Please note that this call has slightly changed from last year given community and host feedback.

Every year, the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) gathers scholars, designers, and practitioners from across the world to share research, ideas, and play. Since 2003, these conferences have been made possible by local organising committees who volunteer their time and energy to host the community. 

We’re now looking for hosts for DiGRA 2028 and 2029, though proposals for 2030 and beyond are also welcome. While the official language of the conference is English, we encourage proposals from regions that haven’t yet hosted DiGRA, and from communities that have been historically under-represented in games research. We also acknowledge that games research takes many forms from various interdisciplinary and intersectional strands. Our conferences welcome them all.

While DiGRA has long been a home for academic research on games, in recent years it has also embraced technological perspectives, industry voices, independent creators, and other practice-based work. We want forthcoming conferences to reflect that mix and be spaces where scholars, creators, critics, and other practitioners can meet on equal footing to share knowledge and spark new collaborations.

How it works

DiGRA conferences are a joint effort:

• The Local Organising Committee (the role you’ll be fulfilling) runs the conference on the ground. This means being responsible for elements like theme, venue, catering, events, keynote speakers, communicating with scholars before, during, and after the conference, and delivering the online participation model set forth in the proposal.
• The DiGRA Executive Board supports and supervises the organisation process, and retains oversight of key decisions to ensure the quality and reputation of the conference. In practice, this means the Board works in partnership with the hosts throughout the process, stepping in only if needed.
• The Program Committee, appointed by the DiGRA Executive Board with input from the Local Organizing Committee, oversees peer review independently of the local organisers.

Hosts should be ready to welcome 300-500 in-person attendees and design an event that reflects DiGRA’s prosocial values and commitment to creating a welcoming and lively space for academic inquiry. In this regard, our new Code of Conduct highlights the values and practices we aim for our conferences and their attendees to promote. Most importantly, hosts bring their own perspective to the conference: local history, culture, and context shape the tone and takeaways of each DiGRA gathering. Show us what makes your setting distinctive, and how it can offer something memorable to the community.

Want to apply?

We suggest that proposals address the following sections. You may adapt headings as needed, but covering each area will ensure thoroughness.

While not required, your application will be stronger if some members of the Local Organizing Committee have a history of involvement with DiGRA, such as through past or recent conference participation or membership.

1. Introduction & Overview

• Briefly explain why you wish to host DiGRA.
• What makes your location unique, and why is it a good fit for the conference?
• Outline the strength of your local game studies/development community (e.g. DiGRA chapters, research groups, regional networks).

2. Local Context and Community

• Describe the host city/town and its cultural, academic, or industry relevance.
• Highlight visitor attractions and local character.
• Identify ties to the local game industry, civic/cultural institutions, or other partners.
• Include images of relevant landmarks, venues, or events to show why delegates may want to attend.

3. Hosting Venue(s)

This section should provide specifics on the institution(s) or organisation(s) hosting the event. Keep in mind the need for large spaces for communal events and keynotes. Please include:

• Location of institution(s) and their academic/industry background.
• Facilities descriptions: lecture theatres, seminar/meeting rooms, exhibition spaces, quiet/prayer rooms (i.e. the specific spaces where the event will take place).
• Room inventories: capacities, AV/tech setup, number of tracks possible in parallel, and visuals (maps, images, floorplans).
• Accessibility considerations across venues/rooms: wheelchair/lift access, hearing loops, hybrid/streaming facilities, etc.

4. Travel & Accommodation

• Distance from international/domestic airports and transport options (bus, train, taxi, etc.).
• Local travel between the venue and accommodation.
• Hotel and university housing options, including typical per-night rates.
• Potential for delegate discounts.

5. Conference Programme

Recent DiGRA conference submissions and acceptances have been increasing, which is incredibly exciting for the future of games research. However, hosts should therefore also consider the number of delegates the venue can accommodate and the number of accepted contributions that can realistically be programmed. 

• Potential theme idea and rationale.
• Potential tracks.
• List potential keynote and other guest speakers.
• A clear timeline of key dates: CfP release, paper deadlines, review period, notifications, early bird/regular registration, camera-ready, and conference week.
• Creative/practice-based submission opportunities: how will you support showcasing or encourage the creation of practical work (before and potentially during the conference)?
• Special events or cultural programming (e.g. showcases, public events, city-specific activities).
• Social events (welcome reception, conference dinner, mixers, etc.)
• Rough in-person and/or online capacity limits for tracks and submission types (e.g., PhD consortium, playable submissions, full paper vs abstract submissions), along with expectations around presentation length (e.g., “the conference can support W tracks with X presentations each of Y minutes, which will be spread across Z days”). This will help in modelling theoretical capacity and programme organisation.

