Two months before Grand Theft Auto VI becomes the biggest entertainment launch in history, the CEO behind it is spending a private afternoon with the industry’s brand marketing and media agency leaders.

On September 16, 2026, GamesBeat Insider Series: Brands & Games - Presented by Overwolf Ads, arrives at NeueHouse Madison Square in New York City. It's an invite-only salon capped at 100 executives: CMOs, senior brand marketers, agency leaders and the people deciding where media budgets move next in gaming.

The event lands during IAB PlayFronts week (where Overwolf Ads will also host a keynote session), when the advertising industry's attention is already on gaming, and eight weeks before a November launch whose predecessor set the record with $1B in sales inside three days.

Who is speaking at Brands & Games?

Strauss Zelnick, Chairman & CEO, Take-Two Interactive. The executive behind Grand Theft Auto, NBA 2K and Red Dead Redemption on why gaming matters to the broader business world at the industry's most pivotal moment in a decade. GamesBeat CEO Gina Joseph called him "one of the most important business leaders in entertainment."

Reggie Fils-Aimé, former President & COO, Nintendo of America. The operator who took Nintendo from a "toy company" perception to a permanent place in mainstream culture, on what brand-building in gaming actually requires.

Carol Reed, Global Chief Innovation Officer, Ogilvy (WPP). How one of the world's largest agencies is turning gaming from an experiment line into a planning discipline.

Ali Smith, GM, Media + Entertainment, The Trade Desk. The view from the world's largest independent ad-buying platform, on what it takes for gaming to move from the experiment line to the always-on media plan.

Shahar Sorek, CMO, Overwolf. 15 years building games and the companies around them, now the marketer behind leading in-game advertising platform and their rise to Comscore's #2 US property with 113M+ consumers across the biggest games.

Sami Barnett, Sr. Director of Gaming, The Marketing Arm (Omnicom). The Omnicom agency expert view on what clients ask for, what works and what players reject.

Nathan Lindberg, VP of Brand Partnerships, Overwolf. The exec who built brand programs at Epic Games and Twitch before bringing Amazon, Netflix and Universal Pictures into Overwolf.

Alex Lee, Lead News Writer, GamesBeat (formerly Senior Gaming and Esports Reporter at Digiday) moderates, with additional speakers to be announced in the coming weeks.

What to expect on the day

The salon format trades booths and badge scans for one sustained conversation across three themes:

• Gaming as a mainstream business story. Where the medium sits in culture, in city economies and on the media plans of the world's largest advertisers.
• Authentic integration. What separates brand activations players embrace from ones they resent, drawn from campaigns running inside the world's biggest titles.
• Measurement that survives the CFO. Attention, incrementality and deterministic data in an environment where sessions average 77 minutes with headphones on.

Why this event, why now?

Marketers wrote gaming off for years as too fragmented to buy and too hard to measure. That era is closing. Comscore ranks Overwolf the #2 US gaming property. Adelaide lists it in the AU Ecosystem alongside The New York Times, Spotify and The Wall Street Journal. And the biggest entertainment property of the decade globally arrives in November with an audience every brand in the Fortune 500 is chasing.

When the CEO responsible for that launch chooses to spend an evening with 100 marketers, the "is gaming a real channel" debate is over. The question left is execution, and that's what this room is for.

In town for IAB PlayFronts week?

Brands & Games sits the day before IAB PlayFronts. Overwolf is a sponsor of IAB PlayFronts 2026 on September 17, where we'll take the keynote stage. If you're in New York for the week, find us at both.

Event details

• Event: GamesBeat Insider Series: Brands & Games, presented by Overwolf Ads
• Date: Tuesday, September 16, 2026
• Time: 4:00 to 7:00 PM ET
• Venue: NeueHouse Madison Square, 110 E 25th St, New York, NY
• Format: Invite-only salon, 100 executives, approval required
• Request an invite: https://luma.com/h4wu5g5p or directly via Overwolf Ads contact form here.

FAQ

What is GamesBeat Insider Series: Brands & Games? An invite-only event in New York City on September 16, 2026, presented by Overwolf Ads, where 100 selected executives discuss how brands succeed in gaming. Speakers include Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick, former Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé, Global Chief Innovation Officer at Ogilvy (WPP) Carol Reed and GM of Media + Entertainment at The Trade Desk Ali Smith.

Will Strauss Zelnick talk about GTA VI? His session focuses on why gaming matters to the broader business world at a pivotal moment for the industry, with Grand Theft Auto VI arriving in November. Specific topics are set by the speaker on the day.

When and where does Brands & Games take place? September 16, 2026, from 4:00 to 7:00 PM ET at NeueHouse Madison Square, 110 E 25th St, New York City, during IAB PlayFronts week.

How do I attend Brands & Games? Attendance is invite-only and capped at 100 executives. Request an invite through the official Luma page; registrations are subject to host approval.

Who presents Brands & Games? Overwolf Ads, the brand gateway to gaming, connecting brands with 113M+ monthly consumers across 100s of the world's biggest titles.

Overwolf Ads is the world-leading brand gateway to gaming: connecting brands in-game with 113M+ monthly consumers across 1,500+ of the world's biggest titles. Brands like Disney, Netflix, Samsung and McDonald's run high-attention, non-intrusive campaigns, live within 48 hours. Independently ranked the #2 biggest US gaming property by Comscore and named ADWEEK's Top Ad Tech Company of the Year.