Deals
Meet the publishers, venture funds, sovereign-linked investors, family offices and corporate venture arms actively deploying into games, through more than 500 pre-scheduled Pitch Arena meetings in curated 15-minute slots, live pitch finals on the main stage, and the invitation-only Investor Lounge.
Identify Market Entry and Growth Prospects
Uncover what it takes to launch a studio, open a regional office or scale an existing operation in the Gulf, covering licensing and company formation, talent, relocation and real costs, incentives and free zones, and access to the Abu Dhabi games ecosystem through AD Gaming, twofour54, Hub71, Yas Creative Hub and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office.
Discover Next-Generation Technologies
Experience 100+ sponsors and exhibitors across six lifecycle zones presenting game engines and middleware, AI production pipelines and generative tooling, cloud and backend infrastructure, art, audio and co-development, motion capture, QA and Arabic localisation, porting and compliance, payments and carrier billing, user acquisition and analytics platforms, anti-cheat and player support.
Build Career-Advancing Connections
Meet peers, mentors, hiring studios and recruitment partners at the Careers and Talent Hub through portfolio reviews, live vacancy boards, masterclasses and university showcase pods, with the 48-Hour Game Jam and the Games in the Making Awards giving emerging talent and unreleased projects a stage to be seen on.
Direct Access to Decision-Makers
Engage studio founders, executive producers, publishing and business development directors, platform partner managers and investment partners who control production budgets and vendor selection.
Demonstrate Commercial Readiness
Move beyond a logo on a banner to live product demonstrations, technical conversations, integration requirements and pricing discussions that build genuine buyer confidence
Accelerate Partnership Development
Build a qualified pipeline through a guaranteed minimum of pre-scheduled meetings with studios that match your category, tracked in the event app and reported back to you after the show.
Establish Regional Market Presence
Position your company inside the lifecycle zone where your buyers are already looking, with category exclusivity and a credible entry point into the wider GCC games market
Connect with Global Investors
Showcase your business to venture funds, sovereign-linked investors and strategic acquirers actively allocating capital into games, studios and games infrastructure
Gain Critical Market Insights
Read the competitive landscape, test your pricing, and hear directly what studios and publishers are buying next across funding, production, launch and live operations
Whats's On
The Pitch Arena
Rapid Connect
Demo Alley
Hosted Buyer Lounge
Launch Clinic
48-Hour Game Jam
Attendee Profile
Studio heads, publishers, platform decision makers, the tools and services that ship games, and the Gulf capital deploying into them. Programmed into scheduled meetings across two days.
- C-level, founders and studio heads
- Producers, BD and corporate development
- Investors, funds and sovereign capital
- Platform and distribution leads
- Discipline leads in art, tech and design
- Government, policy and ecosystem
- Talent and recruitment
Event Essentials
2026 Tickets
Early Bird Tickets now available
29-30 June 2026・10,000 attendees
Sponsors
Partner with GGS in 2026
1,500+ companies・Global reach
Speakers
Take the GGS Stage
Influence Web3 Agenda・150+ voices
VIP
VIP Entry GGS in 2026
1,500+ companies・Global reach
Our Speakers
The Leading Voices on Gaming Biggest Stage
Shawn Layden
Managing Partner
The Odysseus Partnership, Former chairman of PlayStation
Boris Kalmykov
CEO & Co-Founder
Hypemasters
Johnson Yeh
Founder & CEO
Ambrus Studio
Omar Ghoneim
Founder & CEO
GAM3S.GG
Teemu Koski
Chief Business Officer
NODWIN Gaming
Michal Katkoff
Founder
Deconstructor of Fun
Daniel Pela-Faria
CEO & Founder
ZeroShock (FLGC) / Ember Capital
Joseph van Heeswijk
CEO
2Game Esports
Shawn Layden
Designation: Managing Partner
Company: The Odysseus Partnership, Former chairman of PlayStation
Layden is the former chairman of PlayStation Worldwide Studios for Sony Interactive Entertainment
(SIE), where he was responsible for driving first-party content to differentiate the PlayStation platform.
In 2019, he established PlayStation Productions to create film and television properties based on
PlayStation’s game IP.
Prior to serving as chairman, Layden was CEO of SIE America, and before that served as president of
SIE Japan. His 32-year career with Sony began with corporate roles in Tokyo, including five years as
personal assistant to Akio Morita, co-founder of Sony Corporation.
He currently advises several tech start-ups in game adjacent fields and is a founding board member
of the Girls Make Games Scholarship Fund.
