The GI Direct for February 5, 2025

What's Happening at the GI

It's with heavy hearts that we have to announce the end of the GI Direct for the foreseeable future.

The Games Institute’s funding future is actively uncertain, and this directly impacts the retention of its highly specialized, interdisciplinary staff to support such publications, community building, and outreach efforts.

As we scale back many of our operations and outputs, we have gathered together the last batch of new, exciting research updates, opportunities, and invitations that might pique the curiosity of our readers!

Thank you to all who have joined us this far and supported the GI Direct.

Research Updates

• GI Faculty Members Drs. Gerald Voorhees and Daniel Harley Publish Book on ADE Speaker Series
• The Games Institute Welcomes Dean of Arts, Dr. Alexie Tcheuyap
• Ontario eSports Scholarship Continued for 2025
• GI Faculty Member Dr. John Mu?oz Finalizes Demo to Train Police Officers
• The Games Institute Showcases Research at the Tech Horizons Executive Forum
• GI Faculty Members Present at the Panel “The Practical Side of Interdisciplinary Research”
• 2023 Impact Report (coming soon!)

Research Spotlights

• Games Institute Seed Funding Program
• Curating a Community for Novices and Experts: Lessons Learned from the International Conference on Games and Narrative
• ADE for Game Communities: Enculturing Anti-Racism, Decolonization, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (ADE) In Games Research and Creation
• The Unlikely Collaboration that led to the Creation of the University of Waterloo Interdisciplinary Network for Esports
• Aspects of Play in Academia: The History of CHI PLAY and how to Nurture Interdisciplinary Scholarship

Instant Replay

Our final termly report has been published!

"Championing Research Excellence" highlights our members' achievements from the Fall term including attending international conferences, developing patents, and achieving major professional development milestones.

Check out Instant Replay on our website and, while you're there, we invite you to read our previous 11 editions. Thank you to all GI members who made Instant Replay possible!

The GI Podcast

The GI Podcast will be going on an indefinite hiatus at the end of April. Due to the GI's uncertain future, the Podcast's continuation is not guaranteed. As such, we've listed the final upcoming episodes for the term. The GI Podcast is available on all major podcast platforms and features a wide variety of emerging and established scholars from diverse disciplines. Check them out!

• 055: A Year in Gaming - 2024 Review with Toben Racicot , S. Heeg , Pamela Maria Schmidt , and Dr. Emma Vossen (to be released February 7, 2025)
• 056: Diversity and Inclusion in Social Virtual Reality with Dr. Eugene Kukshinov (to be released March 7, 2025)
• 057: Discovering Rhetorical Figures with Citizen Science featuring Adeshola Ogunsanya , Drake Dong , Nathan DSilva , and Dr. Randy Harris (to be released April 4, 2025)

Project Spotlight

For this final project spotlight, we’re highlight the International Conference on Games and Narrative (ICGaN)!

ICGaN is a biannual conference which champions an interdisciplinary space on games and narrative, while connecting conference attendees with scholars and industry professionals at the forefront of games studies.

During our inaugural conference in 2021, keynotes included:

• Dr. Beth LaPensée , an award-wining designer, writer, artist, and researcher who is at the forefront of creating Indigenous-led media.
• Dr. Souvik Mukherjee, expert in video games as an emerging storytelling medium and their relationship to postcolonialism.
• Dr. Clara J. Fernández álvarez, MS, PhD , a game designer and writer who focuses on narrative design and videogame history.
• Dr. Jan-No?l Thon, a leading expert in story worlds across media and transmedial narratology.
• Dr. Astrid Ensslin , a foundational figure in games studies who focuses on participatory-feminist methods of research-creation and language ideologies in digital media.
• Dr. Kishonna Gray , an interdisciplinary, intersectional, digital media scholar whose areas of research include identity, performance, and Black cyberfeminism.

For the 2023 conference, we had the pleasure of hosting:

• Dr. Mia Consalvo , Canada Research Chair in games studies and design.
• Dr. Kishonna L. Gray, joining us once again, this time to discuss International Tech: Black Users in Digital Gaming.
• Dr. Jakub Szamalek , award-winning novelist and previous narrative director of the Witcher: Wild Hunt (2015) and Cyberpunk 2077 (2020), and current Narrative Director at Rebel Wolves .
• Dr. Mark Wolf, an expert on imaginary worlds, computer graphics, and Hollywood cinema.
• Dr. Jesper Juul , wrote the foundational games studies book The Art of Failure (2013) about the paradoxes between pleasure in video games and player frustration.

Conference attendees were invited to examine the interaction between games (analogue and digital) with narratives through keynotes, panels, video essays, workshops, game jams, and live-streamed “academic gameplay” sessions providing an open space for commentary and discussion. Conference topics during the 2021 and 2023 ICGaN included: narrative structure in games, narrative co-creation in games, narratives and social differences, gameplay and narrative, game worlds, technology, and presence.

