Some of the people I’m most excited to interview after Israel Mobile Summit 2026 are people I met the night before the conference. I was in Tel Aviv for the VIP reception powered by Xsolla, which brought summit speakers and senior industry figures together ahead of the October 29 event. I went in looking forward to catching up with old friends. I came away with new people I wanted to speak to again and a few ideas for what we might do together through GamerDeal.
The Conversations I Wanted to Keep Going
One of my favorite things about the evening was moving between conversations with people I’d known for years and people I was meeting for the first time. Some had traveled from other countries, so we got to compare what each of us was seeing in our own corner of the games industry. I enjoy those exchanges because they make me question how much of what I see in Israel applies elsewhere. The way a studio reaches players or finds a partner in one market can look very different in another.
We also talked about possible collaborations for the wider gaming community. The question I kept coming back to was what a collaboration could actually give players or developers. Could we introduce an independent team to a community that would genuinely care about its game? Could we give players a chance to discover something they’d otherwise miss? Those are the ideas I want to follow up on. They give me a reason to pick up the conversation and see what we could actually do together.
The Invitation That Set the Tone for the Evening
Once enough guests had arrived, gaming industry executive Nikita Sherman spoke, followed by Israel Mobile Summit founder Ofir Leitner. A few guests were invited to talk about what they were working on, and we got a preview of discussions that would continue at the summit the next day. My favorite part came at the end of their remarks, when they invited us to keep talking and get to know one another better. It was a simple invitation, and it fit the room.
I thought Xsolla did a great job hosting. The atmosphere was warm and relaxed, there were drinks and refreshments, and it felt easy to move around and strike up a conversation. That mattered to me. At a conference, I’m often keeping an eye on the time because I have another meeting to get to. Here, I could take my time catching up with someone or stay in a conversation long enough to get past the introductions.
What I’m Taking Into My Next Interviews
Two projects mentioned during the remarks made me want to ask more questions. One was a game described as using AI to shape a Dungeons & Dragons style story. The other was a mobile app that uses gamification to encourage people to walk more. With the game, I’d want to know whether the story remembers a choice you made earlier and lets it change what happens later. With the walking app, I’d ask how the team measures whether people keep walking more once the novelty of the rewards wears off. In both cases, I’d love to hear how the teams tested those ideas with real users.
Looking back, what I enjoyed most about the reception was seeing old friends and meeting people I’d happily sit down with again. Some of those conversations gave me ideas for collaborations that could benefit the gaming community. Others made me curious about the decisions behind someone’s work and what they learned along the way. A few of those interviews are coming to Inside the Game, and I’m looking forward to sharing the stories we only had time to start that night.
