MGC environment and gaming lead, Dr Wahida Khandker, is the Principal Investigator on the AHRC-funded Process Ecologies Network, which explores different conceptual approaches to nature across the arts, science, and philosophy. Games and Game Studies are areas of interest within the network, especially the ways in which games function to simulate ecological processes and are themselves relational and entangled processes.
Read MoreDespite rapid and sustained growth in the last ten years, the esports industry entered an era where the financial health of esports organisers and teams is less than guaranteed. To address these concerns, Riot Games announced the introduction of regulations concerning team spending in LEC, the League of Legends league covering Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Following the 2008-2009 Global Economic Crisis, UEFA–the quasi-monopolistic continental football federation in Europe–introduced its financial fair play regulations, which later evolved into financial sustainability norms following the economic downturn post-COVID 19. UEFA desired to protect clubs from bankruptcy by introducing strict norms. The regulations guide not only the clubs’ spending but also their structure and governance.
Read MoreAs part of the Manchester Game Centre’s research on games and the environment, we hosted a game night on September 19th in the Manchester Poetry Library. The game night welcomed researchers from the STRATEGIES project - a Horizon-UKRI-funded research project supporting the game industries to make a sustainable transition - and students and members of the public to play the new game, Catan: New Energies.
Read MoreThe Manchester Game Centre was established in 2016 as a cross-university research network, drawing its membership from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Health and Education, and Science and Engineering. We recently released our annual report, showcasing our work over 2023-2024. The report features our current research projects and information about our ongoing priorities for research, public engagement and impact.
Read MoreNew publication alert! “On the Pre-Perception of Gamification and Game-Based Learning in Higher Education Students: A Systematic Mapping Study” Simulation and Gaming...
Read MoreSince 2018, the Game In Lab initiative has been doing fantastic work by supporting and funding over 25 board game research projects worldwide. Here at the Manchester Game Centre, we have benefitted from this support with two of our projects, Blood Bowl: A Cultural History and Play and the Environment: Games Imagining the Future. In addition, Game in Lab supports our annual research events and networking with scholars across the world.
We are pleased to share their recent announcement regarding the opening of the 2024 International Call for Projects, which will be accepting submissions until September 6th. All disciplines are welcome, from social sciences to AI and the arts, or any other relevant field.
Read MoreThe Manchester Game Centre is thrilled to be welcoming its first International Visiting Research Fellow. Aasa Timonen, a PhD researcher from Tampere University’s Game Research Lab, will be joining us in October for a month-long visit.
Read MoreWriting recently for the Post45 Contemporary Literature cluster, former MGC member Rob Gallagher, and current co-directors Paul Wake and Chloé Germaine have written about their work bringing games into university english degree programmes.
The cluster was edited by Rebecca Roach and features articles on multicultural literature, AI, BookTok, and more.
Read MoreDr John Henry and a team of researchers at the Department of Computing and Mathematics at the Manchester Metropolitan University and members of the Manchester Game Centre are investigating how sensor driven experiences can determine play and empower new interactions.
Read MoreDungeons and Dragons (D&D) is crossing a new frontier, as the game may soon be used as a form of psychological therapy. Over the last five years, I have researched possibilities for the game’s clinical implementation, as well as potential hurdles. The therapeutic interest in the game only arose in the last five years, when D&D experienced a renaissance. Once a niche nerdy interest, it now has flourished into a multi-million dollar business, including a new movie franchise.
Several organisations used the rise in D&D’s popularity as the perfect opportunity to marry mental health with fun. This includes, for example, the US Critical Role Foundation, which supports creativity and empowerment in disenfranchised children. In the UK, youth group the Scouts encourage their members to learn skills of entertaining by facing fantasy adventures.
Read MoreWe are pleased to announce the launch of Paul Wake’s new research project: Blood Bowl: A Cultural History. Funded by Game in Lab, this project runs the length of 2024. This project contends that board games are significant historical texts that respond to and shape the cultures within which they are created. Moreover, it addresses the lack of critical historical analysis of twentieth and twenty-first century games, and in particular work on hobby games.
Read MoreOn Friday 26th April, Chloé Germaine presented her work at the Imagining Extinction in Video Games Symposium, hosted by the Centre for English, Translation, and Anglo-Portuguese Studies at Universidade do Porto, Portugal. For her contribution, Chloé chose to focus on roleplaying games, specifically considering the positive contribution of tabletop (analogue) roleplaying games in the ongoing promotion of gaming as an ecological media.
This choice comes from desire to advocate for the importance of tabletop gaming in our discussions about the role of games in supporting cultural and social change on environmental issues. At a very basic level, the development, production, and consumption of tabletop games is less environmentally catastrophic than video games - a point also made in Ben’s talk. While there are aspects of the tabletop gaming industry’s production and comsumption cycle that could be hugely improved in terms of sustainability and reducing harm, it can continue to exist as an industry without being a contributor to growing carbon emissions and ecological destruction.
