Foundations of PCG
Procedural Content Generation (PCG) is an ever-growing area of research and development that explores algorithmic methods for generating game content, reducing manual design effort, and enabling new types of interactive experiences. This workshop will provide an overview of different PCG techniques, their applications in games and beyond, and current research challenges in the field.
The event is hosted by OPtiMaL (Online Procedural Content Generation via Multi-objective Optimisation and Learning), a research project focused on AI-driven content generation that adapts to human behavior and optimizes for multiple objectives. OPtiMaL’s approaches are designed for digital games but have broader applications in domains such as construction, manufacturing, education, and autonomous driving. Researchers from the Institute of Digital Games, Malta, and SUSTech, China will discuss the latest advancements in PCG, covering topics such as search-based methods, machine learning approaches, and their implications for game design and AI-driven simulations.
This workshop is intended for researchers, developers, and anyone interested in the intersection of AI and content generation. It will include presentations on key PCG techniques, case studies from current research, and discussions on future directions in the field.
The event was held online on 14th May 2025 (09:00 - 12:00 (CET)).
Participation is free but subject to registration.
Speakers
- Prof. Georgios N. Yannakakis
- Prof. Jialin Liu
- Yuchen Li
- Qingquan Zhang
- Wenxing Lan
- Marvin Zammit
- Roberto Gallotta
- Matthew Barthet
Keynote Speakers
Prof. Sebastian Risi
Sebastian Risi is a Professor at the IT University of Copenhagen where he directs the Creative AI Lab and a co-founder of modl.ai, a company that empowers game developers and publishers with AI-driven products for game testing and content generation. Sebastian received his PhD from UCF in 2012 and did a postdoc at Cornell University from 2012-2013. He has won several international scientific awards, including multiple best paper awards, the Distinguished Young Investigator in Artificial Life 2018 award, a Google Faculty Research Award in 2019, and an Amazon Research Award in 2020. His work has been covered by various media outlets, including Science, New Scientist, Wired, Fast Company, and The Register.
Keynote: The Evolution of PCGML: From Searching Latent Spaces to Generating Content via Natural Language Prompts
Dr. Michael Cook
Michael Cook is an AI researcher, game designer and writer based in London, where he currently works at King's College London. He does research into procedural generation, AI for game design, and how technology shapes creativity. He was also very briefly a Tunic speedrunner.
Keynote: Pixie Dust: Why Everyone Should Be A Generative Designer
Dr. Vanessa Volz
Vanessa Volz is currently a tenure track researcher in the Evolutionary Intelligence (EI) group at Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI), Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She received her PhD in 2019 from TU Dortmund University, Germany, for her work on surrogate-assisted evolutionary algorithms applied to game optimisation. Her current research focus is on transfer learning in the context of evolutionary computation, especially in the context of recurring or otherwise dynamic problems. She also spent several years as an AI researcher at modl.ai (Denmark), a start-up that develops AI-based tools for video game testing to the game industry.
Keynote: Evaluating PCG: From Benchmarks to Industry Applications
