Game Matters – Innovating Game Studies and Research

CONFERENCE

As part of the P+ARTS project, funded by the European Union – Next Generation EU (PNRR), the conference “Games Matters. Innovating Game Studies and Research” was created with the goal of exploring the role of innovation in game design studies and practices, bringing academic, artistic, and professional perspectives into dialogue.

Technological evolution — from artificial intelligence to augmented reality, from procedural generation to narrative interactivity — has redefined the way games are designed, experienced, and interpreted. This event aims to reflect on how these transformations influence the artistic value, aesthetic language, and cultural function of contemporary video games.

Through keynotes, thematic panels, and a final roundtable, the conference promotes an interdisciplinary exchange among scholars, designers, artists, and industry professionals, with the intention of contributing to the development of a new critical and theoretical vision for game studies.

Event Structure

The event is organized into three thematic panels, each addressing the video game phenomenon from a complementary perspective:

Games and the Arts

Explores the relationship between video games and artistic practices, with particular attention to visual and sound aesthetics, interactive storytelling, and transmedia experimentation.

Game Design and Innovation

Focuses on the evolution of game mechanics and the impact of emerging technologies — including artificial intelligence, VR, AR, and inclusive design — on the development of player experience.

Games, Society, and Culture

Examines video games as cultural and social artifacts, addressing themes related to representation, identity, digital communities, ethics, and diversity.

The event will conclude with a roundtable featuring three international keynote speakers, offering an overall reflection on the present and future of game studies.

The conference will take place at Officine degli Esordi in Bari, on Friday December 12th 2025.

For further enquiries, email us at eventi@sae.edu.