Tuesday, July 2nd

Keynote 1. What is best in games?

José Zagal – Professor at Division of Games, University of Utah, USA

José P. Zagal is Professor with the University of Utah’s Division of Games. He has edited and authored numerous books and articles on game ethics, games education, game design, and more. He most recently co-edited, with Premeet Sidhu and Marcus Carter,  “Fifty Years of Dungeons & Dragons” and co-authored, with Benj Edwards, “Seeing Red: Nintendo’s Virtual Boy” both published by MIT Press in 2024. He was honored as a Distinguished Scholar by the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) and named a Fellow of the Higher-Education Videogame Alliance (HEVGA) for his contributions to games research. He also serves as the Editor-In-Chief of DiGRA’s flagship journal Transactions of the Digital Games Research Association (ToDiGRA). José received his PhD in computer science from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2008, his M.Sc. in engineering sciences and a B.S. in industrial engineering from Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile in 1999 and 1997.

Wednesday, July 3rd

Keynote 2. Questions of truth and contingency in historical games

William Huber – Associate Professor of Game Studies, Falmouth University, Falmouth, United Kingdom

Dr William Huber is a researcher, lecturer and writer focusing on the aesthetics of games, media, and software. He has published several articles and book chapters analysing and interpreting games and game culture. Currently associate professor of game studies at Falmouth University, leading the game development courses and engaging in research, he has also served as the head of centre for excellence in game education at Abertay University, and spent five years teaching courses on videogame theory, design and history in the Interactive Media and Games Division of the School for Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California.

Thursday, July 4th

Keynote 3. “From LATAM to the world: My experiences in Game Music Composition.” 

Jimena Contreras – Archway Studios, Mexico

Composer and music producer. She founded Archway Studios, specializing in composing and producing music for film, television, and video games.  The most recent works of her writing for video games, for example, “Mayhem Masters,” developed in Sweden by the Digital Ballista studio, are available on the Steam platform and Nintendo Switch. She has made original music for short films, feature films, and documentaries in film and television in collaboration with different film production houses. She has also written music for cultural television and currently writes music for Televisión Metropolitana (Channel 22) in Mexico. She has also worked with independent producers and directors. Many film productions with her original music have been in the Official Selection and awarded at various Film Festivals in Mexico and worldwide.

Friday, July 5th

Keynote 4. “Building a historic archive through interaction.”

Paola Vera – Macula Games, Mexico

Paola Vera is an audiovisual producer who graduated from the University of the Americas Puebla. She has worked for over 7 years as a producer, art director, screenwriter, and director of audiovisual products focused on cinematography, marketing, and documentary filmmaking. Currently, she is the general director of Mácula Interactive,an independent creative studio in Mexico City dedicated to creating narrative and interactive experiences based on Mexican history. For the past three years, she has been directing the production of “México, 1921:Un sueño profundo,” a 3D narrative adventure documentary video game where you must uncover who planned the assassination of President Álvaro Obregón.This project has earned her selections at festivals such as the London Games Festival, the Latin American Games Showcase, the A Maze Festival in Berlin, the Latinx Games Festival, Devcom 2023, winner of “Best game to come” at Pixelatl festival 2023, and the official selection of the Fantastic Pavilion at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.