Iicon, the new conference from US trade body the Entertainment Software Association, has announced EA Sports CEO Andrew Wilson as a headline speaker, joining other executives including Take Two’s Strauss Zelnick, Ubisoft’s Yves Guillemot, RIot’s Dylan Jadeja and Savvy Games Group’s Brian Ward.
Wilson and Zelnick are the first two sessions of the conference, which takes place 27-29 April at the Fontainbleu resort in Las Vegas and brings together “business executives and senior decision-makers from across industries to explore the growth and expansion opportunities originating in interactive entertainment.” Guillemot, Jadeja and Ward head the second day.
Other sessions include the WWE’s Xavier Woods and 2K’s Ronnie 2K on how talent connects with global audiences; leaders from MLB and the NBA on sports storytelling through games and Story Kitchen, the production firm behind the Sonic the Hedgehog movies, on leveraging game IP for the screen.
IGN Entertainment, the parent company of GamesIndustry.biz, is leading a data-focused breakout session sharing insights from its upcoming Generations in Play research initiative. Karl Stewart, SVP of IGN Entertainment Global Marketing and Head of the IMAGINE AI platform will be in conversation with Brent Koning, Global Head of Gaming at Dentsu about the different patterns of media consumption between generations. GamesIndustry.biz will also be participating in other sessions to be announced.
Other speakers include executives from Roblox, Amazon, The New York Times, Roblox, The Creative Artists Agency and Goldman Sachs. The current lineup is listed on the iicon website, with more sessions being announced in the coming weeks.
iicon is the first major event from the ESA since the demise of the E3 showcase, which ran from 1995 until 2021 before going on hiatus and then being formally sunsetted in 2023. Iicon was announced in 2025, with ESA President Stanley Pierre-Lewis describing it as “creating a space for visionaries across industries to come together, connect and reimagine what’s possible through interactive entertainment.”
