D&D time with the Game Cultures Research Cluster crew 🐲🎲🏰

HOOT! We’ve been a little quiet but we’re thrilled to announce that registration for Furry Studies 2025 in Pacific Lutheran University is NOW OPEN! 👉🏻 furrystudies.org Hopefully see you there! 🦉

Having a great time at #DDD17 with @annawilde.bsky.social this week! Presented my paper on death games in the "Digital Death I" panel first thing, then the "Digital Death II" panel was so full myself and others watched along on my laptop from the garden behind the conference room! @ddd17.sites.uu.nl

This is appalling - how can the theatre say they are "committed to being an accessible venue for all" when evidence shows this clearly hasn't been the case? BBC News - Broken lift bars disabled visitors from theatre www.bbc.com/news/article...

Is anyone working on the Online Safety Act and specifically impacts on social media? I'd like to run a class on it this autumn semester for my third year undergraduates. Any resources/ideas/people happy to speak etc. greatly appreciated! #OnlineSafetyAct #SocialMedia #OnlineSafetyBill

Wrote up a short piece about the Interactive Games PGR conference that took place a few weeks ago. There really were too many excellent papers to list in detail, but here I share the main idea of my keynote: allowing yourself to experiment and push theory in new directions. bcmcr.org/research/key...

Pretty wild that a month ago was the start of #DiGRA2025 - it all feels like a distant memory! This year I was lucky enough to act as a track chair, respond to student papers in the PhD consortium, and present both a co-authored paper and solo paper. I give a recap of my experiences and work here 👇

Really enjoyed today's @historygamesnet.bsky.social panel on Gender, excellent panelists and engaging discussion. A great way to end the day and a lovely opportunity to paint some (not so) innocent doors while listening 😛

Studying anything death-related for #PhD or #Masters? Join us for an informal Zoom on all things death-related - cemeteries, grief, bereavement, death and dying - all welcome. JULY 30th, 9 - 10AM free tickets here deathandsociety.org/eventsandgro... #death #dying #research #PhD

petition links www.change.org/p/tell-maste... action.aclu.org/petition/mas... petition.parliament.uk/petitions/72...

📢 ISO of Devs Affected by Itch 📢 If your game got: • Deindexed • Removed • Payouts turned off Especially if you make Adult &/or LGBTQ+ #IndieGame or #VisualNovel, I want to talk to you. 🗣️ Please reply below with how you were affected. This is for a #Journalism piece. 🔁 RTs Appreciated 🔁

Fantastic @investigatedot.bsky.social Interactive Games PGR conference today organised by @caitlinveal.bsky.social and co - so interesting to hear from so many PGRs on the exciting directions their research is taking. So many intriguing ideas and avenues to explore. An absolute pleasure to keynote!👩🏼‍💻

Looking forward to kicking off this year's Interactive Games PGR conference today with my keynote "Posthumanism and Post-PhD: theory in the aftermath". Some really interesting papers lined up throughout the day, should be a great event! @investigatedot.bsky.social #GameStudies #IGPGR25

🧡 If you're joining us for this year's Interactive Games PGR Conference next Friday, please see below for the schedule for the day! 🧡 As with previous years, we have a really exciting range of speakers lined up across a diverse range of disciplines and subject areas. It's going to be a great day👾

Day zero of #DiGRA2025 down 🥳 great presentations in the avatar aesthetics workshop this morning, then I had the pleasure of being "senior respondent" for three really interesting projects presented at the PhD Consortium this afternoon. Already wondering if I'll need to nab another free notebook...📝

Just seen #28YearsLater. Not what I was expecting (though Idk what that would have been) but an excellent return of the franchise more in keeping with Days than Weeks was. Superb acting, and I hadn't realised another sequel is in the works already! Makes sense - those characters need more attention!

Another great morning of presentations at the Transgressive Identities and Subjectivities conference. Our "Class, Culture, and Consumerism" panel covered 2nd wave black metal, anti-capitalist comic con experiences, punk women, and the notion of normalcy in youth geographies #TIS25 @bcmcr.bsky.social

Yesterday afternoon (Day 1 of the #TIS25 @bcmcr.bsky.social conference) was fantastic - some really cool explorations of horror and monstrosity, including an excellent analysis of Nightbitch and a preview screening of a documentary, then the Transgressive Game Cultures panel with my fellow gamers!

