Game Research @FDG 2024!

The International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (FDG) invites any-and-all research contributions that advance the study, understanding, and knowledge of digital games. From traditional academic submissions (e.g., full papers and short papers) to interactive playable experiences (e.g., full games or demos), to panel proposals, doctoral consortium applications, and beyond, FDG strives to provide a welcoming home for all types of games scholarship.

Among the diverse paper program, researchers from our Utrecht Center for Games Research did not only present a decent number of publications, but scored even two best papers (affiliated researchers in bold):

  • [Best Paper] Samira Zomerplaag and Sander Bakkes (2024, May). Study on Gender Dysphoria & Character Customisation. Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games.
  • [Best Paper] Susanne Poeller, Nicola Baumann and Regan Mandryk (2024, May). Intimidating or Friendly? How Players Represent Themselves With Character Appearances That Reflect Their Social Motivations. Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games.
  • Susanne Poeller, Martin J. Dechant and Regan L. Mandryk (2024, May). Playing with Prejudice: Do Colour Scheme and Hypersexualization of Women In Games Influence Player Decisions, Perceptions, and Avatar Appeal? Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games.
  • Zhaoqing Teng, Johannes Pfau, Sai Siddartha Maram and Magy Seif El-Nasr (2024, May). Interactive Player Journeys: Co-designing a Process Visualization System to Video Game Analytics. Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games.
  • Ioannis Bikas, Johannes Pfau, Thomas Muender and Rainer Malaka (2024, May). Space Out Gaming: Comparing Distributed Practice Sessions with Massed Play. Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games.

Researchers

dr. Sander Bakkes

 Sander Bakkes is an Assistant Professor in Game Design and Playful Learning. His research & teaching connects design-, psychology-, and technological disciplines. Currently he focuses his research on the positive effects of play on (mental) health.

dr. Susanne Poeller

Susanne is an assistant professor in Human-Centred Computing, seeking to create welcoming and inclusive gaming communities. She applies psychological theories of motivation and self-regulation to better understand the problem of online toxicity (especially verbal abuse and discrimination). Specifically, she is focused on how we can promote empathy and positive social interactions to counteract the prevalent negativity.

dr. Johannes Pfau

Johannes is an Assistant Professor within the Interaction/Multimedia group. His work revolves around the intersection of video games, (generative) AI, analytics and data science. Most of his innovations are implemented and evaluated directly within established games and/or developed in direct collaboration with representatives of the industry.

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