Malta Hosts Prestigious International Academic Conference in the Field of Digital Games 

Malta will be hosting the tenth edition of the International Conference in the Philosophy of Computer Games (POCG), an independently organized annual academic conference series that attracts leading researchers from academic institutions around the globe, on the 1-4 November 2016. The conference series is one of the most prestigious in the field of digital game studies, and, in previous years, it has been hosted by major academic institutions in Berlin, Istanbul, Bergen, Madrid and beyond. This year will see the launch of the inaugural issue of the Journal of the Philosophy of Computer Games, a peer-reviewed academic publication that will be hosted by the University of Oslo in Norway. 

This year’s edition of the conference is being organised by the Institute of Digital Games at the University of Malta, and is chaired by Dr Daniel Vella and Dr Stefano Gualeni, faculty members at the Institute. Participants from universities across Europe, North and South America, Asia and elsewhere will be participating, and the conference is expected to raise the University of Malta’s profile on the international digital game studies stage, while also providing students and academics interested in digital games the opportunity to participate in an academic conference of the highest level and make connections in the international game studies community.

Prominent keynote speakers include:

Prof. Jos de Mul is Professor of Philosophy of Man and Culture at the Faculty of Philosophy at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam. Prof. de Mul will give a talk entitled: 'Games as the True Organon of Philosophy:  On Schelling, Huizinga and Playful Ontologies'

Dr Dan Pinchbeck is Creative Director at The Chinese Room, a Brighton, UK-based game development studio specializing in experimental first-person perspective games. Dr Pinchbeck will give a talk entititled 'The Unreliable Philosophics of The Chinese Room'.

Prof. Katja Kwastek is Professor of modern and contemporary art history at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam: Prof who will present a talk entitled 'Aesthetic Experience as Game Changer: Understanding Through Interaction with (Post-)Digital Rule-Based Systems'.

The theme for this year’s edition of the conference is ‘Knowledge and Computer Games’. Accordingly, the conference aims to be a four-day exploration on the epistemological questions raised by computer games. The various talks and presentations will explore and experiment with the concept of games and our engagement with them as they are shaped by epistemic processes of inquiry and discovery. What knowledge is learned through playing a game? What does it mean to know a game? 

Panel sessions will be open to the public on the first day of the conference, which will be held at the Msida campus of the University – the public will have the opportunity to participate in a workshop on building playful musical experiences and attend panel discussions featuring prominent researchers on game design as critical reflective practice and the meaning of game philosophy. Registration is required for the main conference, which takes place on 2-4 November at the University of Malta Valletta Campus.For more information on the conference and how you can participate please visit the website.