The studying of games, and everything that relates to games, is a wonderfully diverse field. From studies of tabletop games to gamification in businesses, from indigenous representation in video gaming to professional military simulations and game development cultures, the rich phenomena connecting to games and play in their different forms have drawn interest from scholars in a wide variety of fields. Finland is internationally renowned for its game-related research, and draws specialists from around the world not just to participate in seminars and conferences, but to work in Finnish institutions.
Even in a fairly small country, far too much research remains unseen to researchers for whom it would be relevant. Disciplinary borders, lack of communications, and disconnects between different fields of interest often means that even people working in the same institution are not aware of relevant research being conducted – even if it is literally down the hall. Because of historical trends and developments (see Stenros & Kultima, 2018), there are many divisions and subdivisions in the field, whether it is a divide between entertainment games and ‘serious’ games, analog games and digital games, or gaming and gambling, and information often does not travel across these divides. Furthermore, not all individuals who study games and game-related phenomena consider themselves game scholars, even if their work centrally features games.
The Finnish Society for Game Research has not been exempt from such divisions. Whereas the Finnish word pelitutkimus generally means research into games, it has previously sometimes been translated as ‘game studies’ – a particular research discipline. Although the English name of the association has featured the word ‘research’, previous yearly events have been labeled ‘Game studies day’. In recent years, we have striven to better reflect in our communications that the association is dedicated to supporting all kinds of game-related research in Finland, not just a single tradition, and have steadily been taking steps to better acknowledge Finland’s diverse academic cultures.
As part of these endeavours to connect researchers and acknowledge research conducted across different fields, we invite you to contribute to Game Research Days 2026! This year is the first time the event takes place over two days, with the explicit goal of showcasing and celebrating the diversity of research on games and related phenomena in Finland. We invite contributions from scholars who are either working in Finland, Finnish, or associated with Finnish institutions, on any and all topics that touch upon games, gaming, and phenomena related to them, regardless of discipline, methodology, or tradition. Examples include, but are not limited to, research on:
- Games and their players
- Game design and user experience
- Game-based learning
- Gamification
- Business and military simulations
- The game industry
- Cultures around games and gaming
- Esports
- Play and playful practises
- Different theoretical approaches to games
- Game-based health interventions
- History of games and players
Event information
Game Research Days 2026 is a two-day event organised by the Finnish Society for Game Research and taking place at the University of Jyväskylä. The event is intended for all researchers working on and interested in games, gaming, and related phenomena, and the purpose is to showcase the wide range of scholarship conducted in Finland.
Game Research Days 2026 is an in-person event and is held in English.
Presentations for the event are selected by the programme committee based on abstract review. A key selection criterion is diversity in terms of topics and disciplines.
We invite abstracts of up to 500 words (excluding references).
Please submit your abstract to: gameresearchdays2026@jyu.onmicrosoft.com
Important dates
Abstract submission deadline: 7.6.2026
Notification of acceptance: 15.6.2026
Event itself: 3.–4.11.2026
Programme committee: Jonne Arjoranta, Henry Korkeila, Mikko Meriläinen, Maria Ruotsalainen, Haron Walliander
Contact information: gameresearchdays2026@jyu.onmicrosoft.com
References:
Stenros, J., & Kultima, A. (2018). On the Expanding Ludosphere. Simulation and Gaming, 49(3), 338–355. https://doi.org/10.1177/1046878118779640