e-UCM at the 4th International Symposium Playful by Design: Games Beyond Entertainment

The e-UCM research group participated in the 4th International Playful by Design Symposium, held on May 28 and 29, 2026. For this fourth edition, the in-person event was hosted by Rey Juan Carlos University (Madrid) and organized as a hybrid event involving Rey Juan Carlos University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Lusófona University (Portugal), and the Complutense University of Madrid.

Under the theme “Games Beyond Entertainment”, the symposium has established as a cross-disciplinary forum where researchers, designers, artists, and professionals from various sectors discussed the impact of games and gamification as educational tools, critical methodologies, and drivers of social transformation.

The event brought together various experts to explore the intersection of gaming, technology, and education. Unlike traditional conferences based on closed-door presentations, the event was structured around roundtable discussions. Members of the e-UCM group actively participated in these critical discussion sessions, contributing our expertise in educational technology research and game design and validation. The main objective of these discussions was to generate direct synergies for the launch of new collaborative projects and the co-authorship of scientific publications. These roundtables addressed some of the most pressing and exciting issues in the industry today:

• Gamified Education: How video games are actively transforming the learning process and boosting engagement.
• AI Ethics: navigating the complex moral and ethical landscapes of integrating Artificial Intelligence into games.
• Intellectual Property: understanding the changing legal and IP challenges within the video game industry.

This symposium would not have been possible without the contributions of our international speakers and the efforts of our hosts. Special thanks to those most involved in the organization:

• Lisa Bievenue, Alaina Pincus, Dan Cermak, Katryna Starks (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
• João Alves de Sousa, José Raimundo (Universidade Lusófona – Centro Universitário Porto)
• Antonio Calvo Morata, Cristina Alonso Fernández y Baltasar Fernández-Manjón (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)
• The hosts, María Zapata Cáceres and Aaron Sújar Garrido (Rey Juan Carlos University), for bringing us all together and fostering such a collaborative atmosphere.

Special mention goes to Dan’s impressive presentation on the student-run video game studio (games.illinois.edu) and how it is being used to provide real-world experiential learning opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students, as well as its future application in the new Master’s program in Video Game Development:

👉 https://informatics.ischool.illinois.edu/academics/gamestudies/ms-gaimd/

For more information, check the event’s website: https://playfulbydesign.illinois.edu/conference/symposium2026/symposium2026-agenda/