** NOTE **
Posters and Demos, Workshops, Panel Proposals, and Doctor Consortiums may still be open. Full-length papers tracks are closed as of this posting.
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The 14th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games
FDG 2019 | fdg2019.org
Dates of the conference: August 26-30, 2019
Location of conference: San Luis Obispo, California, USA
General Chair: Foaad Khosmood
Program Chairs: Johanna Pirker and Thomas Apperley

Overview

Foundations of Digital Games (FDG) 2019 is proud to invite research contributions in the form papers, posters and demos, doctoral consortium applications, as well as panel, competition, and workshop proposals. We invite contributions from within and across any discipline committed to advancing knowledge on the foundations of games: computer science and engineering, humanities and social sciences, arts and design, mathematics and natural sciences. Papers, Posters and Demos will receive double-blind peer reviews. All other submissions will be single-blind. All papers are guaranteed at least three reviews. Posters and Demos are guaranteed two reviews. There will be no rebuttal. As in previous years, we aim to publish the FDG 19 proceedings in the ACM Digital Library. All contributions should be submitted via EasyChair (https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=fdg2019).

Submission Dates
* Full Paper abstracts: December 21, 2018
* Full Papers: January 9, 2018
* Short Papers: January 9, 2019
* Posters / Demos: May 10, 2019
* Workshop Proposals: November 30, 2018
* Competition Proposals: January 9, 2019
* Panel Proposals: May 10, 2019
* Doctoral Consortium applications: May 10, 2019

Paper Submissions

FDG invites authors to submit short (5-6 pages excluding references) or full papers (7-10 pages excluding references) reporting new research. Both short and full papers need to be anonymized and submitted in the ACM SIGCONF version of the ACM Master Template to a paper track. Accepted papers will be included in the proceedings under their track. In addition to the regular tracks below, FDG offers a "general" track for papers that do not fit under the tracks. The general track is not a "main" track and there is no publication or other distinctions associated with it. General track papers may be forwarded to other tracks that may be more appropriate for them. When submitting, authors are requested to select one the following tracks that fits most closely with their submission, or select the general track if this fits their submission better:

Artificial and Computational Intelligence for Games

This tracks focuses on the many applications of computational and artificial intelligence to the playing, design, development, improvement, and testing of video games. Topics include general game-playing AI, procedural and player-driven content generation, mixed-initiative authoring tools, computational narrative, believable agents, and AI assisted game design.

Game Design and Development

This track focuses on research that furthers the practice of game design and development. Submissions that examine, validate, invalidate, or create game making practices, patterns, mechanics, dynamics or aesthetics are encouraged to submit. Such work includes innovative and alternative methods of design, practical examinations of implementation protocol, socio-cultural critique of game-making culture, and empirical analysis of game-making processes and more. The focus of this track is scholarly examination of game design and development, as produced through case studies, A/B testing, review of literature, comparative analysis or other such appropriate efforts.

Game Education

This track is concerned with teaching of games, game development and design, and game-related concepts at all levels of education and training. Topics include design and development of curricula, instructional methods, teaching tools and techniques, technology of teaching, design and efficiency of assessment methods, learning/instructional activities, collegiate game programs, e-sports and educational program management. (Note: for research in gamified and game-based learning, please submit to Applied Games and Gameful Design track, unless it is work on game-based/gamified learning of game concepts).

Games and Culture

This track encompasses all the works regarding the study of games, and the impact of playing them in culture and society. Following this year's vision for the conference, we welcome analyses, ethnographic studies, and theoretical papers from anthropology, sociology, psychology, communication, and other disciplines that focus on the role of the player in history, society, and culture. Topics include the role of the player in on-line communities, casual games, e-sports, gender, race, identity, politics, religion, as well as cultural aspects of life in digital games.

Player Modeling, Game Analytics and Data Visualization

This track is suitable for all papers pertaining to aspects of game analytics, whether based on behavioral telemetry from digital or analogue games, or other aspects of business intelligence such as performance evaluation or process experimentation. Papers submitted to this track should advance the state-of-the-art, taking into account the knowledge bases in academia and industry, of players, processes or performance in games, derived through quantitative or mixed-methods approaches. Examples of topics include the analysis of behavioral data from games (or other processes in game development) and associated ecosystems using statistics, machine learning, including deep learning, and AI, as well as visual exploration and communication of data, insights and patterns.

Computer-Human Interaction and Player Experience

This track focuses on the exploration of different ways for designing and implementing interaction between the player and the game, as well as on the experiences derived from those interactions. This track will consider qualitative and quantitative experimental studies. Topics include persuasive games, augmented reality, virtual reality, novel controllers, user research, and player psychology.

