We're coming to AdventureX 2026!

We are delighted to be returning to this year’s line-up at AdventureX 2026. AdventureX is the UK’s top narrative-driven gaming convention, which brings together gamemakers passionate about interactive storytelling. We’re running a panel on “Fact versus Fiction: Creating historical games for a modern audience”.

Games are now one of the main ways people engage with history. How can we balance historical authenticity with demand for diverse and inclusive stories? This panel will discuss how humanities-grounded academic research makes sense of video games, and how this can feed back into video game production. In particular, we will discuss different ways that games can design for diversity while still incorporating research-informed design choices. We hope to inspire AdventureX game makers to explore new ideas and reach new audiences.

The panel includes:

• Dr. Esther Wright, Senior Lecturer in Digital History at Cardiff University. Her expertise is in historical video game promotion, and marketing of historical ‘authenticity’ through video games such as Red Dead Redemption, L.A. Noire, and Fallout. She is co-editor of ‘Writing Game Histories’ (Bloomsbury) and co-convenor of the Historical Games Network and the Cardiff Heritage Jam.
• Dr. Holly Nielsen, a researcher of historical play cultures who integrates her research expertise into her games writing, developing and narrative design (e.g. Amberspire, Thousand Hells, Neurocracy and Devolver Tumble Time). She has written on games for The Guardian, PC Gamer, and Rock Paper Shotgun.
• Dr. Chris Kempshall, public historian and author who specialises in experiences of warfare and modern media representations of history in video games, particularly the Star Wars franchise.
• Dr. Stephanie Rennick, Senior Lecturer in Digital Interactive Media at the University of Stirling, studying the philosophy of pop culture, game studies, metaphysics, and time travel. She is particularly interested in the relationship between realism and possibility in games, and is one of the founders of ‘Trope Informed’.

You can find out more about AdventureX here. To get alerts for upcoming events, please subscribe to our mailing list.