Baku will host Gamesummit 2026 with the participation of international gaming industry experts

On October 10, 2026, Gamesummit 2026 — an international business conference dedicated to game development and the growth of the gaming industry — will take place at the Baku Congress Center. The event will bring together developers, investors, publishers, and representatives of international companies. The program includes expert talks, panel discussions, and networking sessions for finding partners and securing investments.

The conference is designed for professionals in game development and promotion, founders of game studios, indie developers, and investors. Participants will discuss entering international markets, attracting funding, using artificial intelligence in game marketing, and building sustainable businesses.

One of the speakers will be Peter Zetterberg, head of Xbox Game Camp at Microsoft. He has been working in the gaming industry for over 35 years and has been part of the Xbox ecosystem since 2007. His talk, Four Simple Rules, will focus on principles that help developers navigate the industry and grow their game projects.

Mike Fisher, General Partner at Firstpoint VC and Professor of Interactive Media at the University of Southern California, will also speak. He previously held leadership positions at Amazon, Microsoft, and Square Enix America and worked with game franchises such as Final Fantasy, Tomb Raider, Halo, Gears of War, Sonic, and Fortnite. In his presentation, Business Success for Game Creators, he will share insights on how to turn a game product into a sustainable business.

Mariusz Gonsiewski, who has been working at Google since 2007 and specializes in the gaming industry, iGaming, and mobile applications in Central and Eastern Europe, will speak about the prospects for global success of game projects in 2026. He will analyze the factors that influence a game’s entry into international markets.

A representative from Cloudflare, serving as Senior Manager for Gaming and DNB, will discuss cybersecurity in the gaming industry.

The program also includes two panel discussions. The first, From Illusion to Reality: Global Expansion and Sustainable Growth Strategies for Game Studios, will focus on the international expansion of game studios and strategies for sustainable growth.

The moderator will be Simay Dinc, founder of Recontact Games and head of the Women in Gaming initiative in Turkey. Among the participants is Ilya Gutov, CEO and founder of Meridian Play, a company that helps game studios enter international markets and build partnerships between East and West.

Also joining the discussion will be Anatoly Strutinsky, Regional Senior Vice President for Government Relations and the Gaming Industry at Xsolla. Another participant will be Luciano Rahal, who previously spent seven years leading the publishing division for Riot Games in the EMEA region and worked on League of Legends and VALORANT. He currently heads Burson.

Azerbaijan will be represented on the panel by Nargiz Tagizade, who holds a leadership role in the Beyond Core Business division at Azercell. She has over 15 years of professional experience.

The second discussion, Why VCs Say ‘No’: Behind the Scenes of Gaming Investments, will focus on investments in the gaming industry. Participants will discuss how venture capital firms evaluate game startups and why even promising teams may fail to secure funding.

The discussion will feature Burak Yilmaz, General Partner at Firstpoint VC, and Mike Fisher. In 2026, Firstpoint VC announced plans to establish a fund with a target size of 50 million euros for investments in game projects, the entertainment industry, and startups leveraging artificial intelligence. The fund’s target markets include Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Turkey, and Southeast Asia.

Also participating in the panel will be Ismet Geksen, General Partner at Ludus Ventures, which invests in mobile games. Another participant is Ali Farha, an investor at Behold, a company that supports game studios in Northern Europe and other regions. Previously, he worked as a senior producer and has over ten years of experience in the technology sector.

The program also features talks by Harish Rao on turning cultural identity into international game franchises, Cagatay Geker on using AI in mobile game marketing, and Yann Sucke on building a sustainable game studio.

Following the main program, from 16:40 to 19:00, roundtable discussions and direct B2B meetings will take place. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss their projects with developers, game studios, investors, and international experts, find potential partners, and explore opportunities for entering new markets.

Gamesummit 2026 will take place on October 10 at the Baku Congress Center in Baku.