Institute of Digital Games - University of Malta

Lovely to see our episode on play and games in utopia/dystopia featured here. We had a great time chatting with Stefano!

Utopia, Play, and Fictional Games: A conversation with Prof. Stefano Gualeni How do fictional games work as world-building tools and what can the games we play reveal?

🏹The Hunger Games builds its narrative around a fictional game. What can the (fictional) games we play reveal about the values held by society?

🎙️ @gua-le-ni.com chats with @matthewleggatt.bsky.social & @dystopiajunkie.bsky.social on @utopiaanddystopia.bsky.social

🔗 www.um.edu.mt/newspoint/li...

Creativity in the Age of Generative AI Monday 17 November 2025

Can Generative AI really be creative? And how do we judge its creations?

Join our free seminar on creativity & Generative AI with talks by @christophsalge.bsky.social , Dr. Anna Jordanous, and researchers from Institute of Digital Games and ICT.

🔗 Info & registration: www.um.edu.mt/newspoint/up...

Want to Attend GDC Festival of Gaming 2026? Apply for a GGJ Scholarship! | Global Game Jam Are you part of the Global Game Jam community and dreaming of attending the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2026 in San Francisco?

Want to Attend GDC Festival of Gaming 2026? Apply for a GGJ Scholarship! 🌟

This scholarship is designed to support members of our global community who are passionate about game creation, collaboration, and learning.

Read more & apply today 👉 buff.ly/zYUWytU

#GDC #GameDev #IndieDev #Community

Immersive Technologies for Architectural Spaces in Malta and Beyond Immersive Technologies for Architectural Spaces in Malta and Beyond

Explore the connection between #games, #technology and #architecture at this seminar jointly organised with the Department of Architecture and Urban Design.

🗓️ 5 November at 10:00
📍Design Studio, Block S, 4th Floor, Campus Hub

www.um.edu.mt/newspoint/up...

🎮 @amidos2006.bsky.social was interviewed by @trueavatars.bsky.social at the @qgcon.bsky.social where he was presenting his game: Queen Boat.

🎧 Read more and listen to Ahmed’s interview
👉 game.edu.mt/blog/queen-b...

#GameStudies #SeriousGames #LGBTQ #IndieGames

In case you missed it, I talked about my latest novel - a speculative sci-fi detective story - at the 'Utopian and Dystopian Fictions Podcast.' Check it out! :)
>> youtu.be/eFW_XltfW-k?... <<

@indigitalgames.bsky.social @utopiaanddystopia.bsky.social @matthewleggatt.bsky.social

Digital Humanities Research Group - L-Università ta' Malta Digital Humanities Research Group

Interested in the intersection of humanities and games join the discussion in our #digitalhumanities research group: www.um.edu.mt/research/dig...

@danielvella.bsky.social @gua-le-ni.com

🪶 How can #gamedesign keep #folklore alive in new ways?
🏡 What do art styles tell us about homes in #games?
🌍 How can games open space for diverse perspectives?

Our students and researchers were at #CEEGS Wrocław to explore these questions and more.

#DiversityInGames #GameStudies

Special thanks to @mm-jj-nn.bsky.social for developing and maintaining these rankings, a resource that highlights the institutions driving technical games research and helps our community connect, collaborate, and push the field forward.

www.kmjn.org/game-rankings/

We're in the 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝟱 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲 in technical games research.

But the ranking is 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿. A single digit that encompasses 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 by a small team working on #genAI, affective computing, #PCG, & more.

🔻Learn about the research behind the rank.

Did you miss the stream? You can still watch @gua-le-ni.com discuss What We Owe The Dead, philosophy, worldbuilding, and games with @konstantinosd.bsky.social on YouTube.

Here's the video: www.youtube.com/live/uZQjsKK...

📢 Tomorrow I will be speaking about fictional games and speculative literature. Join us online at 17:30 CET -@d6learning.bsky.social @konstantinosd.bsky.social @indigitalgames.bsky.social #gamestudies #scifi

Next Thursday (September 11th), join @florencesn.bsky.social & myself in discussing #game archaeology and speculative #fiction in relation to my latest novel!

