We invite you to contribute to a three-day Game Studies conference held on Wednesday 5th, Thursday the 6th, and Friday the 7th of February, 2025, at the University of South Australia, City West Campus, in Adelaide, South Australia. Registration is free. 

Important dates

Friday 11 October 2024 – Submission deadline
Monday 4th November 2024 (approximately) – Notification of submission outcomes
Wednesday to Friday 5-7 February 2025 – Conference 

Details

The DiGRA Australia 2025 National Conference is an opportunity for games researchers, critics, designers, developers and artists at any career stages to share their work. We aim to provide an inclusive forum that reflects the diversity and vibrancy of Game Studies in Australia, and that allows interdisciplinary dialogues to critically engage with games, players and the culture that surrounds them. 

DiGRA Australia 2025 will be hosted at the University of South Australia’s City West Campus in Adelaide, Australia. It will run as a hybrid conference, allowing both online and in-person attendance and presentations.  

This year’s conference theme is “Communities of Practice and Play”. We want to hear about the latest research in the game studies community. We welcome submissions describing research and/or creative projects that are completed or still underway. Tell us about that idea you’ve been turning over in your mind that you’d like to test out in front of an audience!

For the first time, we also welcome experimental project submissions to a new Experimental Track. The Experimental Track accepts games, playful experiences, and interactive installations in an expansive scope,  including game demos, websites, posters, live performances, board games, escape rooms, and anything that can be interacted with in an exhibition space.

Submission process

Extended abstracts 

This is the standard format for submissions to the DiGRAA conference. Extended abstracts of a maximum 800 words (excluding references) using the DiGRA Australia Template. Submissions do not have to be anonymised. Submissions will be reviewed by the DiGRA Australia programming committee.

Accepted Extended Abstracts will be presented at the conference as either a 10- or 15-minute talk (pending on ultimate number of accepted papers). In-person presenters will present live, and online presenters will be requested to provide a pre-recorded video to minimise technical issues. All presenters, in-person and online, are expected to be present in their session for a live Q&A.

Accepted Extended Abstracts will be archived on the DiGRA Australia website. Video presentations will be published on a dedicated YouTube channel (subject to permission). Aligning with DiGRAA social media policy, you will have the option not to have your video archived.

Extended abstracts are to be submitted via Google Form at this link.

Experimental works

In 2025, for the first time, DIGRA Australia will also be trialling a new submission format made with non-traditional research outputs (NTROs) in mind, specifically for those wishing to exhibit and present an experimental work at the conference. The Experimental Track exhibition will be programmed as part of the conference and is aimed at including industry and creative practitioners at DiGRA Australia. Conference attendees will have opportunities to mingle in the exhibition space and discuss the works.

Submissions to the Experimental Track include a description of the work and a research statement using the DiGRA Australia Experimental Track Template. Submissions do not have to be anonymised. Experimental submissions containing software must be able to run standalone or on a browser. Experimental submissions will be reviewed by the Experimental track programming committee (TBC).

Accepted works into the Experimental Track will be presented at the conference as a 5-minute lightning talk. Accepted works will be archived on the DiGRAA website. Presentation requirements, recording, and social media policy is the same as above.

Experimental works are to be submitted via Google Form at this link.

Submission rules

To ensure as many people as possible have the opportunity to present their work, only one submission may be made per lead author, per submission type, and individuals may present only one paper per submission type during the conference. There is no limit on secondary authorship. 

To present at DiGRAA 2025 you will need to be a member of DiGRA Australia. Membership is optional for non-presenting authors. You do not need to be a member at the time of submission, only at the time of the conference. You do not need to be a member of DiGRA International.

DiGRA Australia conferences have a ‘grey list’ policy for accepted submissions that are withdrawn with no reason provided, or for which the presenter simply does not attend. Please familiarise yourself with the specifics of this policy here. 

Tips for authors 

We advise potential authors to review the papers from previous DiGRA Australia conferences as a guide to the expected tone and quality. Some further tips: 

• We welcome submissions that explore both in-progress and complete works, but they should represent novel scholarship. If the submission resembles previously published work, we recommend the author explicitly identify the additional contribution of their DiGRA Australia submission. 
• Papers can present any kind of research, analysis or commentary, but should be written so that the importance of the work can be understood by reviewers working in different disciplines or using different approaches. 
• We recommend that submissions articulate the issue or research question to be discussed, the methodological or critical framework used, the findings or conclusions to be presented, and/or the relevance to the wider game studies discipline. 

Submissions from academics are typically expected to have references to reflect the author’s engagement with existing scholarship. 

Abstract writing information session: Dr Jacqueline Burgess, an experienced conference abstract peer-reviewer, regular DiGRAA presenter and a member of the Executive, will facilitate an information session that will provide some tips and hints for writing and structuring your DiGRAA 2025 abstract and an introduction to DiGRAA for new attendees. There will also be time for questions. The session ran September 23rd 1pm-2pm QLD time. The recording is available to watch here.

Conference organising committee

Associate Professor Erik Champion, University of South Australia (Conference Co-Chair)
Dr Susie Emery, University of South Australia (Conference Co-Chair)
Sophia Booij, University of South Australia
George Martin, University of South Australia
Associate Professor G Stewart Von Itzstein, University of South Australia
Louise Trudgett-Klose, University of South Australia
Dr Sarven McLinton, University of South Australia
Corey McKechnie-Martin, University of South Australia 
Dr Douglas Kelly, University of South Australia
Dr Lauren Woolbright, Flinders University
Shane Bevin, Flinders University
Dr Xavier Ho, Monash University
Dr James Manning, RMIT University
Jesus Cuauhtemoc Moreno Ramos, Serenade Games
Ashlee Borgkvist, University of South Australia
Josh McLean, University of South Australia
Steve Cook, University of Adelaide