FROG – Future and Reality of Gaming 2025

19th Vienna Games Conference
Saturday, 11 & Sunday, 12 October 2025

“Play. Learn. Connect. Esports in Youth Media Practice”

Registration for Fast Track Access and Coffee ended! Feel free to join us without registration at Nordbuffet or hop into our FROG 2025 Livestream:

https://donau-uni.zoom.us/j/61668486239?pwd=SJj2DZgN8UxnHCU2k5xjx1rIrQaSkv.1

Meeting-ID: 616 6848 6239 / Kenncode: 518362

Book of Abstracts:

FROG-2025-Future-and-Reality-of-Gaming.pptx-2Download

Template Rolling Publication Book Contribution

See https://www.mad-conferences.com/?page_id=421 as demo how it looks like

TEMPLATE-FROG2025_YOURNAMEDownload

Call:

While thousands of enthusiastic players are gathering annually at the Game City in the Vienna City Hall, the international conference “FROG – Future and Reality of Gaming” invites to an academic discourse on the subject of games and play. This year we explore Esports in the context of innovative youth media work – framed by the Erasmus+ project “ESPORTS – Esports Professions and Opportunities: Resources and Training for Success.”

At the heart of the conference are questions such as: What competencies can Esports help foster? How can we design inclusive and diverse Esports initiatives? What career pathways does the industry open up for young people – and how can we support a healthy balance between gaming and other aspects of life?

Read the full Call for Abstracts here and submit until 8 September 2025!

Conference Mode:
The conference will take place on-site at Vienna City Hall. Online participants will be able to follow all presentations via livestream. Live presentations will only be accepted from speakers attending in person. Authors unable to travel to Vienna may submit a pre-recorded video presentation matching the designated time format. These videos will be published on the FROG YouTube channel (@appliedgames). All accompanying papers will be published by the University for Continuing Education Krems Press.

Conference Location:
Vienna City Hall
Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz 1
1010 Wien
Austria

Location on Google Maps
Practical Information

Hashtag for the conference: #FROG2025

Follow us!
X: @FROG_Vienna_
Facebook: @frogvienna

We also keep you updated via @appliedgames on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Bluesky

FROG 2025 | Workshop

Bitte helft mit und füllt dieses interaktive Formular aus: https://esportsfrog.manus.space/

Deutsch:
Dieser interaktive, KI-gestützte Workshop ermöglicht es den Teilnehmer_innen, in die Rollen verschiedener Stakeholder aus dem eSport-Ökosystem zu schlüpfen und komplexe Fragestellungen an der Schnittstelle von eSport, Jugendmedienarbeit und beruflicher Bildung aus unterschiedlichen Perspektiven zu betrachten. Durch die zufällige Auswahl aus 14 detaillierten Personas – von Eltern und Lehrkräften bis hin zu Pro-Gamer_innen und Politiker_innen – werden die vielschichtigen Herausforderungen und Chancen dieser dynamischen Branche erfahrbar gemacht. Die gesammelten Erkenntnisse fließen direkt in die Forschung des EU-Projekts “ESPORTS – Esports Professions and Opportunities” ein und werden vor Ort mit Expert_innen diskutiert, um praxisnahe Lösungsansätze zu entwickeln.

English:
This interactive, AI-powered workshop enables participants to step into the roles of various stakeholders from the esports ecosystem and examine complex issues at the intersection of esports, youth media work, and vocational education from different perspectives. Through the randomized selection of 14 detailed personas – ranging from parents and educators to pro-gamers and policymakers – the multi-layered challenges and opportunities of this dynamic industry become tangible. The collected insights feed directly into the research of the EU project “ESPORTS – Esports Professions and Opportunities” and are discussed on-site with experts to develop practical solution approaches.

2025 Programme

Join us on site or hop into our live stream via Zoom (no registration needed):

https://donau-uni.zoom.us/j/61668486239?pwd=SJj2DZgN8UxnHCU2k5xjx1rIrQaSkv.1

Meeting-ID: 616 6848 6239 / Passcode: 518362

Samstag (Saturday)

UhrzeitNameThema
   
09:30 – 10:00Ankommen
Vortragssprache English:
10:00 – 10:30Chairs (AP, RI, LR)Eröffnung
10:30 – 11:001_Tobias ScholzPlaying to Learn, Competing to Connect: Academic Esports World Tournament as a Case Study in Esports for Youth Development
11:00 – 11:302_Sonja GabrielEmpathy in Digital Competition: Approaches to Fostering Empathy in Esports Settings and Fan Communities
11:30 – 12:30 Keynote3_Susanna PollackFrom Play to Purpose: How Games, Game-Based Learning and Esports Are Shaping the Future
12:30 – 13:30Mittagspause
13:30 – 14:004_Darko PetrovicBeyond entertainment: Games and play as allies in the fight against global hunger
14:00 –  14:305_Linda RustemeierGirls Do Games – Misogynist Strategies of eSports Gamers
14:30 – 15:006_Afshin GholamiAffective and Behavioral Modulations Under Contrasting Social Climates: Toxicity vs. Support in Cooperative Esports Paradigms
15:00 – 15:307_Kanupriya Rawat & Krzysztof ChmielewskiAchievement motivation, Physical Self-Concept, and Competitive Anxiety in Esports – A Pilot Study
15:30 – 16:008_Krzysztof Chmielewski & Szymon WróblewskiWinning a Rigged Game: Organizational Culture and the Success of ‘Golem UKW’ in the EDU ESPORTS Academic League
16:00 – 16:309_Danielle Kathryn LangloisMinigames for Esports Training: Discoveries and Challenges
Vortragssprache Deutsch:
16:30 –  17:0010_Susanne SammerLevel Up: Zyklus & Performance im Esport
17:00 – 17:3011_Stefan BalohÖsterreich liebt Esports
17:30 – 18:00 Keynote12_Markus MöcklE-Sport Verband Deutschland; Esports als Breitensport

Sonntag (Sunday)

UhrzeitNameThema
   
09:30 – 10:00Ankommen
10:00– 11:00 Keynote13_Tobias ScholzEsports-Based Assessment and Youth Recruitment: The Outplayed Cup as a Case Study
11:20 – 11:5014_Samira HerberPlaying with Strangers: Encouraging Prosocial Behaviors in Large Multiplayer Games for Healthier Communities
11:50 – 12:2015_Wolfgang RebernikThe game as an entry point and mediator in knowledge transfer
12:20 – 13:10 Mittagspause + Elevator pitch (youth participation)
13:10 – 14:10 Keynote16_Fiona S. SchönbergOutside, Looking In… Happy? Interpassivity an an explanation for the rise of modern streaming culture
Vortragssprache Deutsch:
14:10 – 14:4017_Hannes WaldnerVoraussetzungen für Esports in der Jugendarbeit – ein Vergleich zweier Praxisbeispiele in Südtirol
14:40 – 15:1018_Andreas Wieser und Raphael StellwagenÜber Aufstieg und Fall eines E-Sport-Vereins. Ein Erfahrungsbericht über die Ziele, Erfolge, Hindernisse und Hürden eines eingetragenen E-Sport Vereins
15:10 – 15:4019_Rudolf Thomas InderstWenn Popkultur zu Methode wird: Neue Zugänge zur Analyse digitaler Spiele
15:40 – 16:10Eingesprungen:
Michael Wiktora		Spiel-Box
16:10 – 16:4020_Barbara GöblRemixing als kreative Praxis im spielbasierten Lernen (Remixing as creative practice in game-based learning)
16:40 – 17:1021_Mateo KlanisekReflexion über Stereotype im E-Sport
17:10 – 17:30Closing
   
   
   

FROG 2025 | Chairs and Programme Committee

Chairs:
Alexander Pfeiffer
Thomas Wernbacher
Daniel Heinz
Stefan Hintersdorf
Linda Rustemeier
Nanditha Krishna
Stephanie Wössner
Alesha Serada
Rudolf Thomas Inderst
Sonja Gabriel
Michaela Wawra

Honorary Chairs:
Michael G. Wagner
Natalie Denk
Herbert Rosenstingl

FROG Organizers, Funding and Partners

The Center for Applied Games Studies at the University of Continuing Education Krems is responsible for the organisation and implementation of FROG 2025.
https://www.donau-uni.ac.at/ags

FROG 2025 is part of the Erasmus+ project “ESPORTS – Esports Professions and Opportunities: Resources and Training for Success.”
https://www.donau-uni.ac.at/de/forschung/projekt/U7_PROJEKT_4294971532

Federal Chancellery of Austria
https://www.bundeskanzleramt.gv.at/

BuPP – Bundesstelle für die Positivprädikatisierung von digitalen Spielen
https://bupp.at/

GAME CITY 2025
Österreichs größte Computer- und Konsolenspiel-Messe
11. – 13. Oktober 2025, Wiener Rathaus
https://www.game-city.at/

Verein WIENXTRA in Kooperation mit der Stadt Wien – Bildung und Jugend
Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz 5, 1082 Wien
https://www.wienxtra.at/
https://www.wien.gv.at/