CHI PLAY 2026: Four Contributions, Including Two Honorable Mentions
Researchers from the UMTL and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) achieved great success at ACM CHI PLAY 2026, presenting a total of four contributions at the international conference. In particular, both full papers received an Honorable Mention Award. The research covered topics ranging from game audio and character customization to serious games.
ACM CHI PLAY is one of the leading international conference in games research, focusing on the design, use, and impact of digital games and playful applications.
Two Honorable Mentions for Full Papers
In A Scoping Review of Auditory Interventions in Games and Gamification, Marc Schubhan, Katja Rogers, Janna Klein-Hermann, Pascal Lessel, and Maximilian Altmeyer explored how audio influences player experience, behavior, and performance. Drawing on 119 scientific publications, the researchers systematically reviewed existing findings and identified factors that may influence the effectiveness of music and sound effects. Their results highlight that the impact of audio strongly depends on context and that further research is particularly needed in gamification.
Marc Schubhan presenting his paper, which received an Honourable Mention Award, at CHI PLAY 2026.
The second paper, 87 Hairstyles Are Not Enough: How Players Experience Character Creation in Baldur’s Gate 3 by Marco Weiss and Pascal Lessel, focuses on character customization in digital role-playing games. Based on a survey of 171 Baldur’s Gate 3 players, the researchers investigated which customization options matter most and how players perceive the available choices. Their findings show that players value greater opportunities for personalization and that even a large number of options is not necessarily perceived as overwhelming. The authors use these insights to provide recommendations for the design of future character creation systems.
Two Work-in-Progress Contributions on Game Audio and Serious Games
In addition to the two full papers, UMTL researchers also presented two Work-in-Progress contributions.
- The contribution Sound by Design: Practitioner Perspectives on Factors Moderating the Impact of Audio in Games by Marc Schubhan, Stella Piebrock, Katja Rogers, and Maximilian Altmeyer, explores the role of audio from the perspective of game industry professionals. Through interviews with five professional audio designers, the researchers identified several factors that influence how sound is perceived and experienced in games. These insights provide valuable directions for future research and practical game audio design.
- In Playing With Consent: A Serious Game Addressing Online Sexual Consent Among Men Who Have Sex With Men, Nina Knieriemen, Simone M. Hüning, Marc Schubhan, and Antonio Krüger introduced a web-based serious game designed to raise awareness of sexual consent in digital interactions. The game specifically addresses men who have sex with men, whose experiences are often underrepresented in existing educational resources. An initial qualitative evaluation highlights the potential of interactive dialogue scenarios to support inclusive, relatable, and engaging education about consent.
Marc Schubhan and Nina Knieriemen presenting their Work-in-Progress posters at CHI PLAY 2026.
