INTRODUCTION
About the Conference
DiGRA Central Asia Conference is a one-day regional academic event hosted at the Kazakh-British Technical University in Almaty. The conference brings together researchers and practitioners from Central Asia to strengthen the emerging game studies community and build a sustainable academic network in the region.
The event focuses on game studies, gamification, serious games, and immersive technologies. The working language is English. The conference will be held on-site with live recording and streaming to ensure accessibility for international participants and regional institutions.
This conference is organized by DiGRA Central Asia - a newly established regional chapter of the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA).
DEEP DIVE
The Main Research Topics
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Who Can Participate?
Undergraduate students
Industry professionals
PhD candidates &
Early-career researchers
People
Conference Committee
Reviewers
Meet Our External Reviewers
Devon Allcoat • University of Warwick (UK)
Alina Gutoreva • KBTU (Kazakhstan)
Kevin Caton-Largent • Game Design Instructor, NYFA, Los Angeles
Derek Rein • 3D Animation and Visual Effects Instructor, NYFA Kazakhstan
Where? When? Register Now
Key dates and Location
Event agenda
Discover the Full
Programme
9:30 AM
Registration
Whole day
Video games Showcase
10:00 AM
Opening Plenary: DiGRA CA Board Members
10:30 AM
Keynote speaker
Derek Rein is a Senior Visual Effects Artist and Compositing Supervisor with credits on major feature films including The Batman, Wonder Woman, Fantastic Four, Guardians of the Galaxy, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Fast & Furious franchise. With over a decade of industry experience, Derek brings both technical expertise and creative vision to his work.
11:00 AM
How Gamification Rewards Shape Motivation: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective
11:25 AM
Achievement Surfers: A gamified runner-based learning tool for improving student learning outcomes
11:50 AM
Games for a Sustainable Future: Developing Environmental Literacy in Schoolchildren.
12:15 PM
Coffee break
13:00 PM
Radiance Cascades Compared to Unity’s Standard Global Illumination Methods: A Cross-Genre Benchmark Study and Assessment of Practical Applicability
13:25 PM
Comparative Analysis of the Game World Perception in Narrative Games through Interaction in Virtual Reality and on a Flat Screen
13:50 PM
Integrating telemetry with player motivation models
14:15 PM
The Crisis-Driven Transaction: Mobile F2P Monetization as a Reflection of the Contemporary Digital Consumption Environment
14:40 PM
Let Them Cook: Creating and Evaluating a Game on Traditional Cuisine of Central Asia
15:05 PM
Coffee break
15:50 PM
Application of Causal Machine Learning to Compute the effects of video game intensity on students' academic performance and psychosocial well-being: An analysis based on the survey data
16:15 PM
Games as a Tool for Researching Artificial Intelligence: Using NPC Behavior in
Open World Simulations as an Example
16:40 PM
Narrative Design in the Age of Procedural Generation
17:05 PM
The Ethics and Psychology of Monetization Design: From Exploitation to Long-Term Engagement
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DiGRA Central Asia Conference 2026
The first game studies conference in Central Asia
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