The annual event dedicated to video games as a medium for exploring real places and cultural
heritage returns to Trieste from Thursday 5 to Saturday 7 November, once again as part of the Trieste
Science+Fiction Festival, Italy’s leading event dedicated to science fiction.
As in previous years, the three-day programme will be introduced by a series of online previews,
streamed live on the GameCvlt channels from mid to late October. The sessions will offer an early
glimpse of some of the themes that will take centre stage during the event in Trieste.
The 2026 edition expands its international outlook even further, bringing together different cultures
and perspectives. Actual places are still the starting point: a context to be translated into interactive
experiences, an opportunity to build partnerships, and a means of creating a tangible impact on local
communities. These ideas will shape the opening day of the in-person programme, aimed in particular
at professionals working across the video game industry, culture, and research. The day will feature a
strong Spanish presence, with guests bringing perspectives from different parts of the country.
IVIPRO DAYS will also look at video games as a lens through which to examine the world around
us.The online previews and in-person programme will tackle a range of political and social issues:
from the relationship between video games, identity and politics in Brazil to Afro-Indigenous
worldviews; from today's theatres of war to the rise of new forms of fascism, explored through a new
focus-group format. Memory and the contemporary world will provide another recurring thread
throughout the programme. Topics will range from the history of Berlin to the preservation of video
game and film heritage; from the horror narratives inspired by archaeology to the reinterpretation of
the past. The programme will take us from significant experiences in Poland to the experimental work emerging from Italy’s independent game development scene.
The economic and professional dimensions of the industry will also be on the agenda.Licensing, games user research, anarcho-capitalism, sustainability and new models for the Italian video game ecosystem will feature in a number of sessions, alongside contributions from representatives of politics and the banking sector.
The winners of the 2026 Giovanni Pollicino Award, recognising the best university theses on video games, will be announced on the third and final day of the event.
The economic and professional dimensions of the industry will also be on the agenda.Licensing, games user research, anarcho-capitalism, sustainability and new models for the Italian video game ecosystem will feature in a number of sessions, alongside contributions from representatives of politics and the banking sector.
The winners of the 2026 Giovanni Pollicino Award, recognising the best university theses on video games, will be announced on the third and final day of the event.
You can access the event for free upon registration on Eventbrite, subject to availability (https://iviprodays2026.eventbrite.it).
event page: bit.ly/iviprodays2026
Detailed program HERE. Guests include: Anna Laura Orrico, Member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies (Five Star Movement); Ugo Biggeri, European representative for the Global Alliance for Banking on Values; Valentine Bouchachi and Rémi Guittet (French Embassy in Italy); Maciej Miąsik, pioneer of the Polish video game industry, and Piotr Gnyp from the distribution platform GOG; Ukrainian game designer Dariia Selishcheva and Iranian-American game dev Kas Ghobadi; artist and curator Isabelle Arvers; and representatives from Italian development studios such as Milestone, Sedleo, and Studio Ortica.
