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IEEE
Conference on Games 2026

Call for competitions

The annual IEEE Conference on Games (IEEE CoG) seeks to be the premier venue for technical, scientific, and engineering work on video games, board games, and other types of games. Games offer a fantastic domain for computational creativity, game design, technology, education, social sciences and, undoubtedly, artificial and computational intelligence. IEEE CoG is a venue to discuss recent advances and explore future directions.

EEE CoG 2026 will take place at Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain.

We invite competition proposals for submission to the 2026 IEEE Conference on Games (CoG). Competitions can focus on various topics within the scope of CoG related to all aspects of games and game development:

  • Accessibility and inclusivity in games
  • AI for game development (automated playtesting, adaptation/personalization in games, etc.)
  • Esports and live-streaming
  • Extended reality (virtual reality, mixed reality, and augmented reality)
  • Game analytics, game data science, and data visualization
  • Game design (frameworks, game mechanics, etc.)
  • Game editors and authoring tools
  • Game-playing AI
  • Game technology (game engines, graphics, audio, animation, physics, networking, controls, etc.)
  • Game user research (player/opponent modeling, player experience studies, psychology of play and player types, etc.)
  • Games as test-beds for algorithms
  • Games for education, learning and development
  • Generative AI for games
  • Player-computer Interfaces
  • Procedural Content Generation
  • Serious/applied games (for health, sustainability, etc.)

Competitions are often based on well-known games, but custom-built environments addressing problems of interest to the research community are also welcome. Organizers must define clear rules and scoring objectives.

Responsibilities include managing a dedicated webpage and promoting the competition timeline and participation. Finally, at least one of the organizers of the competition is required to attend the conference to present the results.

The proposal should be 4 pages maximum, follow the given template (here), and be submitted to the conference competitions chair: Christoph Salge (c.salge@herts.ac.uk) You can also email the competition chair before the submission if you have questions about the suitability of your competition or the template. You can find a template for the application below.

Relevant dates for this call are as follows:

  • Submission of competition proposals: 19 January 2026
  • Notification of acceptance for competitions: 9 February 2026

Template: Competition title

(Optional: subtitle and/or tracks)

I. Introduction

A description of the competition (and tracks). Specify:

  • Problem definition, motivation, background / context
  • Fit within CoG scope
  • Potential to attract new communities to CoG (if any)
  • Novelty, scientific value
  • Impact statement (research, education etc.)

Include a short summary (1-2 lines) of the competition for advertising purposes in case of acceptance, as well as at least one representative image (can be AI generated).

II. Logistics

Describe how entries to the competition will be submitted, and how feedback will be provided (website-hosted submissions encouraged). Specify the criteria for winners, and any associated prizes already agreed or planned. How do you self-assess the barrier for entry (are tutorials available / planned etc.), and what programming language(s) are used?

III. Participants

Who is the target audience? Specify the plans for advertising and getting participants. If the competition was held previously at CoG or in other contexts, include links to max. 2 other editions and number of participants.

IV. Timeline

Specify dates for entry submission and results announcement (TBA if during the conference competition session, but you may consider advertising a list of finalists earlier to encourage winner presence at the competition).

V. Other information

Any other information and/or requirements from CoG organizers (e.g. demo or poster space, presentation slot preferred time, live streaming of results).

VI. Organizers

Detail the organizers, short bio (and experience with competition organization or the research problem it addresses), their affiliation, and contact emails.

VII. External links

Please include links to:

  • Competition website
  • Video presenting the competition problem(s) (max. 5 minutes)
  • (Optional) Current or planned associated communities (e.g. Discord, national associations)

References

Any references used throughout the proposal.