Applied Games and Gameful Design

This track calls for papers showing results on the use of games, gaming, and game design for primary goals that are not entertainment. Topics include serious or transformational games, games with a purpose, advergames and exergames, gamification and gameful design, game-based learning and curricula, informal learning in games, and educational and other "serious" uses of entertainment games and gaming practices. Authors are encouraged to highlight the importance of the target problem that the game is addressing, and how their design or research findings makes a contribution to the current state of research on applied games and gameful design.

Theory, History, and Criticism of Games

This track calls for papers that approach the criticism and analysis of games from humanities-informed perspectives. Submissions are encouraged from scholars engaging in narrative, visual and software studies approaches to games and games criticism using methodologies such as archival research, hermeneutics, and oral history. This track will also consider critical theoretical and/or historical analysis of games, and game genres from perspectives such as (but not limited to) postcolonial theory, feminism, historicism, subaltern studies, queer theory, the environmental humanities, and psychoanalysis.

Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality in Games

This track calls for high-quality original and innovative research papers facilitating virtual-, augmented- or mixed reality in game development across disciplines including Design, Production, Programming, Human Computer Interaction and Visual Art. Submissions should show genuine ways for utilizing virtual-, augmented- or mixed reality as part of the core mechanic of their work, advancing the immersive experience. Topics include VR/AR/MR systems, frameworks and toolkits, novel computer graphics techniques and game mechanics using VR-, AR or MR, user studies and evaluation, immersive gaming / serious gaming, and empirical analysis of immersion, virtual humans and avatars, Multi-user and distributed VR/AR/MR, Perception, presence, and cognition and social, economic, and technical impacts of VR/AR/MR.

Posters and Demos

This track recognises diverse work suitable for audience interaction more than oral presentation, as well as work in progress that benefits from extended dialogue. It aims to facilitate a forum for interactive demonstrations and exchange. We especially encourage authors working through the lens of cultures commonly considered non-mainstream, niche, or fringe to submit.

Doctoral Consortium

We invite PhD students to apply to the Doctoral Consortium, a forum to provide PhD students with early feedback on their research directions, from fellow students, researchers, and experienced faculty in the area. The consortium is primarily for PhD students who intend to pursue a career in academia and who will soon propose, or have recently proposed, their dissertation research although all are welcome to apply.

Workshop Proposals

FDG workshops are full-day, or half-day sessions focused on current and emerging game-related topics. They can provide a setting for new developments to be presented, discussed and demonstrated, or be hands-on or studio-based. We especially encourage workshops and topics that involve participants from diverse disciplinary and other backgrounds working together to explore and advance new areas of game-related scholarship.

Concise workshop proposals (2-4 pages, excluding references, in the ACM SIGCONF version of the ACM Master Template) should include: a background sections explaining and motivating the workshop, the objectives of the workshop, planned activities, the background of the organizer(s), publication plans (if any), anticipated number of participants, and the means for soliciting and selecting participants. Workshop proposals will not be included in the conference proceedings.

New for FDG 2019, we offer workshop organizers the opportunity to include part or all of their workshop proceedings in the conference main proceedings as a mini-track. To be eligible for main proceedings inclusion, workshop submissions need to meet the following requirements:
* They have to be 5-10 page papers (excluding references) in the ACM SIGCONF version of the ACM Master Template
* They have to abide by the same reviewing standards as main conference proceedings: at least three reviews per paper, at least two of which double-blind
* Acceptance notifications need to be sent no later than May 21, 2019
* The workshop organizers commit to shepherd copyright clearance and camera-ready paper versions for the papers.

Workshop organizers are free to make use of this option or not, or offer it to a part of their workshop (e.g., offer a "full paper" and "abstract" route). Organizers who want to make use of this opportunity should state so in their proposal and explain how they will ensure the requirements stated above will be met.

Competition Proposals

FDG 2019 welcomes proposals for competitions. A brief description of the competition, organizers involved and dates are required. Typically competitions are conducted prior to the conference events and winners determined. Each competition will be given time to report back on its activities and announce winners and takeaways during the conference. Proposals should be submitted in the ACM SIGCONF version of the ACM Master Template and will not be included in the proceedings.

Panel Proposals

Panels are a great opportunity to engage the FDG community on a current issue. We encourage both debate-style panels and emerging-area style panels that consolidate and explain recent work on a subject of interest to the FDG community. Panel proposals are a maximum length of 2 pages (excluding references) in the ACM SIGCONF version of the ACM Master Template and should include, topic, participants, how the panel is organized, and a citation-supported statement of why the event is relevant and topical. They will not be included in the proceedings.

Statement of Values

The organizers, general chair and program chairs of the Foundation of Digital Games 2019 (FDG 2019) conference affirm the event's commitment to scholarly integrity, collegiality and professionalism, and inclusivity towards scholars of all backgrounds. Please read our full statement of values.

Please review the full version of CFP online: http://fdg2019.org