Better Games, Better Gamers: AI Companionship for Games, Romance, and Mental Health
The Better Games, Better Gamers Post-GamesBeat Mixer brings together founders, developers, and community leaders working across games, AI, and community. Adjacent to GamesBeat NEXT (November 2-3), we're hosting a curated networking event to spark deeper conversations that often get missed during busy business conferences.
Our mission is to bring together people actively building and exploring in games, AI, and community to explore where friction is happening, address blind spots, and learn how to work together to create a better future for everyone who loves games.
Event Overview
Four-hour networking mixer with a panel and interactive experiences
Builder-focused networking - founders, creators, developers, artists, educators, and practitioners
Intimate scale for meaningful connections and conversations
Dinner Included
Schedule (Tentative - subject to change):
Tuesday, November 3, 2026. All times are Pacific (PDT)
6:00 – 6:15 PM: Arrivals
6:15 – 6:30 PM: Introduction
6:00 – 6:30 PM: Panel: AI Companionship for Games, Romance, and Mental Health
How are games and AI changing the ways we connect?
6:30 - 9:00 PM: Networking & Playable Demos
Do you have a game, interactive tech, or artwork you'd like to showcase? Reach out with a short pitch and tell us what you're bringing.
9:00 PM: Event ends
About the Panelists
Carissa Karban
Carissa Karban is Co-founder and CLO of Astrapuffs, an agentic multiplayer game where AI NPC companions tell stories, solve puzzles, and hold heartfelt conversations. She has a background in coaching, community building, and employee experience, with a consistent emphasis on connection, trust, and human-centered leadership.
Jack Simmons
Jack Simmons is the Co-founder and CEO of Playhouse Media, a consumer AI entertainment company building AI companion experiences with 50K+ paying subscribers. Before Playhouse, he led business development at Blitz.
About the Organizers
Better Games, Better Gamers
Better Games, Better Gamers is a public community resource dedicated to creating a more inclusive video game industry. It strives to examine and bridge relationships between game research, intentional game design, trust and safety, content moderation, and community management, and stresses the importance of building deliberate communities of practice that celebrate creativity and shape how players communicate around our shared love of play.
Project SEEN
Project SEEN is a collaborative community art program that gets student art out of the sketchbook and into the world. Project SEEN is powered by Mootsy, an active art trade app that matches students for meaningful, creative collaboration. Connections are made through shared hobbies, interests, and art styles for meaningful creative collaboration.
Sponsors & Partners
We are looking for sponsors and event partners! Please let us know if you would like to get involved. Partners will have an opportunity to help curate the space and the discussion. Please reach out for more information.