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iGGi Partners We are excited to be collaborating with a number of industry partners. IGGI works with industry in some of the following ways: Student Industry Knowledge Transfer - this can take many forms, from what looks like a traditional placement, to a short term consultancy, to an ongoing relationship between the student and their industry partner. Student Sponsorship - for some of our students, their relationship with their industry partner is reinforced by sponsorship from the company. This is an excellent demonstration of the strength of the commitment and the success of the collaborations. In Kind Contributions - IGGI industry partners can contribute by attending and/or featuring in our annual conference, offering their time to give talks and masterclasses for our students, or even taking part in our annual game jam! There are many ways for our industry partners to work with IGGI. If you are interested in becoming involved, please do contact us so we can discuss what might be suitable for you. UK Games Talent and Finance CIC

< Back Michael Aichmüller Queen Mary University of London iGGi Alum My background lies in physics and statistical mathematics with a later specialization in optimization in the fields of Reinforcement Learning (RL) and Causal Inference. My first encounters with RL occurred during my Masters when studying how to create strong policies in perfect information games using algorithms, such as MinMax, MCTS, DQN, and later AlphaZero variants. My favorite game application remains the board game ‘Stratego’. In the meantime I investigated the estimation of causal parents influencing a target variable from interventional datasets for my Master’s thesis. Specifically, how well Deep Learning estimations could replace exponentially scaling graph search methods with approximations requiring only polynomial runtime. A description of Michael's research: My research focuses on the state-of-the-art in game-playing solutions for imperfect information games (think games like Poker, Stratego, Liar’s Dice etc.). I am particularly interested in the application of No-Regret (and related) methods which seek to learn those actions that provided the most benefit (or least regret) compared to the benefit all possible actions provided on average. These methods learn such via iterative play to find a Nash-Equilibrium (NE), a game-theoretic concept comparable to an optimal policy known from Single-Agent RL, but for all partaking players at once. Particularly, variants of Counterfactual Regret Minimization (CFR) remain the state-of-the-art algorithms for computing NEs in 2-player zero-sum games due to their success in tabular form so far. Yet, prohibitive complexity and memory scaling bars them from large-scale applications. Hence, research of recent years seeks to couple CFR (and other No-Regret methods) with function approximation, such as Deep Learning, to scale up the size of applicable games with already notable successes (Deepstack, Libratus, Pluribus, DeepNash). My research seeks to contribute to this endeavour by first analyzing the specifics of established methods and finding ways to introduce Hierarchical RL concepts to No-Regret learning. Please note: Updating of profile text in progress m.f.aichmueller@qmul.ac.uk Email Mastodon Other links Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-aichmueller/ LinkedIn BlueSky https://github.com/maichmueller Github Supervisor(s): Prof. Simon Lucas Dr Raluca Gaina Themes Applied Games Game AI - Previous Next

iGGi Partners We are excited to be collaborating with a number of industry partners. IGGI works with industry in some of the following ways: Student Industry Knowledge Transfer - this can take many forms, from what looks like a traditional placement, to a short term consultancy, to an ongoing relationship between the student and their industry partner. Student Sponsorship - for some of our students, their relationship with their industry partner is reinforced by sponsorship from the company. This is an excellent demonstration of the strength of the commitment and the success of the collaborations. In Kind Contributions - IGGI industry partners can contribute by attending and/or featuring in our annual conference, offering their time to give talks and masterclasses for our students, or even taking part in our annual game jam! There are many ways for our industry partners to work with IGGI. If you are interested in becoming involved, please do contact us so we can discuss what might be suitable for you. Utrecht University

