Bumper GenAI Talks at Web Wednesday HK
It's been a tumultuous year...full stop!
It's been a tumultuous year...full stop!
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I had the pleasure of interviewing / grilling Adam "Naj" Najberg, the Head of Comms and Content for Tencent Games Global, at an impromptu Web Wednesday in Bangkok on July 19th, 2023.
Introduction to Naj 0:00
Transition from journalist to PR exec. 1:17
Working for Chinese tech companies.
How an American journalist ended up working for Chinese tech companies.
What does he do in Tencent Games?
The rise and fall of mobile gaming.
The evolution of the mobile gaming community.
Looking at the market in Southeast Asia. 8:22
Thailand is a promising market.
Mobile games are diverse.
How many of you play games? 10:41
Interoperability is critical for the metaverse.
The demographics of gaming in China.
Why big gaming companies didn't see the metaverse coming.
The problem with fads.
The difference between chance and games of chance.
Tencent is experimenting with digital currency.
The concept of Games as a Service. 17:00
Tencent's investment in China.
Breaking down the walls between Microsoft and Sony.
Games as a Service, EA.
Getting caught up in the excitement. 22:54
Getting caught up in the excitement of esports.
Brands getting into esports.
Selling to Gen Z players and brands.
Authenticity and future proofing the business.
How to place ads in a game? 25:52
The catch 22 of big brands.
Partnerships and advertising.
Using game streamers to engage the community.
The gaming world getting carried away with AI.
AI for games is a thing. 31:11
AI for GTA 5.
Working for Chinese companies. 33:40
Working for Chinese companies and living in China.
Challenges of working with Chinese authorities.
Big data and privacy.
Same sex marriage in games.
How to deal with cultural norms.
Observations on how large movie studios are normalizing video games. 44:36
The gaming industry is a small world.
Building an ecosystem around the kernel of content.
The siloed industry of video games.
What makes Thailand interesting as a video gaming market? 51:39
Why hardware is a hard business.
The Next studio is always at the cutting edge.
Thailand is the 19th largest game market.
The money comes from sponsorships for big companies like Lenovo.
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Have you heard of PUBG Mobile, the second most played video game of all time? Owned by Tencent Games, it has grossed over US$9bn from 1.3bn downloads!
Adam "Naj" Najberg, their Global Head of Comms and Content is parachuting into Bangkok this week to speak at a very impromptu Web Wednesday gathering at 4-6pm on Wednesday 19th July, 2023.
In our fireside chat, some of the topics we will cover include:
Pre-register here to join us at Propaganda bar, Sukhumvit Soi 33 (BTS Phrom Phong) - Find your way on Google Maps and/or follow my video instructions on Instagram.
As well as delving into the challenges facing multinational Chinese brands, Naj and I will discuss the launch of Tencent's new global brand, "Level Infinite", which primarily offers games-as-a-service ("GaaS") focusing on free or cheap downloads with in-game purchases. The content is more episodic and faster to market. Here's the initial teaser video...
Thailand is a promising market for video gaming, with 30 million players nationwide and overall revenues topping US$1 billion last year. Naj sees Thailand as an intriguing SE Asia market due to disposable income growth, but also the diversity of players. In most countries, they see predominant tendencies toward mobile, PC or console. Thailand urban dwellers polled at 95% for claiming to play mobile games, but nearly 85% play on PC and almost 70% also play on consoles. Few other markets show the same diversity.
Tencent successfully launched "NIKKE: Goddess of Victory" in Thailand in 2022, although they had to later apologise for an overly explicit ad. [Just more free PR!]
Naj started off his working life at The Wall Street Journal and has led communications for China's leading global technology companies, including Shenzhen DJI, Alibaba Group and now, Tencent. He has also written a book, a guide to "Jumpstarting Your Career", and completed a full-length indie documentary, "Out of Reach: The Struggle for the American Dream".
Venue: Propaganda Bar, Sukhumvit Soi 33 (BTS Phrom Phong) - Find your way on Google Maps.Posted by Napoleon Biggs 0 comments
Apologies for the short notice but we've just got wind of a visit to Bangkok by globally-renowned networking king, Anson Bailey (eMBA), Head of Consumer & Retail for KPMG in APAC (official profile).
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Napoleon Biggs, founder of the renowned digital innovation community, "Web Wednesday", is back in Bangkok and has invited a true tech pioneer to share his experiences.
Join us for a truly intelligently-augmented evening with Bobak Tavangar, CEO of Brilliant Labs, an ex-Apple product lead who has recently launched a hackable #augmentedreality device, the "Monocle".
Not only has he built a wearable smart lens that is on track to generate over US$1M in revenue this year but, by open sourcing the software, hackers all over the world are imagineering all kinds of use cases.
Super smart geeks from Stanford University have just combined the powers of ChatGPT with Monocle to create a "personal AI agent delivered directly through AR smart glasses 👓. it uses computer vision to 👁️recognize👁️ a friend’s face, then brings up relevant topics based on your recent texts messages (memory🤯)". Watch the hack in action here.
Later this year, Bobak will release "Frame", the thinnest, lightest pair of AR glasses in the world!
We will discuss his path to innovation, how he remotely built out the team and product under Covid lockdowns and how he is adeptly using collaboration platforms, like GitHub and Discord, to engage an active community of engineers and early adopters, without spending a penny on marketing!
Our generous hosts for this event are Propaganda Bar who have created a special cocktail for the event; come sip on a glass of "Monocle" or two!
Venue: Propaganda Bar, Sukhumvit Soi 33 (BTS Phrom Phong) - Find your way on Google Maps.
Date: Wednesday 26th April 2023
Time: Networking from 5pm, interview at 5:30pm
>> Entrance is complimentary but space is limited. Register now via this link. <<
(Apologies for content repetition as we're promoting via various channels).
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