Future Game transforms Braga into a meeting point for the world of video games

In recent decades, video games have evolved far beyond entertainment, establishing themselves as a significant cultural infrastructure that shapes imaginaries, artistic practices, and technological innovation. In Portugal, this sector is experiencing a moment of consolidation and growth, while France continues to serve as an international reference point, marked by the emblematic French Touch and its pioneering role in affirming video games as a form of artistic expression.

Within this context, Braga Media Arts, in collaboration with the Institut Français du Portugal, presents Future Game — a programme dedicated to exploring video games as an art, a technological laboratory, and a rapidly expanding creative industry. This initiative brings together leading voices from the field, including Vincent Moulinet, Mélanie Courtinat, Stella Jacob, André Sier and Abel Neto.

Vincent Moulinet is an artist, curator and game designer whose work employs real-time media and video games as both creative tools and research methodologies. As a curator, he investigates the relationships between computation, planetary limits and play, collaborating with artists who propose alternative ways of understanding technology. Through the collectives Fabbula and Distraction.fun, he produces exhibitions, events, research programmes and international game jams.

Mélanie Courtinat is an artist and award-winning art director whose practice spans video games, CGI, film and immersive VR experiences. Her real-time engine–based works have been presented internationally, including at Venice Immersive (Venice Biennale) and LISTE Art Basel.

Stella Jacob, a graduate of Gobelins in Game Design, is a multimedia artist and game designer whose work examines community dynamics and the intersections between online and offline worlds, challenging rules, boundaries and shared behaviours.

André Sier, artist-researcher and PhD graduate from the Planetary Collegium (University of Plymouth), creates mythological video games and bioelectronic aggregates that connect human and non-human interfaces with immersive, interactive environments. Over 28 years, he has produced multiple award-winning works, with more than 34 solo exhibitions and over 100 group exhibitions.

Abel Neto, a game designer and researcher from Porto, specialises in asymmetric gameplay and experimental horror. He holds a PhD in Digital Media from the University of Porto, where he studied the impact of asymmetry on player experience.

Under the theme “Game Worlds as Cultural Infrastructures: The Role of Videogames in Europe’s Emerging Creative Industries”, the programme features a keynote by Vincent Moulinet and a roundtable discussion with Portuguese and French artists and designers. Each participant will present short interventions, followed by an open conversation on virtual worlds as spaces for community building, technological ethics, identity construction and imagined futures. The session will be moderated by João Ribeiro, PhD in Digital Media from the University of Porto. By fostering dialogue between critical thought, experimentation and creative practice, Future Game highlights the cultural, artistic and technological significance of video games today and in the future.

Throughout the day, an Arcade Room will be open to the public, showcasing games by Portuguese and French creators, who will be present at the opening. This hands-on component complements the programme’s theoretical dimension, offering visitors the opportunity to experience firsthand how each game embodies aesthetic, political and technological questions.