It's hard to believe that residents across vast areas of the U.S. are about to enter their third month of quarantine as a result of COVID-19. With millions of businesses forced into complete shutdown during these unprecedented times, there have been few, if any, positive outlooks for any industry.
But hidden amongst dispirited stories across hospitality, real estate, retail and many other markets, there are glimmers of hope for industries that this crisis may actually be a catalyst for. Gaming is undoubtedly one of the markets seeing an uplift during the pandemic.
Xinjie Ma is a co-founder of rct studio.
- rct-studio - dot.LA ›
- virtual-reality - dot.LA ›
- Riot Games Acquires Gaming Studio Hypixel - dot.LA ›
- L.A.'s Video Game Industry Is a Safe Haven in Uncertain Times - dot ... ›
- Three Gaming Startups Pitch Top Gaming VCs - dot.LA ›
- VR Startups NextVR and ViRvii, Were Bought By Big Tech - dot.LA ›
- Wave Virtual Concert Platform Raises $30 Million - dot.LA ›
- Wave Virtual Concert Platform Raises $30 Million - dot.LA ›
- Mira Raises $10M to Develop Low-Cost Augmented Reality - dot.LA ›
Our second Virtual Pitch Showcase was devoted to startups in the gaming industry. Founding entrepreneurs from Artie, Squab Gaming and RCT Studio pitched to Peter Levin, managing director at Griffin Gaming Partners and Gregory Milken, managing director at March Capital Partners.
Gregory Milken
<p>Gregory Milken is a Managing Director at March Capital Partners, where he focuses on investments in gaming. Gregory has led March Capital's investments in broadcasting solution Genvid Technologies, esports organization Immortals Gaming Club and game developers Nifty Games, Dorian and Knock Knock.</p><p>Prior to March, Gregory was an active angel investor for companies such as Viagogo and Small Giant Games. Gregory has over 15 years of entrepreneurial and operational experience. He was the co-founder and COO of AltEgo, a cloud-based technology and gaming company. Prior to his work in technology, he worked in strategy and operations for Knowledge Universe Education, new business development at Warner Bros. in Hong Kong and London, and at Twentieth Century Fox.</p><p>Actively involved in philanthropy, Gregory currently serves on the Board of Overseers for Penn's Graduate School of Education as well as on the boards of the Milken Institute and the Milken Family Foundation.</p><p>Gregory received his M.B.A. and M.A. in International Policy Studies from Stanford University, as well as a B.A. in Asian Studies and a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania.</p>Peter Y. Levin
<p>Peter serves as Managing Director at Griffin Gaming Partners, an early and late stage investment vehicle singularly focused on the video game sector.</p><p>Prior to Griffin, Levin served as President of Interactive Ventures, Games & Digital Strategy at Lionsgate.</p><p>He is the former CEO & Co-founder of Nerdist Industries, a multi-platform creator of genre and popular-culture content, as well as the former Co-President of Digital Strategy at Legendary Entertainment. </p><p>Nerdist Industries was acquired by Legendary Entertainment in July of 2012. Levin serves as Chairman of Immortals Gaming Club and serves on the Board of Directors of N3TWORK, Wizard Labs and Next Games. He also serves on the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission Board of Directors. </p><p>Previously, Levin was founder and co-owner of the 2006 World Champion Chicago Rush of the Arena Football League. He was also a minority partner in and strategic advisor to Strikeforce, a mixed martial arts promotional entity, that sold to the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2011. In June 2009, Levin served as the exclusive representative of Deadline.com in its sale to PMC. Levin is the founder of Course of the Force, an annual Olympic torch-style lightsaber relay in partnership with Lucasfilm Ltd. that led up to San Diego Comic Con International and benefitted the Make-A-Wish Foundation. </p><p>He also serves on the Board of Governors at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles and co-teaches a competitive gaming course at the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism.</p>- Robin Games Raises $7 Million to Build Lifestyle Games - dot.LA ›
- Riot Games Acquires Gaming Studio Hypixel - dot.LA ›
- Los Angeles eSports Pivots Toward Amateur Leagues - dot.LA ›
- L.A.'s Video Game Industry Is a Safe Haven in Uncertain Times - dot.LA ›
- Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Take Off in the Video Game Industry - dot.LA ›
- FaZe Clan Looks to Dominate Global Entertainment - dot.LA ›
- Gamelancer Brings the Gig Economy to Gaming - dot.LA ›
- Artie Reopens its Round and Goes After Gaming's Big Problem - dot.LA ›
- Gaming Is Eating the World - dot.LA ›
- Gaming Is Eating the World ›
- The Videogame Entertainment and News Network Raises $26M - dot.LA ›