John Drake

John Drake is the Vice President of Business Development and Licensing at The Walt Disney Company, overseeing video game partnerships and business strategy for Disney, Pixar, Lucas and Fox. He’s spent over a decade working across development, publishing, and platform functions in games, first at Harmonix Music Systems (makers of Guitar Hero, Rock Band and Dance Central) and later at PlayStation, where he oversaw the Content Portfolio for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation VR. 

Enhancing Player Experience through Familiar Worlds
Releasing a game in this modern landscape is a daunting experience – can you find your audience, get your game in front of them, and convince them to play it? A reliable and well-known property can give you a leg up in attracting players attention – but will that be the choice that takes your game to the next level? This roundtable will explore the benefits, costs, and best practices for building a compelling game on top of an existing world versus choosing to create a new IP from scratch.