For three days in June, AGBO’s campus hosted Summer Games Fest in Downtown Los Angeles, as it became the beating heart of the global gaming industry. According to Pete Wanat, AGBO’s President of Interactive Technology, this year’s event was more than a showcase of unreleased titles; it was a cultural moment. 

Wanat has spent over two decades pushing the boundaries of interactive storytelling, forging a career that’s taken him from film-based gaming adaptations to the bleeding edge of narrative design. His work with Donald Mustard, the creative visionary behind Fortnite and now a key creative partner at AGBO, cemented a shared ethos: great storytelling in games doesn’t retell a movie; it expands the universe. “You don’t want to rehash the story,” Wanat said. “You want to put the player in the world of the film.”

That vision was on full display during Summer Games Fest 2025. From Capcom’s immersive activation set up next to a local clothing store to Bandai Namco occupying the space next to AGBO’s on-campus pizzeria, the entire neighborhood was transformed. Annapurna Interactive showcased a standout new title called Mixtape, while Lego unveiled a colorful, chaotic party game that quickly became a crowd favorite.

“You had people from all over the world—Australia, Japan—here in one place,” Wanat said. “It’s the film equivalent of going to Cannes. The talent in the building was incredible.” While Summer Games Fest is curated and mostly invite-only, Wanat noted the exclusivity only enhanced the experience: short lines, focused gameplay sessions, and direct access to developers created an environment where creators and fans could genuinely connect. 

In addition to experiencing the event, Wanat also joined this year’s Game Business Live summit as a featured speaker. The leadership forum brought together major voices shaping the future of interactive entertainment. Wanat appeared alongside executives from Netflix & Hasbro to explore the creative and commercial trends driving the next generation of games. As one of the few panelists bridging film and gaming, Wanat helped underscore AGBO’s unique position in this evolving space.

Beyond the spectacle, Wanat sees a deeper industry shift underway. “This year, we saw a trend away from extraction shooters,” he observed, citing the recent shutdown of Concord, a high-budget game that failed to resonate with players. Instead, the event highlighted a more diverse spread of games, from polished AAA titles to small but inventive indie projects. “If there was a theme this year,” he said, “it was variety.”

As a longtime advocate for the intersection of film, television, and interactive entertainment, Wanat also paid close attention to IP crossovers. One highlight: IO Interactive’s upcoming James Bond game, a project born from a partnership with MGM. “That trailer was fantastic,” Wanat noted. “They nailed it—and it’s a great example of what can happen when game creators truly understand and respect the source material.”

It’s this type of world-building that drives Wanat’s creative philosophy at AGBO. “Film tells one story really well. But games let players live inside the world,” he said. “The best stories in games are the ones you create with your friends. Last night, this happened. Tonight, something different will happen. That’s what makes games magic. And what Joe and Anthony [Russo] are doing with Donald Mustard—creating universes that work across media—is the future of entertainment.”

In a media landscape that’s shifting as fast as the technology driving it, Wanat remains laser-focused on where stories are going and who gets to tell them. “This is just the beginning,” he said. “We’re building a new generation of cross-medium storytelling. AGBO is the launchpad.”

And if Summer Games Fest 2025 is any indicator, the future of that storytelling lives at the intersection of film, games—and maybe a pizza joint next to a Capcom demo booth.

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