SASDG

The International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (FDG) is an annual major international event. It seeks to promote the exchange of information concerning the foundations of digital and analog games, technology used to develop digital and analog games, and the study of games and their design, broadly construed. The goal of the conference is the advancement of the study of games, including but not limited to new game technologies, critical analysis, innovative designs, theories on play, empirical studies, and data analysis. The Society for the Advancement of the Science of Digital Games (SASDG, see sasdg.org) acts as the organizational home for the FDG conference series.

To involve the greater FDG community in conference organization and planning for the conference, the FDG Steering Committee requests proposals for hosting and organizing FDG for 2027, 2028, and 2029.

There are several benefits of hosting and organizing an FDG conference. First, conference hosts/organizers have an opportunity to build relationships and interact with the international FDG community. Second, this is a great opportunity for the organizers/hosts to introduce their students and colleagues to the FDG community and help grow the community as a whole.

Interested hosts/organizers are requested to first send a Letter of Intent. Selected groups will be invited by the FDG Steering Committee to submit a full conference proposal that addresses all aspects mentioned in this Call for Conference proposals.

Letter of Intent

Interested hosts/organizers submit a letter of intent giving an initial characterization of their plans for hosting FDG ‘27, ‘28, or ‘29. The Letter of Intent (LOI) should address each of the following items in a 1-2 page document:

• - Names and affiliations of hosts/organizers (suggested general chairs, program chairs etc.)
• - Vision for the FDG conference (e.g., theme, goals/ambitions)
• - Proposed location (potential conference venues, hotels, closest airport and other relevant transportation options for non-locals, and general appeal for FDG community)
• - Estimated dates of conference

Full Conference Proposal Requirements

The proposal should address each aspect outlined below. Based on the merits of the proposals, the FDG Steering Committee will choose the winning proposals. We encourage those submitting proposals to include photos of the relevant conference venues (e.g., meeting rooms, break spaces) within the body of their submission.

Vision for FDG

FDG aims to be an interdisciplinary conference that reaches a wide community. The proposal should describe the goals and ambitions of the hosts/organizers for hosting/organizing FDG. In particular, hosts/organizers should describe how they aim to foster interdisciplinarity and how they will reach out to a wider audience and grow the FDG community.

Location

FDG is an international forum. We expect to rotate the conference between different parts of the world. It is strongly preferred that the proposed location is conveniently located for all attendees to reach by available means of transportation. Since FDG 2025 and 2026 have been held in European locations, ideally FDG 2027 will be held outside of Europe.

Conference Timetable

FDG conferences typically happen in the Spring, between April and June. Your bid should include a proposed time within that range with key dates (e.g., paper submission and notification). The choice of time should also take into account the weather conditions of the proposed location and potential conflicts with other conferences (e.g., CHI Play, DiGRA, AIIDE, CoG).

Conference Venue

Please describe the facilities and location of the proposed conference venue. In particular, the venue should be centrally located for attendees to reach quickly by ground transportation, be readily accessible by national/international air travel, and have access to other amenities (e.g., restaurants).

Submissions, Reviewing and Dissemination

Please describe plans for submission categories (e.g., full and short papers, posters, doctoral consortium papers, workshop proposals), potential plans for their review and the dissemination of accepted papers (e.g., ACM DL, website). Typically, FDG includes four days with full/short papers, posters, workshops and tutorials, games/tech demos as well as a doctoral student consortium.

Note that as the number of submissions to the conference has increased and the reviewing process has added more steps (e.g., ability to provide feedback on first round reviewer comments), the submission deadline needs to be 6+ months prior to the conference start date. Earlier notification dates also allow international attendees more time to handle visa application challenges.

Social Program

Please describe thoughts and ideas on social program activities (e.g., reception, conference dinner), synergistic parallel activities (e.g., co-located events), and general efforts to bring the community together. Due to the nature of the conference, it is encouraged to think of exhibitions or events/activities where attendees can play games.

Accommodation

Most attendees will need accommodation during the conference period. One of the responsibilities of the conference hosts/organizers is to locate affordable lodging for attendees. Please describe the proposed accommodation options, including the price range of the hotel rooms and the distance to the main venue. SASDG strongly prefers to avoid committing to blocks of hotel rooms, unless there is no penalty for empty rooms.

Suggested Tracks (and Track Chairs)

FDG has always been a “big tent” conference, covering a wide variety of topics without compromising the quality of the contributions. For this to remain true, it is important to know that the potential organizers have a broad understanding of games research, providing a platform for different fields and domains in terms of varied and comprehensive tracks. At the same time, in order to insure the best dissemination for the “call for papers” and best evaluation of the quality of contribution it is essential to carefully select expert track chairs that are connected with a particular research community. This will ensure successful recruitment of reviewers. When naming potential track chairs, please indicate whether the chair has committed or is tentative.

Provisional Budget Plan

The proposal should include a provisional budget plan, outlining the cost of major items, including the rental of conference venue, cost/per person for the reception and banquet, and the estimated conference registration fee. It should also include any expected sponsoring (e.g., University support) or a description of efforts to acquire sponsoring and make the conference accessible.

We are happy to provide information on typical costs associated with recent conferences.

Please provide details for three versions of the budget: conservative (assuming 100 attendees), regular (150), optimistic (200).

Hosts/Organizers

The organizers are expected to have a good knowledge of the FDG community (e.g., having attended recent FDG conferences). They will work closely with the FDG Steering Committee. As FDG is an interdisciplinary conference, we invite core organizing teams with a wide range of backgrounds across game-based research representation.

Ensuring diversity of the organizing committee (e.g., from different geographical locations, gender, race/ethnicity) is highly encouraged and preferred. In addition, we request that the program co-chairs represent expertise in both the technical (e.g., AI, technology, analytics) and non-technical (e.g., design, humanities, social science) research communities equally well. Please include short descriptions of the key hosts/organizers and roles of individuals, including the conference chair(s) and program chairs.

Important Dates

• Jan 21, 2026: Letter of Intent. Please send to: Phil Lopes <phil.lopes@ulusofona.pt>.
• Feb 5, 2026: Notifications sent for invitations to submit a detailed conference proposal.
• April 5, 2026: Detailed conference proposals due. Please send to: Phil Lopes <phil.lopes@ulusofona.pt>
• April 30, 2026: Notifications sent for conference selection for FDG’27, FDG’28, and FDG’29.

For further information, please contact: Phil Lopes <phil.lopes@ulusofona.pt>.