The presentation starts at 6 PM at Village Bookstore in Leeds (UK):
>> villagebooks.co/blogs/blog/w... <<

Please we are still looking for more human data for our project :)

Please send it to your students, repost it, play some #puzzlescript games. These ones suppose to be short and fun :)

#research #ai #pcg #ml #study #indiedev #indiegames #gamedev #puzzle

Poster for event: What We Owe The Dead Book presentation and in conversation with Stefano Gualeni and Florence Smith Nicholls Thurs 11th September 6-8pm Village 10-12 Thornton's Arcade, Leeds, LS1 6LQ

I'll be joining @gua-le-ni.com at Village Books in Leeds on 11th September to talk about his book What We Owe The Dead, especially the fascinating game archaeology in it 👀

Reposting to get more participants in the user study!

If you have around 30 minutes to play some games and answer some questions this weekend please click on the link to start the study.

Recommending this book by Gordon Calleja to game designers, especially those with some interest in academic discourse.

Massive's Snowcap, Rovio's all-in on GenAI, and how EA SEED Conducts Research | 16/07/25 A round-up of the 2025 AI and Games Summer School

This week's newsletter focuses on the talks @tommy.aiandgames.com attended at @gameaischool.bsky.social.
Cheers to @togelius.bsky.social and Georgios Yannakakis for running yet another successful event.
www.aiandgames.com/p/massives-s...
#GameDev #GameAI #EASEED #Massive #Rovio #King

Great tool by our researchers to help #AI students and researchers in comparing their algorithmic advancements (in #PCG, #LLMs #GenAI) with as little friction as possible.

Full thread with links and explanation by @amidos2006.bsky.social 👇

Guess what has arrived in physical form? The second edition of the Artificial Intelligence and Games book by Georgios Yannakakis and me! 530 pages of everything you wanted to know about AI for games and games for AI.

The pictures below illustrate our emotion while writing it, and after finishing.

Next week (on September the 3rd), I will be talking about my 2024 book at the
@festivaletteratura.it
>> www.festivaletteratura.it/it/home

My talk will be in in Italian, and tickets are still available!

>> www.clappit.com/biglietteria... <<

If you're in Mantova next week, come and say hi :)

🎮 Play games for science!

Take part in our user study on CrawLLM, where you play 5 generated games and answer a handful of questions after each game.

▶️ tinyurl.com/w6k5an5j

♻️ Please share for science too!

#GenAI #research #userstudy #PhD #LLM

25 Years of Games at ITU This year, games research and education at the IT University of Copenhagen celebrates its 25th anniversary. The anniversary will be celebrated at ITU on 26 and 27 August, with talks and an exhibition ...

It's been ten years since I defended my PhD at ITU - the community of researchers I met during my time there set me off on the academic path I'm still on, and it's great to be back this week to participate in this anniversary celebration. en.itu.dk/About-ITU/Pr...

Inspiration primarily delivered by @gua-le-ni.com, @danielvella.bsky.social, @amidos2006.bsky.social, Prof. Georgios Yannakakis, Prof. Gordon Calleja, Prof. Antonios, and Dr Costantino Oliva.

3 universities that’ll level up your game design career The best game design programmes don’t just focus on game design – they explore and help you master the other aspects of making amazing games too.

We’re not just about making games, we're about #research.

🔬 Our strong research focus highlighted by StudyInternational.com as one of the programmes inspiring future #gamedesigners alongside Abertay and @nyugamecenter.bsky.social

🔗 studyinternational.com/news/3-unive...

Interesting thoughts on Prof. Calleja's most recent book, using his perspective to think about @zoydraft.bsky.social Magic: the Gathering cube design goals.

@mightyboards.bsky.social

"[The] person responsible for putting some of those books up for sale explains how, with ChatGPT, he created a 119-page novella about alien factions in a far-off galaxy warring over a human-staffed brothel titled 'Galactic Pimp: Vol. 1' in less than a day." (p. 51)

Mark your calendars: September 16 - We’re chatting live with @gua-le-ni.com about games, philosophy, and stories, starting from his new book 'What We Owe the Dead'. Join the discussion!

• YouTube: www.youtube.com/live/uZQjsKK...

• Eventbrite: www.eventbrite.com/e/what-we-ow...