Layden graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a BA in American Studies.
Boris Kalmykov
Designation: CEO & Co-Founder
Company: Hypemasters
Johnson Yeh
Designation: Founder & CEO
Company: Ambrus Studio
Johnson Yeh holds a PhD in Strategic Management from Peking University and an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. He has significant experience in the gaming and circular economy sectors, having held senior positions at Riot Games and the World Economic Forum. Currently, Johnson leads Ambrus Studio, a Web3 game production company, and ROEHL, a Lifestyle as a Service brand focused on sustainability.
Omar Ghoneim
Designation: Founder & CEO
Company: GAM3S.GG
Teemu Koski
Designation: Chief Business Officer
Company: NODWIN Gaming
I am an esports and gaming industry leader with over 20 years of commercial and strategic leadership experience, currently serving as Chief Business Officer for NODWIN Gaming in the MENA region. My mandate is clear: build the most commercially successful and strategically aligned gaming and esports ecosystem across Saudi Arabia, UAE, and the wider Middle East—working directly with government entities, vision-driven sovereign organizations, and global publishers to launch esports IPs, content ecosystems, and multi-million-dollar media rights models.Over the past decade, I have led the regional transformation of the esports economy in partnership with government entities in MENA and Europe. My leadership has focused on monetization innovation, scalable production models, cross-border investment, and the integration of esports into national economic diversification agendas.What I’m BuildingMulti-IP esports ecosystem anchored with government and sovereign fund backing
Cross-border monetization models in media rights, production, content licensing, and data
Partnerships with strategic operators, publishers, and infrastructure developers to scale regional esports exports globally
High-performance leadership teams aligned with long-term national strategies and investor objectives
Michal Katkoff
Designation: Founder
Company: Deconstructor of Fun
Daniel Pela-Faria
Designation: CEO & Founder
Company: ZeroShock (FLGC) / Ember Capital
Joseph van Heeswijk
Designation: CEO
Company: 2Game Esports
Joseph van Heeswijk is an entrepreneur and one of the founders of the 2Game ecosystem, a rapidly expanding gaming and esports group that operates globally and forms part of GCL, a NASDAQ-listed company. Joseph serves as the CEO of the LATAM division, overseeing growth across Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, and the wider Latin American region.
With more than 20 years of experience in the global games industry, Joseph has worked across Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America in roles spanning distribution, development, publishing partnerships, and large-scale marketing.
In esports, he helped build 2Game Esports into one of the region’s fastest-growing organisations earning a place in the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) through competitive qualification in its first year. VCT is Riot Games’ official global league system and one of the most prestigious circuits in esports. Joseph also discovered standout talent such as Blaz from Chile, who went on to achieve major international success. With multiple expansions underway, 2026 is set to be a landmark year for the group.
Joseph focuses on building the infrastructure and opportunities needed to accelerate Latin American expansion in gaming, esports, and digital entertainment.
Two days. Six zones. One journey.
A curated agenda for the seven asset classes that move global markets.
09:00
Registration & Coffee
THE NEXT FRONTIER OF GAMING ECONOMY
10:00
Welcome to the Future: Global Games Show
10:10
KEYNOTE
Abu Dhabi is putting real capital behind the studios it wants to exist. This keynote unpacks the funding vehicles, sovereign backing and public-private partnerships behind the region’s push to become a serious home for game development and what that bet actually buys.
- How government-backed funding is accelerating the growth of local studios
- What it takes to attract global talent, publishers and investors to Abu Dhabi
#GamingInvestment #GameDevelopment #AbuDhabiGaming
10:30
FIRESIDE
The Launch Playbook: What Makes Games Succeed in 2027
Game launches are becoming harder to predict with crowded marketplaces, changing player expectations and new monetization models reshaping what success looks like. This explores the strategies, technologies and player insights that can turn a game launch into a long-term success.
- Building anticipation and momentum before launch
- Using data and AI to understand players and optimize launch strategies
- Turning launch-day engagement into long-term retention and communities
Reserved for sponsor
#GameLaunch #GamingStrategy #PlayerEngagement
09:00
Registration & Coffee
10:00
Welcome to the Future: Global Games Show
10:10
KEYNOTE
How AI is Redefining what it means to be a Developer
Being a developer isn’t what it used to be. But making games still lives or dies from iteration: does it feel fun, readable, surprising in your hands? Insights on how we built an AI‑native studio and redefined “developer” around shipping joy.
