ROME, September 24, 2026. Two days to connect worlds that too often discuss the future of video games separately: industry, universities, research, and culture. The Games Forum Rome, the new international event scheduled for November 12 and 13, 2026, at Villa Mondragone, organized by Women in Games and Structura, with the University of Rome Tor Vergata as Main Partner, is born with this objective.

The Forum aims to address an increasingly central issue for the sector: how to transform the dialogue between industry, research, training, and culture into concrete collaborations, new projects, and professional opportunities.

Therefore, it is not just a series of conferences, but a meeting space designed to foster direct dialogue among those who develop video games, those who study them, those who invest in the technologies that are changing their production and distribution, and those who analyze their cultural, educational, social, and economic impact.

Culture, Community, Commerce

Three areas will guide the program of the first edition: Culture, Community, and Commerce.

• Culture will address video games as an expressive form and interactive work, their relationship with art and cultural heritage, and their applications in research and education.
• Community will focus on the people who make up the gaming ecosystem, from developers to players, from academics to professionals, with particular attention to inclusion, representation, access to opportunities, and the quality of work environments.
• Commerce will analyze what enables industry growth: business models, international markets, investments, new technologies, and the sustainability of businesses and professions.

Among the cross-cutting themes of the two days will also be artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, the transformation of work, the development of new skills, the cultural value of video games, and collaboration between research and industry.

Keynotes, panels, and discussion sessions will be accompanied by moments dedicated to networking and creating connections between professionals and organizations with complementary skills.

A European Roundtable in Rome for Organizations Representing Women in Innovation and Creativity Sectors

The Rome Roundtable 2026. Women, Equality & Europe’s Digital Future, an international working group promoted by Women in Games and Structura, will also be held within The Games Forum Rome.

For two days, in closed-door sessions, the Roundtable will bring together organizations representing women in video games, media, technology, education, research, and creative industries, along with networks committed to equality issues.

The discussion will connect experiences from different sectors to identify common challenges and share possible solutions on issues of female participation and leadership, and access to professional and economic opportunities.

The goal will be to identify shared priorities, areas of intervention, and new forms of collaboration, taking European gender equality objectives towards 2030 as a reference.

From the Forum to Projects that Continue Over Time

The Games Forum Rome is born with the intention of not ending with the two days in November.

The reflections, proposals, and opportunities that emerge during the event will converge in the Rome Forum Brief, a document intended to collect the main elements that emerged from the discussion.

In parallel, CIRCULUS will be developed, a network designed to keep relations between industry, universities, research, and culture active throughout the year and foster the creation of new collaborations.

The Forum is aimed in particular at developers, studios, publishers, video game industry professionals, researchers, academics, students, cultural organizations, and companies in the creative and technological industries.

The goal is to create a place where those already working in the sector can meet new interlocutors and skills, while students and researchers can come into direct contact with the professional and international dimension of the industry.

The setting will be Villa Mondragone, a historic Renaissance residence linked to the University of Rome Tor Vergata: a place where cultural heritage, research, and new forms of contemporary creativity can meet, even symbolically.

The Games Forum Rome will be held on November 12 and 13, 2026. Participation is free until all available places are filled. The conference will be held entirely in English.