Lightspeed, GamesBeat, and Nasdaq have launched the second year of their Game Changers program, spotlighting 25 emerging startups pushing gaming and interactive media forward.
Here's what you need to know about this year's Game Changers: how the nomination process works, who's judging, and when submissions open.
Summit announcement at Marina del Rey
Program details — categories, timeline, and the judging panel — will be revealed at the Marina del Rey Marriott in Los Angeles during a summit event in 2024. Submissions open in June.
On May 20th, a panel titled "Lightspeed x GamesBeat Game Changers — Innovations in gaming & interactive media" brings together Moritz Baier-Lentz from Lightspeed, Sophia Xing from Inworld AI, Chris Bell of Gardens Interactive, Jani Penttinen of Bitmagic, and Dean Takahashi.
Focus on startups redefining the space
Lightspeed's announcement emphasized the goal: shine a light on the most promising startups building the future of gaming and interactive media. The second edition continues that mission with a panel discussion featuring past winners and judges from companies like Activision Blizzard, Amazon, DeepMind, Disney, Microsoft, Niantic, and Riot Games.
These judges and industry leaders will discuss what innovation looks like today and where the medium is headed next.
Nasdaq NYC Billboard
Previous year's standouts
The inaugural list highlighted startups like Beamable, Dreamhaven, Gardens, and StatusPro. Judges scored each nominee, and the top finishers in each category were:
- Best Game Studio: Gardens
- Best Gaming Platform: Astrocade
- Best Extended Reality: StatusPro
- Best Blockchain and Web3 Technology: Horizon
Web3 gaming's moment
Last year's event captured growing interest in web3's role in gaming. Bonnie Rossen of the Disney Accelerator pointed to the industry's shift toward recognizing web3's potential benefits for developers and players alike. Companies like GGWP and Sequence / Horizon stood out, with Horizon earning a spot on the NASDAQ board in Times Square.
Horizon took "Best Blockchain and Web3 Technology" with Sam Barberie accepting on behalf of the team. Horizon develops games and builds foundational web3 infrastructure.
The studio created Skyweaver, one of the first free-to-play blockchain trading card games, and also built Sequence, an all-in-one development platform for web3 games, wallets, marketplaces, and more within the Ethereum blockchain.
Sequence / Horizon
This year's categories
With Lightspeed returning as sponsor, the 2024 edition targets startups across five categories: game studios, gaming platforms, interactive technology, extended reality, and blockchain and web3.
- Game studios
- Gaming platforms (e.g., UGC & social)
- Interactive technology (incl. AI & 3D)
- Extended reality (AR/VR/MR)
- Blockchain & web3
Eligible startups must be five years old or younger and employ fewer than 50 full-time staff. The program also prioritizes diversity, equity, inclusion, and sustainability.
Selection process and judges
Lightspeed investors and editors narrow the field to 100 nominees. From there, a panel of C-level gaming executives and operators with leadership experience at Amazon, Disney, Meta, Tencent, Unity, Zynga, and other major companies evaluates the finalists.
The gaming community is waiting to see which 25 startups make this year's list and what they bring to the table.
