Me? Gaming?

By Roni Nir, Game Changers Program, Adelson School of Entrepreneurship

A little over a year ago, if you had told me I would find myself in the Game Changers Program, I probably would have laughed.

Me? Gaming?
What do I have to do with that world?

I was never really a gamer. I did not grow up playing video games, I never spent hours in front of a console, and mobile games were never a big part of my daily life either. Unless Candy Crush counts, in which case maybe I do have some kind of background.

But the more I learned about the program, asked questions, and understood what stood behind it, the more I realized something interesting. Sometimes the biggest opportunities come from places that feel the furthest away from you.

Because once you discover that the gaming industry is one of the strongest, most influential, and fastest-growing industries in the world, with around 3.6 billion players globally and a market expected to reach nearly 188.8 billion dollars in 2025, it becomes pretty hard to stay indifferent.

Suddenly, it is no longer just “games.” It is a product. It is a community. It is technology. It is psychology. It is marketing. It is design. It is data. It is AI. It is an entire world that brings together creativity, business, and people in a way that is truly fascinating.

It is still too early to summarize the whole program. We still have a serious final project ahead of us, and trust me, there is a lot to look forward to.
But the recent trip to Krakow is definitely something I can already look back on.

Our visit to the Digital Dragons conference exposed us to the heart of the gaming industry in Europe. Suddenly, everything we had spoken about in class became real. It had colors, people, companies, ideas, booths, lectures, meetings. We got to see from up close what this industry looks like from the inside, and how it touches so many different fields at once: marketing, sales, networking, art, development, user experience, community, monetization, and of course AI, which seems to be part of almost every conversation about the future of the industry.

But if I am being honest, what made this trip so unforgettable was not the dancing robot, and not even the VR games.
It was the people.

An incredible group of students from different schools across campus, each coming from a completely different background, and somehow bringing out the best in one another. Curiosity, openness, humor, depth, conversations that continued long after the day officially ended, and friendships I could not have imagined in any scenario.

There were professional moments, but also the simple human ones that made everything so meaningful, dinners that lasted much longer than planned, ideas that came out of nowhere, parties that turned into some of the funniest memories of the trip, and people who suddenly felt much less like “a group from the program” and much more like a real community.

And Krakow itself surprised me in the best possible way. A beautiful city, full of atmosphere, great energy, and amazing food. Michelin recommended restaurants at the price of a shawarma pita in Israel. And as for Zara prices, I would rather not say too much, because I still have FOMO over not buying enough.

In short, it was a dream trip.

An experience that reminded me that entrepreneurship does not always start from a familiar place. Sometimes it starts exactly where you raise an eyebrow and ask, “What do I have to do with this?” and then discover an entire world of opportunities, people, and ideas you did not even know you needed to meet.

A huge thank you to Sharon Zahavi and Ben Heller for the leadership, organization, guidance, and energy throughout the journey.
Thank you to Playtika and the Adelson School of Entrepreneurship for the opportunity to be part of such a unique program.
And thank you to all the people who made this week so much more than just another trip abroad.

If you are debating whether to apply to the program, don’t overthink it. Just do it.

I came in not knowing how much this world had to do with me, and left with a feeling like it was exactly where I was supposed to be.