James Gardiner

Strategic Partnerships: Optimizing Opportunities in the Maelstrom of Distribution Partners

The landscape in which we release games is constantly shifting and changing, even over the course of a single year. Some platforms and services are becoming incredibly valuable over a short space of time while others are falling by the wayside. Led by James Gardiner (Hooded Horse), this roundtable will discuss the various ways stakeholders evaluate the value of different types of partnerships; share ideas on how to initially approach those partnerships; discuss how to optimize existing partnerships; and theorize as to how the landscape will change over the next ten years (and how to prepare for that change).

Bio:

James Gardiner is the Chief Commercial Officer responsible for all commercial relationships at indie strategy publisher Hooded Horse. This includes managing strategic partnerships with platform holders, regional publishers, physical distribution partners, key resellers and hardware/peripheral partners. Previously, James managed Strategic Partnerships at 505 Games and Paradox Interactive for titles like Control, Death Stranding, Crusader Kings III and Cities Skylines, successfully negotiating multiple Game Pass and PS Plus partnerships along the way.