Fantastic first morning of the @bcmcr.bsky.social #TIS25 conference. We've had presentations exploring transgressive bodies and subversive genders through furriest, bots, veganism, the good samaritan, India's Hijras, trans and non binary youth, menstrual cooking, and mediated drag cultures. 🐶🤖🍃✝️🇮🇳👱🩸💃

First paper of our Transgressive Identities and Subjectivities conference #TIS25 and we are already transgressing standard presentation styles - Reuben Mount co-presents their paper with their fursona @vanguardhusky.bsky.social (pictured on screen, and talking to the room) @bcmcr.bsky.social

We are officially live! Transgressive Identities and Subjectivities conference has now kicked off with our opening remarks by conference co-chairs Dr Poppy Wilde and Dr Matt Grimes! #TIS25 @poppywilde.bsky.social Keep an eye on here to hear about the panels of our conference for the next two days!

Caught some of this conference last year online and the presentations were fascinating - highly recommend. Check out the cfp - they're looking for papers, performances, showcases and more.

Had a dream about #DiGRA. It involved 3 eat/play rooms, an eating challenge of a potato and cheese based bake in a huge trough, & a guy whose presentation was going down stairs in a cyr wheel, whilst painted purple (but he overslept so didn't do it). Let's hope Malta lives up to these expectations 😄

Keep forgetting to plug this! Open Access article exploring zombie #memes on social media as a cultural critique, considering how the monarchy embody the "living dead", and how counter cultures utilise humour and exist in online spaces as sites of resistance #ZombieStudies #MediaStudies #SocialMedia

Jfc 🤦🏼‍♀️

Join us for the @bcmcr.bsky.social conference "Transgressive Identities and Subjectivities" - 17-18 June, Parkside Building, Birmingham City University! In-person fee: £30/£15. Online fee: £15. Schedule, abstracts, and info here: bcmcr.org/event/cfp-tr... #media #culture #research #transgression

#BDiGRA25 - the British chapter of the Digital Games Research Association's conference - wrapped! A massive thank you to my co-chair @doktornick.bsky.social, our amazing local organising committee, and everyone who came, shared, listened, discussed, and was part of the event 💜 It's been a good 'un!

Had an amazing time at #BDIGRA25 filled with new and inspirational talks and conversations. Huge thank you to the organisers and the awesome local team at @bcmcr.bsky.social (among others @poppywilde.bsky.social @doktornick.bsky.social @harriresearches.bsky.social @andrewbell.bsky.social).

Day 2 of #BDiGRA25 kicked off with 6 lightning talks, covering queer readings of game ads, representations of Victorian London, critical posthumanism and games (me!), games representation in Chinese TV, the Video Games Research Framework, and stereotypes and Britishness in videogame magazines.

After a busy and fascinating first day, the second day British DiGRA conference is kicking off with more lightning talks! #BDiGRA25 Full programme available here: bdigra.co.uk/what-is-brit....

Great end to day one of #BDiGRA25, playing board games at Chance and Counters! Tomorrow we have a final session of lightning talks, parallel panels on "Global Perspectives" and "Countering Hegemonies", and then our workshop on building our intellectual project followed by the AGM and board elections

Day one of #BDiGRA25 and we've already had excellent provocations to start - lightning talks on rougelikes, queer game studies, transgender emergence in games, ecogaming, and historical affects in our first session. Now on to panels exploring Game making and Culture, getting to more in depth papers.

🚀 BCMCR 2025 Conference: "Transgressive Identities and Subjectivities"🎭 📅 Dates: 17–18 June 2025 📍 Venue: Birmingham City University (& online) 🎟 Fees: £15 online; £15/£30 in-person (incl. lunch). 📌 Register at eventbrite.co.uk/e/transgress... @mybcu.bsky.social @bcmcr.bsky.social

Conference prep well underway for #BDiGRA25 - and I've just seen that the BCUSU Campus Shop stocks #MTG and other game cards for anyone who needs a quick addition to their deck!