#AINativeDev #GameDevelopers #FutureofDev
10:30
PANEL DISCUSSION:
AI, Creativity & Creator Rights: Building Responsible Game Development in the AI Era
Generative tools are already inside the pipeline: art, dialogue, even level layouts. This panel gets into who owns AI-assisted work, how studios stay honest with players and what “creator rights” means when a model did half the drawing.
- Who owns AI-assisted art, dialogue and level design
- Staying honest with players about AI’s role in the pipeline
- Defining “creator rights” in a co-created workflow
#AICreatorRights #ResponsibleAI #GameDevEthics
09:00
Registration & Coffee
10:00
Welcome to the Future: Global Games Show
GAMING FRONTIER: AI INNOVATION
10:10
OPENING KEYNOTE
Breaking into Untapped Gaming Markets
The next big player base isn’t always where studios expect it. Learn how developers identify untapped gaming markets early, what it takes to localize and build infrastructure for them and the lessons from studios that got there first.
#EmergingMarkets #GamingGrowth #GlobalExpansion
10:30
PANEL DISCUSSION
AI & Future of Game Production: Navigating Emerging Trends & Technologies
Studio pipelines are being rebuilt around AI faster than most teams can adapt to. This panel looks at which tools are genuinely changing production, and how the workforce behind game creation is evolving alongside them.
- AI-driven pipelines and studio automation
- New tools shaping next-gen development
- Workforce evolution in game creation
#AIProduction #GameStudios #FutureOfWork
09:00
Registration & Coffee
10:00
Welcome to the Future: Global Games Show
10:10
KEYNOTE
The Next Decade of Game Development: Built by Humans, Powered by AI
A year into widespread AI adoption, what’s actually changed for developers and what hasn’t? A look at where automation genuinely speeds up production, where human craft still wins and what the next decade of game development looks like when both work together.
#FutureOfDev #AIinGames #GameStudios
10:30
PANEL DISCUSSION
Beyond the Build: Turning Your Studio into a Supercomputer
Compute has quietly become a studio’s biggest competitive lever. This panel gets into how teams are scaling infrastructure, rebuilding pipelines around AI, and turning what used to be a cost center into a genuine edge.
- Scaling compute and infrastructure inside a game studio
- Turning internal tooling into a competitive advantage
- Lessons from studios that rebuilt their pipeline around AI
#StudioInfrastructure #ComputeAtScale #GameDevTools
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The brands, funds and authorities backing the region's games agenda.
Book Your Pass
Limited seats
Senior executives, investors, publishers and decision-makers wanting premium access.
- 2 Day Exhibition Access
- 2 Days Conference Access
- Access to Official Event App
- Complimentary Lunch & Refreshments
- Business Networking Zone
- VIP Lunch & Refreshments
- VIP / Speaker Lounge Access
- VIP Registration Desk
- VIP Reserved Seats in Conference
MOST BOOKED
Corporates, brands, consultants and adjacent tech. Mandatory for non-exhibiting vendors and service providers.
- 2 Day Exhibition Access
- 2 Days Conference Access
- Access to Official Event App
- Complimentary Lunch & Refreshments
- Business Networking Zone
- VIP Lunch & Refreshments
- VIP / Speaker Lounge Access
- VIP Registration Desk
- VIP Reserved Seats in Conference
Developers, studio teams, indie devs, students and juniors, and general industry professionals.
- 2 Day Exhibition Access
- 2 Days Conference Access
- Access to Official Event App
- Complimentary Lunch & Refreshments
- Business Networking Zone
- VIP Lunch & Refreshments
- VIP / Speaker Lounge Access
- VIP Registration Desk
- VIP Reserved Seats in Conference
Attendee Testimonials
Truly reflects the future being built in UAE and what I really enjoyed about this event is the positive energy in the room. In regions where interactive entertainment is still growing, there’s excitement, optimism, and so much heart and that’s incredibly refreshing.
Former Chairman of PlayStation, The Odysseus Partnership
Global Games Show was a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with industry peers and have meaningful discussions about how gaming, marketing, and AI are evolving. The quality of conversations and people here has been excellent.
CEO & Founder, Metica
Events like this are important because they bring together creators, marketers, and game builders to discuss where the industry is heading, especially around influencer-led and creator-driven marketing.
Founder & CEO, Game Influencer
As someone who recently launched a game, this event has been incredibly valuable. I met other starters, learned through meaningful conversations, and gained insights that will help shape my journey moving forward.
CEO, Rise of Fearless
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