The Games Institute (GI) is an interdisciplinary research centre at the University of Waterloo, advancing the study of interactive and immersive technologies and experiences.
News Bites
Stay up-to-date with the latest GI activities. Our News Bites report on recent conferences, keynote addresses, and recent research activities of our members.
Research Spotlights
For more in-depth breakdowns of ongoing research projects, check out our Research Spotlights for full write ups of events and up close and personal testimonies with our researchers and members.
News
Ontario eSports Scholarship Continued for 2025/26
In 2022, the University of Waterloo Games Institute secured $50,000 of funding over two years from the Ontario government to provide scholarships to students pursuing careers in the gaming and esports industries. Following successful two round of scholarships awarded, the next round of applications is now open!
The Games Institute is Undergoing Changes
The Games Institute is currently facing a significant challenge to our model of operations. The budget cuts and hiring freeze have had a direct impact on the level of our staffing and the services we have been providing.
First Person Scholar Publishes Last Issue
First Person Scholar, the middle-state publication supported and published by the Games Institute, is taking an indefinite hiatus due to a lack of resources. This includes funding cuts to the GI, but also a lack of game studies graduate students with enough funding to allow them time to work on FPS. FPS will remain available as an archive for everyone to access and use.
Blog
Games Institute Seed Funding Program
In 2022, the GI ran its first-ever Seed Grant competition in which both faculty and students, who are active members of the GI, could apply for up to $15,000.00 to invest in a new collaboration or project with fellow members of the Institute. The awarded research groups had until the end of 2023 to finalize projects and spend all funding.
Aspects of Play in Academia: The History of CHI PLAY and how to Nurture Interdisciplinary Scholarship
If you were to ask any Games Institute (GI) member to generally state what their area of expertise is, almost a third would identify themselves as an “HCI researcher”. Human-computer interaction (HCI) is a multidisciplinary and intersectoral field where researchers investigate information technology design in various, intersectional ways. From improving the usability of interactive devices, understanding user behaviour, to broadly, and ubiquitously, understanding human experiences with technology, the field is constantly evolving and expanding the spectrum of what is considered “HCI research”.
The Unlikely Collaboration that led to the Creation of the University of Waterloo Interdisciplinary Network for Esports
Esports is a burgeoning field working to establish itself as a legitimate sport, industry, and academic discipline, that is worthy of investment and investigation. Games Institute researchers have often found academia’s slow pace at odds with the roaring highway of the rapidly advancing tech industry.