Jim Malazita

DiGRA 2026 Conference | Maynooth University Join the DiGRA 2026 conference at Maynooth University, 14–18 June 2026. Theme “Intersectional Pleasures.” A global hybrid event for game research, culture, design, and industry.

The CFP for DiGRA 2026 is now live! 🎉
www.digraconference2026.com
Submissions (papers & abstracts) are open until 1 Dec 2025.

DiGRA Rising Star Program for ECR/PP & PhD Students - DiGRA Following the success of the ECR/PP keynote at this year’s DiGRA conference, we are delighted to launch a new award: the DiGRA Rising Star Spotlight. This program aims to celebrate and showcase the wo...

🌟 Following the success of the ECR/PP panel at DiGRA Malta 2025, we’re excited to launch a new award - DiGRA Rising Stars Spotlight! 🌟
Highlighting early career researchers & PhD students on a quarterly basis.
Self-nominate or learn more here: digra.org/digra-rising...

Help out Jeremiah's effort to collate international games programs, and check out the links to RPI's undergrad, Master's, and PhD programs in Games while you're there. ;)

Finally, RPI has our Ph.D. in Critical Game Design, where junior scholars blend critical social and literary theory with design. Our PhD students become experts in the field of Game Studies who can also apply lessons from that field into game production. hass.rpi.edu/gsas/critica...

At the Master's Level, we have an Master's of Science in Critical Game Design, where students either work in large teams to develop a commercially viable game, or work under the advisement of a faculty member to enter the world of games research: hass.rpi.edu/gsas/critica...

We have a couple! First, RPI has our undergraduate program in Games & Simulation Arts & Sciences (GSAS), focused on a breadth + depth model of game production where students also specialize in programming, art, design, writing, or music: hass.rpi.edu/gsas/games-a...

HASS's VAST Lab got a massive upgrade this summer! 🚀 High-performance Boxx PCs (led by RPI alum & veteran Kirk Schell ’88), a new projection system, and refreshed surround sound make HASS’s premier graphics lab more immersive than ever. #rpi #rpihass

Thanks so much to @maxwellfoxman.bsky.social for this generous review of Enacting Platforms! ijoc.org/index.php/ij...

Let's GO @edmondchang.bsky.social!

Cool new issue of Game Studies: gamestudies.org/2502

Inter alia, fishing games (Dave the Diver and Dredge) 🎣 and Genshin Impact lore and fan practices. 📜

The first annual RPI Game Dev Camp was a blast! In just one week, middle & high school students learned to design, code, and build games they’re proud to play. Kudos to our creative, curious, and talented campers!🎮 #rpi #rpihass #gamedevcamp #futuredevelopers #kidscancode

Last week, we celebrated “The World of Plankton” becoming a permanent exhibit at the ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain’s new "Into the Lake" experience in Burlington, VT! #rpi #lakechamplain

Run and Jump: The Meaning of the 2D Platformer How abstract design decisions in 2D platform games create rich worlds of meaning for players.Since the 1980s, 2D platform games have captivated their audie

When I wrote Run and Jump (direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...) I thought that airing my thoughts on 2D platformers would let me take some distance from the genre. Actually, it has only made me pay closer attention to new releases. So, I thought I'd share what I've seen so far this year.(1/17)

In aligning their spatial orientation to Pixar/NVIDIA/MSF's OpenUSD 3D spatial file format, shifting to Y-up is a move by Epic to continue infrastructuring both Fortnite and Unreal Engine as core parts of the 3D Web. Call it the metaverse or whatever, but gaming software is the future of the web.

Enacting Platforms: Feminist Technoscience and the Unreal Engine An analysis of the game engine Unreal through feminist, race, and queer theories of technology and media, as well as a critique of the platform studies fra

Open access copy of Enacting Platforms: Feminist Technoscience and the Unreal Engine

direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...

While the Z-up orientation of the Unreal Engine may have been the result of either a historical oddity or a mistake (see chapter 2 of Enacting Platforms: "Orienting Z", open access and linked below from @mitpress.bsky.social ), shifting to a Y-up marks a niche, but also huge, shift for Unreal.

Tweet from Epic CEO Tim Sweeney describing Unreal Engine's move from a Z-up 3D orientation to a Y-up 3D orientation.

Sometimes there's too much to write about. But this is a fascinating and super geeky link between my first book, Enacting Platforms, and my next book project about the heterogenous infrastructure of the future of gaming:

Dr. Jim Malazita has an answer! Do game researchers like the games they play?

@jmalazita.bsky.social‬ shared his nauseating experience playing Bioshock Infinite and more research stories during The Research Left Behind livestream with @professorashley.bsky.social‬.

The full interview is available now!
🎧: open.spotify.com/episode/26IU...
📹: youtu.be/w2CAmK-zK_w

YouTube video by The Research Left Behind The Research Left Behind, Episode 2, ft Professor Jim Malazita

Thanks so much to @professorashley.bsky.social for hosting me to chat about my @mitpress.bsky.social book on the Unreal Engine. In this wild convo we chat about the US Military, BioShock Infinite, Z-axes, photorealistic rendering, race, gender, and conspiracy theories!

youtu.be/w2CAmK-zK_w

Streaming in 20 minutes!

Promotional image for The Research Left Behind Twitch livestream with Dr. Jim Malazita. Details clarify that the livestream takes place on Thursday, May 22 7 PM MT / 9 PM ET. The cover of his book "Enacting Platforms: Feminist Technoscience and the Unreal Engine" is pictured over a background that resembles a legal pad. A picture of the author is to the right.

Live on Twitch this Thursday (May 22), "Enacting Platforms" author @jmalazita.bsky.social joins @professorashley.bsky.social on The Research Left Behind—a series where game scholars share their research stories and abandoned ideas. Tune in at twitch.tv/professor_ashley.

Looking forward to hanging out with @professorashley.bsky.social on Twitch!

Today in my meeting with my doctoral student:

“Comps is a little like packing your suitcase. Our job is to help you figure out what you’ll probably need. Some of what you “pack” will be used a lot, some is for specific occasions. You don’t know everything that’s ahead. But nothing is wasted.”

I have a piece coming out about this trial (at journal speed), but this is a potentially huge deal. Epic threw a dart at a dart board from a million miles away, and the dart board decided "Hey, how about I just give you a bullseye?"

A judge just blew up Apple’s control of the App Store The judge called Apple’s insubordination a “gross miscalculation.“

"The judge in Epic v. Apple has banned Apple from charging a commission on purchases made outside the App Store because of its ongoing anticompetitive behavior." www.theverge.com/news/659246/...

Society for Literature, Science and the Arts folks: I'm running for member at large! I'd be thrilled to represent you. To me SLSA is a weird, wonderful interdisciplinary home & a space for supporting each other that makes it all feel worth it. Votes are due 5/1 - thanks for considering! (link 👇)

Thanks to Anna for joining us at @rpihass.bsky.social !

i'm talking in half an hour about making art after generative AI! tune in!

Acquisitions Assistant for Environment and Games MIT - Acquisitions Assistant for Environment and Games - Cambridge MA 02139

We're hiring at @mitpress.bsky.social! I'm looking for a new assistant to work on my list and the environmental policy list. You can find more details and apply directly here: careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/cl...