< Back Prof. Simon Colton Queen Mary University of London iGGi Co-Investigator Supervisor Simon Colton is an AI researcher with particular focus on issues of Computational Creativity, where we engineer software to take on creative responsibilities in art and science projects. He undertakes projects advancing the state of the art in generative technologies such as evolutionary approaches and deep learning, and uses these to help develop software such as The Painting Fool, The WhatIf Machine, the Wevva game designer, the HR3 automated code generator, and the Art Done Quick casual creator for visual art. In turn, these software systems and their output are used in cultural projects such as a poetry readings, art exhibitions, game jams, and even the production of a West-End musical. This enables Simon to undertake much public engagement, with coverage from the BBC, The Guardian, MIT Tech Review, The New Scientist and many others. These practical and cultural projects inform an evolving philosophical discourse around what it means for machines to be creative, and Simon has co-authored numerous essays driving forward our understanding of this important topic. In this way, he has helped to introduce ideas such as automated framing of products and processes, issues of authenticity and the notion of the machine condition, i.e., what the lived experience of a machine is, and how this could be expressed by that machine through creative production. He is particularly interested in supervising students in project where we apply generative technologies to applications in videogame design, visual art, software engineering, music and text generation. One particular current interest is stretching the boundaries of both what can be achieved by, and our understanding of, generation deep learning methods such as generative adversarial networks (GANs) and auto encoders. Another current interest is the design of casual creators, which are creativity support tools where the focus is on users having fun, rather than on efficient, professional production of artefacts. He is currently developing a casual creator for visual art called Art Done Quick for public release, which employs evolutionary and deep learning techniques to deliver a fun-first experience while users make decorative art pieces. Any project involving generative technologies is of interest to Simon. Research Areas: Game AI Game Audio and Music Game Design Computational Creativity Player Experience Casual Creators Generative Deep Learning s.colton@qmul.ac.uk Email Mastodon https://ccg.doc.gold.ac.uk/ccg_old/simoncolton/cv/ Other links Website LinkedIn BlueSky Github Themes Accessibility Creative Computing Game AI Game Audio Player Research - Previous Next

< Back The changing face of desktop video game monetisation: An exploration of exposure to loot boxes, pay to win, and cosmetic microtransactions in the most-played Steam games of … Link Author(s) D Zendle, R Meyer, N Ballou Abstract More info TBA Link

< Back Evaluating the Effects on Monte Carlo Tree Search of Predicting Co-operative Agent Behaviour Link Author(s) J Walton-Rivers Abstract More info TBA Link

Training iGGi is a collaboration between Uni of York + Queen Mary Uni of London: the largest training programme worldwide for doing a PhD in digital games. Training The training programme is an essential part of the iGGi PhD. It helps students acquire the knowledge and skills they need to do great research -- research that can change both video games and wider society. The programme has a practical focus on the design and development of games. By deepening our PGRs' understanding of games, we aim to motivate and enable PhD research that has real relevance to how games are made and played. Page Index: The Modules - Bringing Researchers Together - Training Requirements The Modules Because iGGi offers a four year PhD programme, the PG Researchers (PGRs) are able to commit substantial time to this training during their first year. There are four modules, with delivery shared by the University of York and Queen Mary University of London: Game Design (York) PGRs learn how to conceive, design, prototype and playtest their own games, be it for entertainment or a 'serious' purpose like health, education, or research. Game Development (QMUL) The module provides hands-on training developing video games using industry-standard game engines. iGGi PGRs work together to prototype a new game in one week . It also introduces a range of state-of-the-art technologies for game development, such as novel interaction techniques, AI opponents and collaborators, and procedural content generation. Methods and Data (York) PGRs learn various methods for empirically studying games and players, including standard HCI methods and data science techniques for gaining insights from large game data sets. Research Impact & Engagement (QMUL) PGRs learn how to engage industry, players, and other societal stakeholders early on in their research, how to conduct responsible research and innovation that is overall beneficial to human wellbeing, and how to present their work online, to the media, and industry. Video Placeholder - to display Game Dev YouTube playlist >> For iGGi news and updates, including event announcements, follow us on social media Bringing Researchers Together A key aim of this training is to bring new researchers together as a well-connected cohort who will carry on learning from, and supporting each other throughout their studies. This has helped us build a strong iGGi community of researchers across four universities and multiple research fields, with a common goal of doing world class PhD research on games. Each module is delivered in two two-week blocks, with the exception of the remotely-supervised individual project. Six weeks of the training takes place in the Autumn of the first year, and another eight weeks is scheduled throughout the rest of first year. For researchers in receipt of an iGGi EPSRC studentship, travel and accommodation is provided for York researchers to study in London, and vice versa. Training Requirements Completing the training programme, including passing the modules, is a compulsory part of the iGGi PhD programme. The Game Development module does assume some knowledge of programming, at least the equivalent of an introductory class.

