GDC 2025 Session Viewer
What's New in Games Research
Reed Devany (Technical Program Manager, Rec Room)
Nico Valdivia Hennig (Creative Director, Niebla Games)
Celeste Sangiorgio (Research Assistant Professor, Rochester Institute of Technology)
Nick Ballou (Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Oxford)
Pass Type: All Access Pass, Core Pass, Summits Pass, Expo Pass, Audio Pass, Indie Games Summit Pass - Get your pass now!
Track: Advocacy
Format: Panel
Vault Recording: TBD
Audience Level: All
Games research continues to mature and provide meaningful insights into how games impact players, culture, and the world. These four researchers, Reed Devany, Celeste Sangiorgio, Nick Ballou, and Nico Hennig, are all exploring compelling new frontiers in games and games research: games for health, queer representation, player mental health, and cross-cultural collaboration. Join them for a series of microtalks introducing their latest research.
Takeaway
Nick will discuss the latest science of how gaming relates to mental health and sleep. Reed will discuss the perception of diverse sexualities in Western RPGs. Celeste will share an iterative framework for narrative games that increases emotion awareness skills. Nico will explore cross-cultural collaboration in game development.
Intended Audience
This talk is for people interested in learning about current research and new ways to approach making games.
