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< Back Building collaborative digital behavioural science: A cross-sector agenda from video games research Link Author(s) S Norwood, N Ballou, T Földes, T Hakman, K Mansfield, M Vuorre, ... Abstract More info TBA Link

< Back Characterization and classification of adherent cells in monolayer culture using automated tracking and evolutionary algorithms Link Author(s) Z Zhang, M Bedder, SL Smith, D Walker, S Shabir, J Southgate Abstract More info TBA Link

< Back iGGi Con 2024 REGISTRATION OPENS We're excited to announce that the website for our next iGGi Conference, the iGGi Con 2024, officially launched today, and what's more: REGISTRATION IS OPEN!! The iGGi Con 2024 will be held at York on 11+12 September 2024 Check the conference website for further details on this year's event. You can also follow the dedicated twitter/x . The iGGi Conference is the annual showcase of our 60+ PhD researchers, through posters, t alks, workshops and panels. The conference provides a space for industry and academia to come together to discuss the latest and greatest in games research. Moreover, the Industry Expo will be back. Register for the iGGi Con 2024 via this link Previous 10 May 2024 Next

< Back Understanding and Strengthening the Computational Creativity Community: A Report From The Computational Creativity Task Force. Link Author(s) JM Cunha, S Harmon, C Guckelsberger, A Kantosalo, PM Bodily, K Grace Abstract More info TBA Link

< Back Not all fun and games: The design and evaluation of a game to increase intrinsic motivation in learning programming Link Author(s) E Petrovskaya Abstract More info TBA Link

< Back On the Limits of Tabular Hardness Metrics for Deep RL: A Study with the Pharos Benchmark Link Author(s) M Conserva, R Sasso, P Rauber Abstract More info TBA Link

< Back Dr Charline Foch University of York iGGi Alum Charline first came to the UK in 2011 to study English and Film Studies at King’s College London, before going on to a MSc in Film, Exhibition and Curation at the University of Edinburgh. By chance, accident or fate, she stumbled into the games industry, working in an independent game studio in Berlin, where she touched upon customer support, community management, content writing and QA for a new MMORPG. This experience gave her the push to start a PhD in video games. In her spare time, she is an avid film viewer, volleyball player, and amateur artist. Charline’s research focuses on how people conceptualise failure, with an emphasis on its perceived positive, desirable effects on player experience. Throughout her PhD, she has conducted research among video games players to gain a better understanding of what they perceive as the purpose and value of failure in the games they play; and conducted research among video games developers to gain a better understanding of what processes, obstacles, and ideas go into the design and implementation of failure in their games. With a focus on single-player, more narrative-driven games, she has used this research to design a cards-based design toolkit to support game designers in approaching the question of fail states and player experience in the early stages of the game development process, helping them reflect on the intersection between failure, game mechanics, storytelling, and player experience when working on their games. Aside from her PhD, Charline has also worked with the Digital Creativity Labs on the PlayOn! project, a European project gathering 9 theatres across Europe working on immersive technologies (VR, AR, apps for audience participation...) and theatre productions. During her time at PlayOn!, she has worked on the connections between the games industry and the performance arts, investigating how technology, game design principles, and theatre can work together, and what barriers practitioners face when attempting to reconcile all sides in a single production through experimentation and collaboration. Email charline.foch@york.ac.uk Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Supervisor: Dr Ben Kirman Featured Publication(s): “The game doesn't judge you”: game designers’ perspectives on implementing failure in video games “Slow down and look”: Desirable aspects of failure in video games, from the perspective of players. Themes Design & Development Player Research - Previous Next

< Back Evaluating the Effects on Monte Carlo Tree Search of Predicting Co-operative Agent Behaviour Link Author(s) J Walton-Rivers Abstract More info TBA Link