< Back Rory Davidson University of York iGGi PG Researcher Available for placement Learning and Strategy Acquisition in Digital Games Given the success and impact of games and the gaming industry, it is unsurprising that it has become the centre of a significant body of academic research and other literature. However, while the cognitive effects of gameplay have been extensively studied, this has typically been done from a “black-box” perspective – that is, looking at the effects of gameplay as a whole upon some other task or metric, such as ability to strategize or proclivity to violence – leaving the inner mechanisms of cognition during gameplay much less understood. In particular, while the idea of learning from games is an area of continued interest in educational psychology, very little literature exists on the subject of how learning in games actually occurs on a cognitive level. This study aims to fill this knowledge gap by examining the ways in which player learning and strategy acquisition occur within games. This examination will have two main hierarchical goals. In the first phase, the study will use experimental methods inspired by analysis of learning methods used in games as well as literature review of more general theories of learning and cognition, such as the dual-process account or the CLARION model, in order to form a model better specialized for the field of digital gaming. In the second phase, it will analyse how such a theory may be put to practical use to inform the design of games and game-like experiences. These two phases can be summed up in the following main research questions: Phase 1: How can strategy acquisition in digital games most effectively be explained as a cognitive process? Phase 2: How can this understanding be put into practice in the development of games with specific desirable characteristics? By linking a more complete understanding of cognition and learning during games with measurable or observable gameplay characteristics, this study will further research on gameplay experience, such as that on immersion. The first phase of research additionally has relevance to the field of AI, in which human responses to difficult and complex problems such as digital games may be mimicked or otherwise used to inform the design of new techniques, as well as to gamification, which attempts to elicit such responses in non-game contexts. rd553@york.ac.uk Email Mastodon Other links Website LinkedIn BlueSky Github Supervisor: Prof. Paul Cairns Featured Publication(s): Automatic Game Tuning for Strategic Diversity Themes Applied Games Design & Development Player Research - Previous Next

< Back Design Methods for Accessing the Pluriverse Link Author(s) Hadas Zohar, Nirit Binyamini Ben-Meir, Carolina Ramirez-Figueroa, Danielle Barrios-O'Neill, Michal Pauzner, Oded Kutok, Laura Dudek, Erin Robinson Abstract More info TBA Link

iGGi Partners We are excited to be collaborating with a number of industry partners. IGGI works with industry in some of the following ways: Student Industry Knowledge Transfer - this can take many forms, from what looks like a traditional placement, to a short term consultancy, to an ongoing relationship between the student and their industry partner. Student Sponsorship - for some of our students, their relationship with their industry partner is reinforced by sponsorship from the company. This is an excellent demonstration of the strength of the commitment and the success of the collaborations. In Kind Contributions - IGGI industry partners can contribute by attending and/or featuring in our annual conference, offering their time to give talks and masterclasses for our students, or even taking part in our annual game jam! There are many ways for our industry partners to work with IGGI. If you are interested in becoming involved, please do contact us so we can discuss what might be suitable for you. Splash Damage

< Back Rinascimento: using event-value functions for playing Splendor Link Author(s) I Bravi, SM Lucas Abstract More info TBA Link

< Back A study of professional awareness using immersive virtual reality: the responses of general practitioners to child safeguarding concerns Link Author(s) X Pan, T Collingwoode-Williams, A Antley, H Brenton, B Congdon, ... Abstract More info TBA Link