6. Remote Participation

DiGRA expects conferences to provide a meaningful form of remote participation. While in previous years this has resulted in much of the conference simply being streamed as a hybrid conference, this can be limiting for both organisers and participants. As such, we encourage future proposals to consider other options beyond a hybrid conference model. While traditional hybrid models are still allowed, proposals should describe the scope of remote participation being offered (e.g., fully hybrid programme, selected streamed sessions, a dedicated online programme or conference segment, or other opportunities) and explain why the chosen model is appropriate, accessible, financially sustainable, and deliverable by the available team. These considerations will typically include:

• Platform(s) to be used and how sessions will be run.
• Accessibility measures (captioning, recording policies, time-zone and regional access accommodations for those not able to feasibility access online platforms).
• How remote attendees will be integrated into Q&A and networking.
• Any events or other benefits for remote attendees
• Online security measures for participants and event integrity.

7. Supporting Prosocial Values

Explain how the conference will enact DiGRA’s commitments to accessibility, diversity, equity, inclusion, participant safety, and sustainability through its planning, communications, facilities, programme, and day-to-day operation. These typically include (but are not limited to):

• Support for parents/caregivers (childcare, breastfeeding rooms, family-friendly participation).
• Support for queer participants (gender-neutral bathrooms, pronoun visibility).
• Support for neurodiverse participants (quiet rooms, flexible presentation options).
• Support for participants with disabilities or chronic illness (mobility access, captioning, health measures for immunocompromised).
• Alignment with DiGRA’s Code of Conduct and its conflict resolution and safety protocols. Who can participants approach? How will complaints be handled? What other safeguarding measures will be in place?
• Sustainability measures: local catering/dining/entertainment choices, policy for delegate packs/“swag”/merch (avoiding waste, eco-friendly design), recycling/printing, and other environmental considerations.
• Describe how the proposed catering arrangements may include provisions for common dietary requirements and allergies, and how these dietary needs will be collected and communicated to catering providers. 
• How will these commitments and the reasons for particular access or inclusion measures be communicated to the DiGRA community, and how might complaints be managed?

8. Organisation & Staffing

• Members, roles, and short professional biographies highlighting research expertise and event experience of the Local Organising Committee.
• Administrative/professional support (e.g. dedicated staff, institutional event teams, technical support).
• Identify one principal LOC contact for communication with the DiGRA Executive Board, to be in regular communication with them around conference planning.
• Identify the person or team responsible for public conference enquiries and LOC concerns during the conference. Explain how shared inboxes and communication channels will be monitored, the expected response time communicated to authors and delegates, and the escalation route for questions requiring input from the LOC, Program Committee, or Board. 

9. Budget & Funding

• Please include all proposed fee tiers/categories. Fees must incorporate DiGRA membership dues for the conference year (€40 scholar, €20 student). A suggested structure includes:
  
  • Early-bird and late registration (regular)
  • Student/unwaged (early/late)
  • Remote (early/late)
  • Additional tiers for Global South/low-income countries are encouraged.
    
• Create a basic financial plan to show how fees (with number-per-tier estimates) will support venue, AV, catering, keynote travel, staff, bursaries, accessibility and equality support, etc.
• Briefly discuss the budgeting experience of a regular delegate who might want to attend (e.g., how much might flights, registration, hotel/accomodation stays, and other sundries cost for the conference duration?)
• A conference license agreement must be signed. Among other stipulations, it notes that any surplus is split, with 30% returned to DiGRA. As losses are borne by the host institution, so explain your contingency plan in this case.
• Describe institutional support and any contributions from participating organisation(s) (e.g., rooms, staff, AV).
• Highlight potential sponsorship/funding sources from industry, government, or cultural bodies, and how funds would be used (e.g. reducing fees, sponsoring scholars).
• How will bursaries/subsidies/Solidarity Fund applications be budgeted and managed (e.g. supporting unwaged participants, Global South participation)?
• Given the intricacies associated with organisational payment processing, explain how delegates will purchase their conference registration, and what payment systems will be used/supported (e.g., card types, currencies, etc). How can invoices and receipts be issued to delegates, and how/who will issue them?

Ready to submit your proposal?

The DiGRA Executive Board welcomes expressions of interest on an ongoing basis. Completed proposals — as well as general enquiries about hosting, the license agreement, or anything else you’d like clarified — should be sent by email to: digrainternational@gmail.com.

We look forward to hearing from you, and to working with future hosts to shape the next chapter of DiGRA.