Today, games are more than just entertainment. Games have become one of the most impactful mediums for education, storytelling, and global transformation.
Hosted by Games For Change Hong Kong, the first local chapter in Asia, the Games For Change Hong Kong 2026 Festival turned trend into action on May 27th at the University of Hong Kong, where their annual festival brought together changemakers across industries and borders to shape what’s next in gaming and beyond.
Throughout the one-day festival, participants were treated to three tracks: Inspiring Across Sectors, Pushing New Boundaries, and the Indie Track. A total of 34 speakers presented 15 talks and workshops, ranging from hands-on sessions that explored games as real-world tools, to inspiring panels with game designers, academics, and innovators creating cross-industry impact.
Malaysia had a significant presence at the festival, including Passion Republic, one of the country’s leading game art and animation studios. Four members of the company had a dedicated panel sharing their journey, from working on award-winning titles like Elden Ring and Diablo IV, to developing GigaBash, one of Malaysia’s most prominent video game IPs.
Sophie Azlan, co-founder of Make With Friends studio and lecturer at University of Wollongong Malaysia, represented Malaysia on the Building Ecosystems: Gaming Perspectives Across Asia panel, where community builders across Asia dived into the unique mix of opportunities, challenges, and ecosystem gaps across different regions.
I-Van Yee, ecosystem manager and lecturer at Asia Pacific University, participated in the Dismantling the Ivory Tower: Bridging Academia with Industry panel, where the conversation revolved around how universities can move beyond purely theoretical learning to better bridge academia with industry.
Dominic Chong Fu Nien, a game development student from Asia Pacific University, was also invited to showcase at the Games For Change Hong Kong 2026 Festival. He represented Team Dinnerbone, the winning team of the inaugural Games For Change Student Game Jam Kuala Lumpur held at Indie Jam 2026 earlier this April.
The game jam was part of the first ever Games for Change Student Game Jam Asia Series with other jam sites in Singapore and Hong Kong earlier that year. The Kuala Lumpur edition was based on the theme “Reefs and Rainforests”, supported by Playing For The Planet.
Nathalie Tay, the founder of Indie Jam and editor-in-chief of THE MAGIC RAIN, was also invited to speak in the Headlines and Subcultures: Exploring the Intersection of Media, Entertainment, and Communities panel.
The panel also featured Razlan Manjaji from South China Morning Post and Sewon Chung from M+, exploring how fandoms and communities are evolving faster than ever, reshaping how audiences gather, participate and form identity around the media they love.
The Games For Change Hong Kong 2026 Festival was more than just an event, it was a place to reimagine the roles that games play across industries. As shared by Vince Siu, the founder and lead curator at Games for Change Hong Kong, during this opening address:
“If we are to leverage games as a platform through which transformative stories can be told, then we must look at games not as an end product, but as a process, a way of thinking, and a reflective lens. What happens when we see games not as its own silo and when we don’t trivialize it? Turns out, we can examine the world through games.”
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