The Creative Academy Returns: Gaming as a Pop Culture Phenomenon

What are the main global impacts of the ever-evolving digital gaming industry? How does the diversity of gaming influence culture? How is the rise of e-sports reshaping the world of traditional sports? These are just some questions the guests of the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency will discuss at the upcoming Creative Academy event. The event on the 4th of June, part of the series exploring the intersections of the creative industry and incentivising professional dialogue, will focus on the gaming industry, one of the most dynamically developing segments of digital culture.

The Agency is organising the renewed Creative Academy for the second time, aiming to present the current trends across a broader spectrum of the creative sector, going beyond fashion and design to include the gaming and beauty industries. At the roundtable discussion on Gaming as a Pop Culture Phenomenon, renowned industry players will shed light on key areas of digital gaming from various perspectives. At the same time, the event strives to support attendees with up-to-date information and to foster meaningful dialogue between professionals from different fields. Thus, following the inspiring roundtable discussion, the audience can pose questions directly to the experts.

Digital games and the industry built around them have grown tremendously since the first computer programs emerged in the 1950s and ‘60s. In the ’70s and ’80s, arcade games played in dedicated venues shaped the youth of generations. From the 1990s onwards, with the rise of PCs, the alternative worlds of online games first moved into our homes, and from the 2000s, increasingly into our mobile devices. From the 2010s onwards, the gaming industry began to transcend its own boundaries: major e-sports championships started to claim their place among the world’s leading sporting events. Today, online games are not only participants of the mainstream culture but also shapers of it; consider, for example, The Last of Us, one of the recent successes of a major streaming service, originally launched as a console game in 2013. And thanks to the rise of VR, AR, AI and cloud services, both the technology and the industry are facing greater changes than ever before.

Main topics of the roundtable discussion:

• How do video games reflect societal norms, and what related problems and questions do they raise?
• How do online games impact contemporary artistic forms of expression, such as graphic design, music, or narratives?
• What role do they play in shaping young people’s identity, and how do they build community experiences in the online and offline space?
• How did the appearance of video games change the world of entertainment?

Date: 4 June 2025, 6 PM

Location: Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency, 1126 Budapest, Istenhegyi út 18.

Participants of the discussion:

Anita Szegedi, founding member and Vice President of the Hungarian Game Developers Association  

Anita Szegedi graduated as a sociologist, which gives her a deep sensitivity to team structures and workflows. As a passionate gamer, she is interested in the psychological and social impact of games. She has been working in game development for ten years, having started her career by creating a puzzle game, for which she handled the programming, art, animation, and level design entirely on her own. Today, she is an experienced game producer, leading a multidisciplinary team of over 50 people. Alongside her work, she is an active member and organiser within Hungary’s game development community. As a founding member and Vice President of the Hungarian Game Developers Association, she plays a key role in its activities. As a Women in Games ambassador, she supports those interested in pursuing careers in technology.

Sándor Alex Rabb, CEO of Digic Pictures, programmer and mathematician

Sándor Alex Rabb began his career as a digital artist in the United States, contributing to several Hollywood feature film productions, including James Cameron’s Titanic. He then worked as lead on the groundbreaking CGI film Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. Later, he supervised visual effects as a VFX producer on film productions, including Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. He returned to Hungary in 2002 and founded DIGIC Pictures. Over the past 22 years, he has produced over 150 trailers, short films, and video game cutscenes. Several of these have won prestigious awards. His most recent major project was producing four short films for Video Secret Level, an animated anthology released on Amazon Prime in December.

Gábor Molnár, e-sports specialist, Editor-in-Chief of eSPORT365.hu, streamer

A pioneer of domestic e-sports, he was among the first to introduce its concept to the Hungarian public. Gábor Molnár graduated from ELTE with a degree in Sports Management, highlighting the connection between traditional sports and e-sports. Over the past few years, he has collaborated with numerous well-known brands, including Red Bull, PlayStation, Samsung, and Nike. In 2021, he was the first player on the team of Dominik Szoboszlai. Alongside active competition, he has been involved in organising events and building the DomiNation brand. He currently streams, with over 63,000 followers on Twitch.

Moderator: Márton Erdős, Editor-in-Chief, PCW (PC World)

Márton Erdős has been working in the industry since 1998. He began his career at CHIP magazine as a tester before advancing to section editor, while also earning a qualification as an IT technician and later an engineering degree in programming. Over the years, he has toured IT exhibitions worldwide, built strong international connections, and mastered editing professional print publications and online content development. Since 2014, he has been part of the PC World team, initially serving as deputy editor-in-chief and, from 2020 onwards, as editor-in-chief. A longtime PC gamer with a broad appreciation for all forms of video games, he is also familiar with the world of consoles. During his years at CHIP and PC World, he contributed to the hardware section of PC Guru and later led the hardware section of GameStar, a video game magazine. He has appeared at numerous game shows, exhibitions, and in various IT-themed podcasts.

The event is free but requires registration due to the limited number of places available.

Please complete the following form to register by 3 June 2025:

REGISTRATION!