GachaCon

We will be hosting GachaCon 2026, an interdisciplinary academic conference on gacha games with a theme on Genshin Impact, on 12–13 February 2026 at the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong.

Game studies, sociology, culture studies, literary studies, philosophy, art & design, psychology, and law; come one, come all!

Call for Papers: https://tinyurl.com/gachaconcfp

Submission (deadline: 14 November 2025): https://tinyurl.com/gachaconsubmit

Extended Abstract Template: https://tinyurl.com/gachacontemplate

Register for FREE: https://tinyurl.com/gachaconregister

Abstracts may address (but are not limited to) the following topics:

• Genshin Impact

• Gacha games as a genre

• Game design and storytelling

• Cultural representation (positives and/or negatives)

• Monetisation, including gacha, battle pass, and daily login

• Free-to-play, pay-to-win, and grinding

• Parasocial relationships with in-game characters

• Player practices, including summoning ‘rituals’

• Player communities, including their reaction to various issues

• User-generated content: fanart, cosplay, livestreaming, ‘playbour,’ etc.

• Voice actors: labour strikes and (improper) interactions with players

• Marketing: offline events, social media posts, etc.

• Video game industry issues

Organisers: Leon Xiao, Johnathan Harrington, & Benjamin Horn

Invited speakers: Heather Blakey, Joleen Blom, Claudia Fu, Taylor Hardwick, Yeonwoo Lee, Anh-Thu Nguyen, Yixiang Que, & Orlando Woods

Art & design: DAWN (@dawv6_)