The International Conference on The Impact of Video Games on Culture and Education took place online from Lisbon, Portugal in February 17^th-18^th 2022.

Nelson Zagalo, DigiMedia Researcher, was a keynote speaker at the event, along with Espen Aarseth and Jesper Juul.

In recent years, video games have become one of the most pervasive media in society, generating billions of dollars and euros every year in both the US and Europe, towering over the world’s greatest cities every time a billboard advertises the latest game, prompting universities to create programmes and courses related to or specifically about game studies, featuring in news broadcasts in ways which are often over-simplistic and related to the manner in which video games supposedly promote violence, invading classrooms all over the world to motivate students and draw their attention to specific themes and barging into the homes and smartphones of people of virtually every age group and gender. Produced by major game studios, by independent developers, or by ordinary people who have embraced the affordances of participatory culture, video games approach a wide array of topics, are part of various transmedia projects, and spark heated debates about all sorts of subjects. Whether condemned or applauded, video games have become a crucial element of today’s culture and their potential in educational contexts is gaining increasing visibility.

The awareness of the cultural, social, political, and educational significance of video games has led to the publication of numerous studies concerning these cultural artefacts and the creation of journals such as Game Studies and Games and Culture, where video games are analysed from different perspectives and framed within distinct fields of knowledge, while attention is drawn to the multiple contexts and issues concerning their usability, interpretation, and impact on education and culture. Taking into consideration the growing relevance of video games in culture, education, and the humanities in general, this International Conference hoped to bring scholars, students, and video games aficionados together and invited them to present their papers about topics which may include, but are not limited to: