Thanks everyone for joining! All FROG 2025 talks are now released on the @appliedgames YouTube channel.

FROG 2025 Anthology

The online anthology for FROG 2025 is currently in preparation. All contributions will be published via DOOR, the online repository of the University for Continuing Education Krems.

Download the paper template:

FROG – Future and Reality of Gaming 2024
““Play. Learn. Connect. Esports in Youth Media Practice”

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

Book of Abstracts:

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!

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.



FROG 2025 | Programme

Samstag (Saturday)

Uhrzeit	Name	Thema
09:30 – 10:00	Ankommen
Vortragssprache English:
10:00 – 10:30	Chairs (AP, RI, LR)	Eröffnung
10:30 – 11:00	1_Tobias Scholz	Playing to Learn, Competing to Connect: Academic Esports World Tournament as a Case Study in Esports for Youth Development
11:00 – 11:30	2_Sonja Gabriel	Empathy in Digital Competition: Approaches to Fostering Empathy in Esports Settings and Fan Communities
11:30 – 12:30 Keynote	3_Susanna Pollack	From Play to Purpose: How Games, Game-Based Learning and Esports Are Shaping the Future
12:30 – 13:30	Mittagspause
13:30 – 14:00	4_Darko Petrovic	Beyond entertainment: Games and play as allies in the fight against global hunger
14:00 –  14:30	5_Linda Rustemeier	Girls Do Games – Misogynist Strategies of eSports Gamers
14:30 – 15:00	6_Afshin Gholami	Affective and Behavioral Modulations Under Contrasting Social Climates: Toxicity vs. Support in Cooperative Esports Paradigms
15:00 – 15:30	7_Kanupriya Rawat & Krzysztof Chmielewski	Achievement motivation, Physical Self-Concept, and Competitive Anxiety in Esports – A Pilot Study
15:30 – 16:00	8_Krzysztof Chmielewski & Szymon Wróblewski	Winning a Rigged Game: Organizational Culture and the Success of ‘Golem UKW’ in the EDU ESPORTS Academic League
16:00 – 16:30	9_Danielle Kathryn Langlois	Minigames for Esports Training: Discoveries and Challenges
Vortragssprache Deutsch:
16:30 –  17:00	10_Susanne Sammer	Level Up: Zyklus & Performance im Esport
17:00 – 17:30	11_Stefan Baloh	Österreich liebt Esports
17:30 – 18:00 Keynote	12_Markus Möckl	E-Sport Verband Deutschland; Esports als Breitensport

Sonntag (Sunday)

Uhrzeit	Name	Thema
09:30 – 10:00	Ankommen
10:00– 11:00 Keynote	13_Tobias Scholz	Esports-Based Assessment and Youth Recruitment: The Outplayed Cup as a Case Study
11:20 – 11:50	14_Samira Herber	Playing with Strangers: Encouraging Prosocial Behaviors in Large Multiplayer Games for Healthier Communities
11:50 – 12:20	15_Wolfgang Rebernik	The game as an entry point and mediator in knowledge transfer
12:20 – 13:10		Mittagspause + Elevator pitch (youth participation)
13:10 – 14:10 Keynote	16_Fiona S. Schönberg	Outside, Looking In… Happy? Interpassivity an an explanation for the rise of modern streaming culture
Vortragssprache Deutsch:
14:10 – 14:40	17_Hannes Waldner	Voraussetzungen für Esports in der Jugendarbeit – ein Vergleich zweier Praxisbeispiele in Südtirol
14:40 – 15:10	18_Andreas Wieser und Raphael Stellwagen	Über Aufstieg und Fall eines E-Sport-Vereins. Ein Erfahrungsbericht über die Ziele, Erfolge, Hindernisse und Hürden eines eingetragenen E-Sport Vereins
15:10 – 15:40	19_Rudolf Thomas Inderst	Wenn Popkultur zu Methode wird: Neue Zugänge zur Analyse digitaler Spiele
15:40 – 16:10	Michael Wiktora	Escape-Box
16:10 – 16:40	20_Barbara Göbl	Remixing als kreative Praxis im spielbasierten Lernen (Remixing as creative practice in game-based learning)
16:40 – 17:10	21_Mateo Klanisek	Reflexion über Stereotype im E-Sport
17:10 – 17:30		Closing

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