ENDGAME - Year one

24.09.2026

The first year of our ENDGAME project concluded at the end of August – and what a year it has been! To celebrate this wonderful first year, we wanted to share an update of what we have achieved during this time.

Research updates

A smiling researcher standing on a mat decorated with Vectorama logos, presenting a research information sheet to the camera. — Essi Taino conducting fieldwork in Oulu at Vectorama 2026.

One of our central tasks in this project is the survey study on game cultural participation and inclusion in Finland. Much of our first year was spent preparing, iterating, and conducting this online survey. Our aim was to find out the different ways in which people residing in Finland engage with games and related activities, and if they have experienced inclusion, exclusion, or discrimination in these contexts. We conducted the survey in March–April 2026 in Finnish, Swedish, and English and received 245 responses. We then begun analysing this material and are currently in the process of finalising our analysis and starting to write the two research articles based on this material.
Another major sub study in our project concerns social sustainability and cultural accessibility of game cultural events. Essi Taino kicked off our material collection for this in June at Vectorama, the biggest gaming festival and LAN party in Northern Finland. With this work, we want to understand what kind of meanings and significance different types of game events hold for their organisers, participants, and wider environments – but also what makes or does not make them inclusive and accessible for their participants. We are looking at these events in their local contexts, aiming to discover the cultural value and impact they hold and create for the local participants, communities, and other stakeholders. Our work at and with Vectorama will be a wonderful start for this research that will extend from Finland to Norway and all the way to Canada over the next year.
Usva Friman’s book chapter ‘Identity and game culture: The limits of game cultural participation and agency,’ closely related to the project’s topic, was published in Cultural game studies: Critical approaches edited by Frans Mäyrä and Raine Koskimaa (Routledge 2026). You can find the open access version here: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003679851-12.

Many presentations

We introduced our project at the Tampere University’s ITC faculty autumn festival and Taru research centre’s monthly meeting in October 2025. We also gave many other presentations during the year, on our project research and other closely related topics.

Project's researcher team standing in front of a screen displaying their presentation title at DiGRA 2026 — Our research team (Friman, Maletska, Taino, and Kalmanlehto) at DiGRA 2026 in Maynooth.

We discussed initial findings from our survey material in two presentations:

Kalmanlehto, J., Friman, U., Maletska, M., & Taino, E. (2026, 27 May). Anger and game cultural exclusion. Northern Star Symposium 2026, 26–28 May 2026, Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum, Bodø, Norway.
Friman, U., Kalmanlehto, J., Taino, E., & Maletska, M. (2016, 15 June). Intersectional pleasures and limits of game cultural participation and belonging in Finland. DiGRA 2026 Conference: Intersectional pleasures, 14–18 June 2026, Maynooth University, Ireland.

Our team members also presented in various conferences on several other topics:

Friman, U., & Ståhl, M. (2026, 12 March). Addressing gender-based discrimination in women’s Nordic esports competitions. The 9th International Sport and Discrimination Conference, 11–12 March 2026, Dublin City University, Ireland.
Kilvington, D., Anderson, J., Friman, U., Van Gyn, J., Belas Trindade, J. (2026, 13 March). Panel: Sport, media and discrimination. The 2026 IACS Summit on Communication and Sport, 12–14 March 2026, Dublin City University, Ireland
Friman, U., & Ståhl, M. (2026, 6 May). Gender as portrayed, experienced, and observed in women’s Nordic esports events. Tampere University Game Research Lab Spring Seminar: Events and communities, 5–6 June 2026. Tampere University, Finland.
Maletska, M., & Zingarelli, R. (2026, 26 May). Where do we belong? The academic anger of working on gender in queer/trans game studies. Northern Star Symposium 2026, 26–28 May 2026, Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum, Bodø, Norway.
Kalmanlehto, J. (2026, 9 June). On the aesthetic value of practical difficulty and skill. European Society for Aesthetics XVII conference, 8–10 June 2026, University of Jyväskylä, Finland.
Kalmanlehto, J., & Walliander, H. (2026, 16 June). Bodily pleasures of repetitive labour and rhythm in Finnish cottage simulator. DiGRA 2026 Conference: Intersectional pleasures, 14–18 June 2026, Maynooth University, Ireland.
Maletska, M., & Harshina, K. (2026, 16 June). Pleasure not for everyone: Epistemic injustice towards Ukrainian game studies. DiGRA 2026 Conference: Intersectional pleasures, 14–18 June 2026, Maynooth University, Ireland.
Taino, E., Laakso, K., Myöhänen, T., Friman, U., & Sotamaa, O. (2026, 17 June). Localized diversity, equity, and inclusion: Challenges and solutions in game culture environments. DiGRA 2026 Conference: Intersectional pleasures, 14–18 June 2026, Maynooth University, Ireland.
Maletska, M., & Zingarelli, R. (2026, 17 June). Queer games studies material turn: Centering trans bodies in video games. DiGRA 2026 Conference: Intersectional pleasures, 14–18 June 2026, Maynooth University, Ireland.