First session playing Shadowrun with some of the Game Cultures research cluster today including @andrewbell.bsky.social and @doktornick.bsky.social as GM. Great to have a go and start to get a grasp on the mechanics. And I bought new dice 😏 #Shadowrun #TTRPG

Emails have gone out to everyone registered for #BDiGRA25 conference - taking place next week at Birmingham City University! We have a fantastic programme lined up - can't wait to see everyone there 😊 bdigra.co.uk/what-is-brit... #GameStudies

ICYMI: BCMCR is hosting this year's British DiGRA conference on 20th/21st May 2025. Registration closes today, Tuesday 13th May 2025, at 11pm UK time. Register so you don't miss two days of incredible games research. #BDiGRA25 Register here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bdigra-202...

Not long left to register for British DiGRA conference (happening next week!) 👾 registration closes 11pm GMT Tues 13 May. Tickets are £10 for online attendance, £50 for in-person attendance. A limited number of £10 tickets available for in-person PGRs/unwaged. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bdigra-202...

BCMCR is pleased to host this year's BDiGRA conference, across 20th and 21st May 2025! Registration is now open and will close next Tueday 13th May, so join us for two days of incredible British games research. #BDiGRA25 More info: bdigra.co.uk/what-is-brit...

📖My book is out! My book Mytholudics: Games and Myth is now available. In it, I propose a way of understanding and analysing games as and through myth. @degruyterbrill.bsky.social doi.org/10.1515/9783...

📢Call for Papers! We’re delighted to announce the conference “Games & Game Studies Beyond Postmodernism”, which will take place at the University of Konstanz, Germany on 4-5 Sept. 2025 Abstract Submission Deadline: 1 June 2025 More info: gamesbeyond.org #gamestudies #metamodernism #culture #cfp

It’s on! BCU @ucu.org.uk members take strike action this Thursday 1st May. Pickets: - Seacole: 8:30 - 10 - Benjamin Zephaniah: 8:30 - 10:30 - Curzon, Parkside & Millenium Point: 8:30 - 12 Rally for jobs and professional respect: 12-1 in front of Parkside Building Teachout 2-3.30 Woodman

Register now for British DiGRA! Tues 20 & Wed 21 May, 9am-5.30pm BST. Full programme available on the website here: bdigra.co.uk/what-is-brit... Tickets £10 for online attendance, and £50 for in-person attendance (limited £10 in-person tickets for PGRs/unwaged) #GameStudies @doktornick.bsky.social

I know we're 4 months into 2025, but I've just posted a round up review of my 2024 conferences and presentations, to share some of the ideas I've been working on and how these have developed across events. A thought provoking year of opportunities. Hoping 2025 is as good! bcmcr.org/research/202...

This looks like an interesting read "Can't believe I'm crying over an anime girl": Public Parasocial Grieving and Coping Towards VTuber Graduation and Termination Ken Jen Lee, PiaoHong Wang, Zhicong Lu arxiv.org/abs/2504.13421

Happy birthday to my new @nyupress.bsky.social book FANDOM FOR US, BY US: THE PLEASURES AND PRACTICES OF BLACK AUDIENCES (out officially today). The book details Black fan practices around the ballerina #MistyCopeland, the films BLACK PANTHER & THE WIZ, and THE GOLDEN GIRLS.

Very cool looking PhD studentship in gaming and sustainability at Uni of Salford here, working with @cultsociologist.bsky.social and Tom Brock. Interested to see the outcomes of this one! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMU434/p... #PhD #studentship #funding #GameStudies #EcoGames

Finished Heavy Rain. Can't recommend it tbh, but maybe the game mechanics just aren't for me? I haven't played Detroit: Become Human but interested to hear from those who have played both (esp on PC). I've read reviews saying D:BH is better, but if it bears much similarity to HR I won't bother. 🌧

CFP for a special issue in language diversity and Game Studies, in spanish and english! I'll be participating as editor (for proposal in spanish) and will be working with wonderful scholars!

A general reminder while I'm at it, too, of our recent special issue "PLAYING THE POSTS: POST-ANTHROPOCENE, POSTHUMAN, POST-APOCALYPSE" edited by @larrymay.me and @poppywilde.bsky.social with plenty of great articles. gamescriticism.org/issue-6-a/