With the inaugural conference being solely hosted online while the second conference was hybrid, the GI harnessed novel interactive technologies to create unique and engaging experiences such as CISCO screens for 360 viewing, Discord, and Gather.Town to go beyond the stale and typical online format of Zoom calls and meeting rooms.

ICGaN is proof of the GI’s commitment to connecting with international scholars and advancing novel research for global impact.

You can read more about the history and design of ICGaN in the following research spotlights:

1. News Bite on the inaugural 2021 International Conference on Games and Narrative
2. ICGaN 2023 – Isolation and Return through the World of Hybrid Viewing
3. ICGaN 2023 – Dr. Neil Randall’s closing remarks
4. Curating a Community for Novices and Experts: Lessons Learned from the 2023 International Conference on Games and Narrative

2025 International Conference on Games and Narrative

ICGaN'25 is the latest iteration of the conference series, and this year the focus is on “Adapt, Adopt, Adjust: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Adaptation, Storytelling, and Simulation." This conference theme asks us to consider the power of adapted and adaptive narratives, experiences, genres and mechanics. We received nearly 200 submissions that included papers, works in progress, game demos, and panels from enthusiastic participants across the globe, making this the largest call for participation ICGaN has received.

This year, ICGaN'25 will primarily take place at the University of Waterloo - Game Institute, providing an enriching environment for in-person participation. Additionally, the conference will offer a hybrid format and Melbourne University will be serving as a secondary location, ensuring accessibility and engagement for a global audience. Please refer to our website on travel information to both locations.

Registration Details

Registration is currently open. For those joining us in-person, registration will close February 20, 2025, EST. For those joining us virtually, registration will close February 27, 2025, EST. This conference is open to both presenters and attendees. This includes academics (junior and senior scholars), industry professionals, independent scholars, and like minded individuals. Prices include:

• In-person tenured professors and/or industry professionals - $200.00 CAD
• In-person non-tenured professors, students, and/or independent scholars - $100.00 CAD
• Virtual presenters and attendees (regardless of status) - $50.00 CAD.

To GI and MAGPIE Members who have joined the Games Institute or the MAGPIE Network no later than December 1, 2024 we offer 50% off your chosen registration type. We also offer free conference registration for those who self-identify as Indigenous (Inuit, First Nations, and Métis) or as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. Please email us for a code.

Volunteers

We have put out a call for volunteers to support the conference! This is a great opportunity for anyone to get involved with the conference by supporting both in-person and virtual activities.

We are currently looking for volunteers to fill the following roles:

• Panel moderators/chairs
• Technical support
• Session recorders
• General volunteers

In-person volunteers are currently being accepted at both the Waterloo and Melbourne locations. If you're interested in volunteering, please fill out this form.

Keynote Speakers

This year we will be joined by 4 keynote speakers that have a wide range of experience from both academia and industry.

• Dr. Emma Vossen, Knowledge Mobilization and Research Impact Officer at the 加拿大滑铁卢大学 , who specializes in the intersection between games, gender, and politics.
• Dr. Helen Young, Senior Research Fellow at 澳大利亚迪肯大学 , who's work revolves around the politics of medievalism, pop culture, and far right extremism.
• Dr. Melissa Rogerson , Senior Lecturer at the 澳大利亚墨尔本大学 , who's human-computer interaction (HCI) research examines digital tools in tabletop play and the materialities of play.
• Emily Grace Buck , Studio Narrative Director at EA Games, who has worked on games such as?Battlefield 2042?(2021), The Walking Dead: The Final Season?(2018),?and?Batman: The Telltale Series?(2016).

Research Opportunities

Get involved with some exciting research projects and opportunities we've highlighted for our community!

1. GI faculty member Dr. Igor Grossmann is hiring two postdoctoral fellows - The positions focus on Agent-Based Modeling (ABM); and Natural Language Processing (NLP) and computational social science.

Member Testimonial

"As interactive technologies and immersive experiences expand into every facet of our lives, the University of Waterloo Games Institute (GI) provides a critical lens for understanding their impact, promise, and potential. Connecting researchers, students, and partners across the diverse fields of interactive, immersive technologies and experiences, the GI’s global, interdisciplinary ecosystem mobilizes world-leading research, education, and outreach. Together, we’re promoting a better world as we imagine new possibilities for an immersive future." - Dr. Neil Randall , GI Executive Director

Where to Find Us

Stay up to date with all our research updates by checking us out online!

• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• Bluesky (*New!*)
• Games Institute Alumni LinkedIn Group (*New!*)
• Our Website