We also received the honour of presenting several invited conference keynotes:

Friman: Keynote panel ‘Online hate in the sporting world’ at the 9th International Sport and Discrimination Conference. Dublin City University in Dublin, Ireland, 11.3.2026.
Taino: Social Sustainability of Digital Game Activities. Tampere University Game Research Lab Spring Seminar ‘Events and communities’, 6.5.2026. Tampere University, Finland.
Friman: Why and how we should still talk about women’s esports: Lessons learnt from studying Nordic esports. Plenary talk at the 17th International Conference on Sport & Society. University of Inland Norway, Lillehammer, Norway, 11.6.2026.

Finally, we also delivered talks in several public and stakeholder events:

Kalmanlehto: “Playing with style.” Games as Art Center Research Talk: Games, Arts, & Aesthetics, 24.10.2025.
Friman: “Metso FAKTA: Hyvä, paha pelikulttuuri.” Paneelikeskustelu Tampereen pääkirjasto Metsossa Juho Kuorikosken ja Risto Marjomaan kanssa 5.11.2025.
Friman & Taino: “Mitä on pelikulttuuri ja kuka sinne kuuluu?” Esitys Tampereen yliopiston Tiedon valoa -tapahtumassa 23.1.2026.
Taino: “Digital Games, Youth Work & Research.” 4.-5.2.2026. Presentation and Ask Me Anything. In Gaming as a Tool for Inclusion -training course for international youth workers held in Tampere, Finland. Organized through SALTO-YOUTH, under the Digital Youth Work SNAC coordinated by the Finnish National Agency for Education.
Taino: “Accessibility in Esports”-keynote with Baltzar, P. and facilitating a “Social Sustainability in Esports” roundtable discussion. Nordic Esports Sustainability Summit, Espoo, 20.3.2026.
Taino: ”Pelikasvatuksen monet ympäristöt”-presentation. Pelikasvatuksen kesäpäivät, Pelikasvattajien verkosto online event 10.6.2026.

Media appearances

Friman commented on misogyny in gaming environments in Helsingin Sanomat in March 2026 and the upcoming GTA VI in Turun Sanomat in July 2026.

Visits, collaborations, and events

Photo of two screens. On the left, screen displaying the spring seminar 2026 title and sponsor logos. On the right, a screen displaying the event programme. — We participated in organising Game Research Lab’s ‘Events and communities’ spring seminar 2026.

We collaborated with City of Espoo’s ‘E-urheilun harrastuspolku’ project in 2025–2026. As part of this collaboration, Essi Taino produced a guide on accessible esports titled ‘Esports for All’ together with Pauliina Baltzar. The guide is openly available (in Finnish) here: https://researchportal.tuni.fi/fi/publications/esports-for-all-opas-saavutettavampaan-e-urheiluun.
We hosted Doctoral Researcher Azul Romo Flores from media and communication studies at Södertörn University on her five-day Erasmus+ visit to Tampere University in October 2025.
We participated in organising the 22nd annual Tampere University Game Research Lab spring seminar ‘Events and communities’ in May 2026.

What to expect in year two?

We have now started our second project year and are very excited about what’s next ahead! To share some highlights, this year we are planning to:

Research: We are continuing our work started last year on game cultural participation and inclusion in Finland as well as on social sustainability and cultural accessibility of game cultural events. We will also engage in other sub projects on gaming competence and expertise (Kalmanlehto), neurodiversity in organised gaming activities (Taino), and gaming activities in immigrant queer people’s social integration (Maletska). The first publications from the material produced in this project are expected to come out during our second project year.
Visit abroad: Usva Friman is visiting Nord University in Bodø, Norway, from September to December, and Essi Taino is visiting Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, from December to March.
Deliver more presentations: We have been accepted to present our ongoing research on Finnish Game Research Days in November in Jyväskylä! We’re also planning submissions for e.g. Nordic DiGRA and CEEGS 2027.