The International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (FDG)

Theme: 

FDG 2025 will have the theme „Accessible Worlds, United Through Play.“ This theme underscores the vital role of gaming in fostering inclusive communities, strengthening work of diverse groups, and making games and gaming accessible for all. Works addressing this theme could look at the creation of accessible gaming environments, enhancing connectivity among varied gaming communities, and promoting equitable, interdisciplinary and sustainable collaboration in game development, game design, and game studies. The conference theme extends to diversity, equity and inclusivity in both the gaming experience and its creation, and we encourage papers that investigate these aspects in broad terms. We welcome all contributions related to digital games and play, but particular emphasis will be placed on those that align with this year’s theme. Interpretations of the theme are flexible; if you feel your work resonates with „Accessible Worlds, United Through Play,“ please indicate this in your submission. We are excited to see how your research contributes to this important area.

Track Information

Technical Game Development & Novel Game Controllers

This track is for research that advances game development practices. This track is suitable for papers on game engines, frameworks, computer graphics techniques, rendering, animation, networking, novel interaction techniques (such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and alternate controllers) and other technical areas. Furthermore, the submission of work focusing on the development of novel hardware interfaces are also welcome. This track focuses on the technological aspects of game development and offers a venue for researchers and developers to share technological advancements of the field. Please consider that papers that focus more on Artificial Intelligence or Player Analytics should be submitted in their respective tracks.

Game Design, Studio Practices, and Novel Player Experiences

This track focuses on research that furthers the practice of game design and development. Submissions that examine, validate, invalidate, or create game making practices, patterns, mechanics, dynamics or aesthetics are encouraged to submit. Such work includes innovative and alternative methods of design, practical examinations of implementation protocol, socio-cultural exploration and critique of game-making culture, and empirical analysis of game-making processes and more. In short, this track is appropriate for papers that focus on exploring ways for designing and implementing novel interactions between players and games, as well as on understanding the experiences derived from those interactions The focus of this track is scholarly examination of game design and development, as produced through case studies, A/B testing, review of literature, comparative analysis, ethnographic approaches or other such appropriate efforts. This track will accept both qualitative and quantitative experimental studies.

Game Analytics and Visualization

This track invites authors to submit research related to data science, game analytics, and game data visualization, as well as analyzing player behavior. Techniques such as player modeling, churn analysis, player profiling, business intelligence and performance evaluation or workflow optimization applied to the field of digital games, are all suitable submissions for this track. Submissions spanning across quantitative, qualitative, and mixed method approaches are also encouraged. Novel methodological approaches are also valued in this track. Examples of submissions appropriate for this track include game data visualization; behavioral analysis (or other) game data; advances in methodological approaches that analyze and/or visualize game data; applying or expanding novel statistical methods; machine learning such as deep learning, clustering, or other AI algorithms; game data mining; and novel visualization and analytical methods for game data.

Game Artificial Intelligence

This track focuses on the many applications of computational and artificial intelligence to the playing, design, development, improvement, and testing of video games. Topics include general game-playing AI, procedural and player-driven content generation, mixed-initiative authoring tools, computational narrative, believable agents, and AI assisted game design. This track focuses on more experimental technically driven aspects of game development, such as developing algorithms capable of automating certain aspects of games, systems that dynamically influence certain aspects of play or tools that actively help developers during the development process.

Game Criticism and Analysis

This track calls for papers that approach the criticism and analysis of games from humanities-informed perspectives, including but not limited to perspectives rooted in the digital humanities, cultural studies, critical theory, communications, and related fields. Submissions are encouraged from scholars engaging in narrative, visual and software studies approaches to games and games criticism using methodologies such as archival research, hermeneutics, and oral history. This track will also consider critical, theoretical and/or historical analysis of games, and game genres from perspectives such as (but not limited to) postcolonial theory, feminism, historicism, subaltern studies, queer theory, the environmental humanities, and psychoanalysis. Socio-cultural critiques of game-making cultures and game-playing cultures are equally encouraged submissions for this track.

Games Beyond Entertainment

This track calls for papers showing results on the use of games, gaming, and game design for primary goals that are not entertainment. Topics include serious or transformational games, educational games, games with a purpose, advergames and exergames, gamification and gameful design, game-based learning, informal learning in games, and educational and other 'serious' uses of entertainment games and gaming practices. Authors are encouraged to highlight the importance of the target problem that the game is addressing, and how their design or research findings makes a contribution to the current state of research on games for a purpose. For games in education and training, this includes teaching and assessment methods, tools and techniques, and educational game-related programs.

Games Pedagogy

This track is concerned with the teaching of games, game development and design, and game-related concepts at all levels of education and training. Topics include design and development of curricula, instructional methods, teaching tools and techniques, assessment methods, learning/instructional activities, collegiate game programs, e-sports and educational program management. For research in gamified and game-based learning, please submit to Games beyond Entertainment track, unless it is work on game-based/gamified learning of game concepts.

Lightning Talk Track

Scholars who wish to share their work with the FDG community but who do not wish for their work to be published in the conference proceedings should submit to the abstract track. Submissions to this track should be anonymous (that is, any information identifying either the authors or their institutions should be removed), and may be up to five-hundred words on any subject related to digital games. Submitted abstracts will be anonymously peer reviewed, and authors of accepted abstracts will be given the opportunity to give an oral presentation of their work at the conference. Accepted abstracts will not be published in the conference proceedings; this track is intended for scholars coming from disciplines for whom journal publications (or other non-conference publication outlets) are preferred, and having work published in conference proceedings would be problematic for that disciplines preferred methods of publication.

Late Breaking Short Papers

This track is an amalgam of all regular tracks, focusing on smaller scale studies, work in progress, vision studies and tools/artifacts related to digital game research. Late-breaking papers will be presented as posters at the conference, and included in the official proceedings. 

Late-breaking papers have a maximum page length of six pages, one column or four pages, two columns in the ACM Master Template format – including references and appendices. 

Deadline for paper submission is Thursday, January 16, 2025, AoE.

Games and Demos

The games and demo exhibition provides a forum for demonstrations of work best suited to interaction rather than a paper or formal presentation. This track encourages submissions of games in various stages of development, from playable physical mock-ups to full-fledged implementations, as well as technical demos showcasing the latest tools, techniques, and systems created for games by academic or industrial research groups, or other early-stage or late-breaking research not yet ready for formal presentation.

Submissions should include a two-page (including references) extended abstract using the ACM SIGCONF version of the ACM Primary Template, an unedited video illustrating the game or technology, and (if possible) a link to the demo. Games and tech demos will be presented at a dedicated games and tech demo session open to the public.