Calendar

#1 Ben Abraham — 17.01.2024
#2 Laura op de Beke — 28.02.2024
#3 Nicolas Nova — 20.03.2024
#4 Outi Laiti — 03.04.2024
#5 Stefan Werning — 18.04.2024
#6 Alenda Chang — 16.05.2024
#7 Marc Albinet — 20.06.2024

28-02-2024 — 14:00(CET)

Talk 02 — Laura op de Beke

Play, Games, and Interspecies solidarity

Games have been celebrated for their presumed ability to induce empathy—for fellow humans as well as animals. The critical reception of these so-called empathy games, however, has been mixed. What is the use of empathy, and by focusing on it, are we perhaps blinding ourselves to more politically progressive, powerful, alternative sensibilities? In this exploratory talk, Laura op de Beke will draw on writing from the fields of the environmental humanities and critical animal studies to examine the notion of interspecies solidarity and its relation to games and play.  

About the speaker
Dr. Laura op de Beke is an Assistant Professor of Interactive Media, Screens, and Interfaces at Utrecht University. Her research centers on games and cultures of play, particularly within the context of the climate crisis. Laura extensively writes on diverse subjects such as video games, live-action role-playing games (larp), popular culture, science fiction, the environmental humanities, and ecocriticism. Additionally, she is actively involved in the design of larps or live-action role-playing games. She has recently co-edited the book Ecogames: Playful Perspectives on the Climate Crisis.

04-04-2024 — 14:00(CET)

Talk 04 — Outi Laiti

Sustainability knowledge in Sámi video games

Current sustainability theories often overlook Indigenous perspectives, relying on linear timeframes and anthropocentric views. Historically, games have significance as educational tools in Sámi culture, especially in fostering human-environment relations. Today, immersive technologies empower Sámi agency. How games are used to promote Sámi cultural heritage and land-based economies? Can these virtual spaces advance understanding of Sámi sustainability futures and knowledge systems? In this talk Outi Laiti will delve into Sámi game design to explore how Sámi understandings of time and land-based knowledge are manifested in this medium. Additionally, Dr. Laiti will introduce the concept of the "Sámi Metaverse" as a virtual space fostering the expression and preservation of Sámi knowledge systems.

About the speaker
Dr. Outi Kaarina Laiti is a Sámi game researcher and designer. She is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki, focusing on the intersection of education, computer science, and Sámi culture in video games and programming. Laiti promotes Sámi game developers and has coached an elderly eSports team. She was recognized as one of gamesindustry.biz's 100 Game Changers in 2020 for her efforts to increase accessibility in the industry. Laiti has actively organized game development events in the Sámi homeland, Sápmi, and co-created Saami Game Jams to encourage Indigenous innovation and cultural representation in gaming.

18-04-2024 — 14:00(CET)

Talk 05 — Stefan Werning

Imagining a More-Than-Human World Through (Game) Modding and Franchise Hacking

This talk explores how players modify commercial games to negotiate human-nonhuman relations and outlines how these creative practices can be systematically harnessed to invigorate climate communication and education.
After briefly introducing ´planetary´ thinking as an emergent form of non-anthropocentric play – both in existing games and modifications (mods) – the focus shifts to animals and plants – particularly how modders envision alternative ways of interacting with them in games like Red Dead Redemption, Skyrim or The Sims. Following the ‘discursive game design’ framework, these mods are interpreted as rhetorical operations and responses to the framing of human-nonhuman encounters in the original games.
While these forms of ‘ecomodding’ still often constitute a disparate and therefore usually individualized practice, the final part of the talk demonstrates ‘franchise hacking’ as a replicable, modding-based technique to collective imagine more-than-human scenarios through the ‘language’ of iconic game franchises, using the cardboard ‘metaverse’ Magic: The Gathering as a case study.

About the speaker
Dr. Stefan Werning is an associate professor for new media and game studies at Utrecht University, where he (co)founded the Utrecht Game Lab and Green Media Studies Initiative and organizes the Ecogames summer school. He previously worked as an assistant professor at the universities of Bayreuth and Bonn, as well as in the digital games industry, most notably at Nintendo of Europe and Codemasters (2006-2009). Stefan’s research focuses on ecomedia and creative practice research; his latest books are Making Games(MIT Press, 2021) and the co-edited anthology Ecogames (AUP, 2024).

16-05-2024 — 18:00(CET)

Talk 06 — Alenda Chang

Interspecies Play

What are the interspecies games we need, or that are worth making? How is interspecies play different than, say, animal welfare science, or wildlife “mitigation” techniques? In this talk, Alenda Chang will explore growing attempts to turn technology toward the problem of multispecies flourishing, and what we may stand to gain or lose in the process.

About the speaker
Dr. Alenda Y. Chang is an Associate Professor in Film and Media Studies at UC Santa Barbara. With a multidisciplinary background in biology, literature, and film, she specializes in merging ecocritical theory with the analysis of contemporary media. Her writing has been featured in Ant Spider Bee, Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, Qui Parle, the Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds, and Ecozon@, and her first book Playing Nature: Ecology in Video Games (University of Minnesota Press, December 2019), develops ecological frameworks for understanding and designing digital games.

20-06-2024 — 14:00(CET)

Talk 07 — Marc Albinet

At a time when everyone must take on the challenge of preserving the planet, what role can the video game industry play as a popular art but also a major cultural media?
This conference will address the issue of video games to educate players and push them towards a more sustainable vision of the World. To do this, we will take the example of a game currently in development and whose major commercial ambition is combined with that of a responsible vision. Our ambition is to build a mental model of players where the world is the center and humans can be in harmony while following constant progress and economic development.

About the speaker
Marc Albinet has diverse and extensive work experience in the gaming industry and recently joined Darewise as the Chief Creative Officer. Previously he worked as the Production Director at Bandai Namco Europe and held the position of Game Director for Dying Light 2 at Techland. Before joining these companies, Marc worked as a self-employed Game Director, providing game design and creative services on various platforms including mobile, PC, and consoles. Marc also worked as the Creative Director at Reflector Entertainment, was Executive Producer and Game Director at Nvizzio Creations Inc, and Game Director at Ubisoft Montréal.