< Back iGGi @ Develop:Brighton 2025 What an exceedingly exciting Develop we had this year! With 24 sponsored/official iGGi PG Researchers and Staff, and a fair few Alumni/soon-to-be Alumni, iGGi's presence confidently reached the count of 30. Here are some of iGGi's highlights: The iGGi Stand on the Develop Expo Floor With above-average footfall compared to previous times, the iGGi stand proved to be busy and popular this year. Visitors to the stand included familiar, friendly faces (big thanks to all of those "Friends of iGGi" who managed to drop by!), games industry folks who were new to the idea of iGGi and interested to hear about potential collaboration with iGGi , and then there were also those who thought about pursuing games further on an academic pathway . In summary, many vivid conversations were had, and regardless of whether they were future-opportunity-focused or more just-in-the-moment, we enjoyed them all! Displays at the stand were: "Exploring Human Behaviour in Social Virtual Reality" by Karl Clarke "Interactive Tool to Explore Different Playstyles in MicroRTS" by Ruizhe "Jay" Yu Xia "Detachment Undone" by Luiza Gossian "Future Factory - a Card Game" by Prasad Sandbhor An invitation for Indie Devs of Narrative Games to participate in a focus-study by Alex Flint Our this year's showcase video and " iGGi @ Develop " lookup iGGi Speaker at Develop This year, we were thrilled to hear Francesca Foffano's presentation on Player Emotional Design where she talked about how we experience emotions best design practices emotional design design solutions for Emotional Accessibility If you missed the talk or you would like to recap, Francesca shared the slides and you can find them under this link . iGGi Speaker at the Game A11y Gathering The Game A11y Gathering was a satellite event to Develop and organisers included iGGi Alum Jozef Kulik , last year's iGGi Con Keynote Cari Watterton, and Mollie Evans (Nothing Without Us). The second iteration of this game-accessibility-focused micro conference was sponsored by Sony Interactive Entertainment PlayStation Studios, Games User Research, PlaytestCloud, Scopely, and hosted at Unity Technologies. Like last year, it brought together developers and advocates from across the industry to discuss accessibility in games. Notably, iGGi PG Researcher Steph Carter was a speaker at the event. Steph's presentation was titled "Why Words Matter: Accessible Language in Games" and discussed how the words we use - whether in menus, dialogue, or instructions - shape how players understand and interact with game worlds. Steph shared why language is a crucial part of games accessibility, drawing on their experience as a neurodivergent player, an accessibility consultant and linguistics specialist. Quite a few of the other iGGi PGRs also attended the event and found it very instructive in its practical focus. Big thank you to organisers, sponsors and hosts, for putting on this fabulous event! >>> PICTURES TO FOLLOW Develop Impressions In comparison to last year's slightly subdued vibes and despite the fact that we've still not seen the end of incoming waves of layoffs (e.g., Microsoft), this year's atmosphere felt relaxed and cautiously optimistic. The sunny weather certainly helped! Two of the iGGis in particular struck lucky during the Develop Expo and won things at other stands. Namely a PS5 (in the raffle from GamesAid ) and a Packman Machine (in a contest at Big Games Machine ) After three days of full-on networking, it was finally time for a bit of chillin by the beach. The week left us looking forward to next year already! See you again in 2026, Brighton! Previous 10 Jul 2025 Next

< Back Dr Mariana Lopez University of York Supervisor Dr Mariana Lopez is a researcher in the field of sound design. She works on two main fields: accessibility and heritage. Her work on accessibility focuses on how sound design can be used to create accessible experiences for film and television audiences with sight loss, providing an alternative to traditional Audio Description practices. She was the Principal Investigator of the project Enhancing Audio Description funded by the AHRC. In the field of heritage, she focuses on acoustical heritage, by exploring how acoustic measurement techniques, computer modelling and the recreation of soundscapes can help us understand the sonic experiences of our ancestors. She was the Principal Investigator of the British Academy-funded project – The Soundscapes of the York Mystery Plays. Related to these fields she is supervising and has supervised projects in the field of mental health in connection to the creative arts; interactive installations; serious gaming and its impact on sustainability; accessibility and gaming; and sound design in participatory theatre, among others. Research themes: Game Audio and Music Games with a Purpose Sound and accessibility Equality and social justice Acoustical heritage Sound installations Email mariana.lopez@york.ac.uk Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Themes Applied Games Game Audio - Previous Next

< Back Applying and Visualising Complex Models in Esport Broadcast Coverage Link Author(s) A Pedrassoli Chitayat, F Block, JA Walker, A Drachen Abstract More info TBA Link

< Back xInv: Explainable Optimization of Inverse Problems Link Author(s) S Memery, K Denamganai, A Kapron-King, K Subr Abstract More info TBA Link