Read MoreThree years ago, Sam, James, and Chloe approached me to discuss the possibility of using Trophy as a teaching tool in the environmental sciences, specifically to counter the feelings of powerlessness that come up when facing the climate crisis. They saw how tabletop roleplaying games can use fantasy as metaphor for contemporary struggles, can shift perspective and broaden empathy, and—most importantly—can empower people and drive them to action.
From those early conversations, Rooted in Crisis was born. Roleplaying games are inherently collaborative—magic happens when diverse voices and talents come together in an act of creation. We recruited game designers and climate crisis researchers, pairing them together to share ideas and find common ground based on their own interests, fields of study, and lived experiences.
The end result is five diverse but interconnected games exploring different facets of humanity’s impact on the ecosystem. Each game shares a foundation based in the push-your-luck mechanics of Trophy Dark and Trophy Gold, but each adds innovative twists to tell their own unique story.
Read MoreFrom Death Race to Grand Theft Auto, driving games have long fuelled claims that players might be inspired to start mowing down pedestrians outside of the game.Starting with a story about a Toronto police officer linking a hit and run to a copy of Need for Speed found on the offender’s passenger seat, Ben talks Rich through the surprisingly longstanding history of links between video games and reckless driving. We encounter early arcade video games, clowns being run over at anti-car carnivals, and Adam West’s Batman doing British road safety videos. Crash! Bang! Wallop!What a podcast!
Read MoreThis week saw the launch of our Horizon Europe/UKRI-funded project STRATEGIES (Sustainable Transition for Europe’s Game Industries). The event took place at Utrecht University on the 17th and 18th of April, bringing together many of the colleagues from the NGOs, game companies, and universities that make up the STRATEGIES consortium. We were also delighted to welcome colleagues from two of Horizon-funded sister projects, PACESETTERS (Powering Artistic and Cultural Entrepreneurship to Drive the Climate Transition) and CRAFT IT 4SD (Craft Revitalization Action for Future-proofing the Transition to Innovative Technologies for Sustainable Development).
Read MoreOn Wednesday 20th March people gathered at O! Peste Destroyed in Manchester’s Northern Quarter for an evening of mind games. The evening was a collaboration between the MGC and the Dark Arts Research Kollective, who have just launched their latest zine presenting their arts-based research approaches into occultural practices, fortean geographies and paranormal resonances. MGC’s Chloé Germaine hosted the event, launching a new research project into the intersection between games and the occult phenomena of ‘mind’.
Read MoreIn anticipation of the 2024 League of Legends World Finals in London, the Esports Research Network is excited to announce that #ERNC2024 is to set to take place this October-November in London! Under the evocative theme ‘Where Worlds Collide,’ this year's conference aims to explore the dynamic intersections between gaming cultures, esports competitiveness, technological innovation, and the broader societal impacts of the digital and physical worlds merging.
Where Worlds Collide is a collaborative effort between The Manchester Metropolitan University and Staffordshire University.
Read MoreThe Manchester Game Centre are delighted to announce our keynote speakers for 2024’s Multiplatform symposium! Our annual symposium is focussed this year on queer games and playful protest, examining the intersection of games and dissent in multiple forms. Find out more here. The call for papers closes on March 29th - see below for details on how to submit your abstract.
Read MoreMultiplatform 2024: Queer Games and Playful Protest
Tuesday 11th and Wednesday 12th June
Multiplatform is the annual symposium for the Manchester Game Centre. We are a cross-university research group at Manchester Metropolitan University with research interests in Analogue Games, Digital Arts, Esports, Games and the Environmental Crisis, Games, History and Heritage, Games and Storytelling, and Serious Games.
Multiplatform 2024 has a dual focus on analogue and digital games and is themed around a concern with queer and dissident games and gaming practices. In addition to a day of academic and industry talks on the theme of queer gaming, we will also be hosting the UK Game Lab Network annual meet-up and launching our retro gaming archive, which contains computers and consoles from the past 40 years, together with a range of games. The activities will also include an introduction to the Archive and its future.
Read MoreIntroduction
Esports teams are in crisis, struggling with a range of issues, including player and staff burnout, financial instability, brand and reputation mismanagement, poor talent acquisition and retention, inefficiencies in team communication and organisation, and a lack of diversity and equality within esports organisations. This special issue of Team Performance Management is directed toward constructing an in-depth understanding of how to build sustainable esports teams. The principal objective is to invite articles that unravel the multifaceted and multidisciplinary aspects of managing esports teams with a view to foster longevity and success in highly competitive environments. Through this lens, this special issue encourages researchers to explore pioneering strategies, management paradigms, and governance structures that are vital for sustainability in esports. This exploration extends to the examination of the welfare of players and staff, sustainable business and governance models, positive and effective team dynamics, and policies that foster diversity and ensure inclusive and equitable team environments for esports players.
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