We’ll be hosting GachaCon 2027, a hybrid academic conference on gacha games with otome games as the main theme, on 1–3 February 2027 at the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong.
Game studies, sociology, culture studies, literary studies, philosophy, art & design, psychology, and law; come one, come all!
We will have a dedicated student-led presentation session, so everyone is encouraged to apply.
Call for Papers: https://tinyurl.com/gachacon2027callforpaper
Submission (deadline: 30 November 2026): https://tinyurl.com/gachacon2027submit
Extended Abstract Template (please download and edit locally rather than use Google Docs for editing): https://tinyurl.com/gachacon2027template
Register (in-person or online) for FREE: https://tinyurl.com/gachacon2027register
Abstracts may address (but are not limited to) the following topics:
• Otome games
• Narrative and storytelling
• Character design: love interests, protagonists, and visual appeal, etc.
• Romance, intimacy, desire, and emotional engagement
• Affect and affective labor
• Gender, sexuality, and representation
• Character attachment, parasociality, and player–character relationships
• Gacha mechanics, character collection, and monetisation
• Player communities, including their reaction to various issues
• Localisation, censorship, and transnational circulation
• Game industries, production practices, and developer perspectives
• Voice acting, character performance, and creative labour
• Regulation, policy, consumer protection, and game governance
• Marketing: offline events, merchandise, social media posts, etc.
• Any other topics relating to gacha games
Organisers: Leon Xiao, Yisong Han, Kuma Xiong & Tianyi Zhangshao
Please direct any questions to: cmpo.net@cityu.edu.hk.