Bob De Schutter

Bob De Schutter (MFA, PhD) is an award-winning game designer, researcher, educator, and advocate for meaningful play in later life. He is a Professor of Game Design at Northeastern University, where he is jointly appointed between the College of Arts, Media and Design and the Khoury College of Computer Sciences, and leads the Game Science and Design program. He is also the owner of game company Lifelong Games (LLC).

Bob has over 20 years of experience serving industry as an independent consultant, public speaker, developer and entrepreneur. He is a lifetime member of the International Game Developers Association and IndieCade and has founded and chaired the Gerontoludic Society as well as the Flemish chapter of the Digital Games Research Association. He has been invited to teach, speak and exhibit in Europe, North America and Asia, including GDC, SxSW and CES. His research on age-friendly game design, gameful instruction and gaminiscing has been published in leading publications of several fields, and he has been credited with the design of a wide range of indie, educational and therapeutic games. His work has received several awards and recognition.

Prior to joining Northeastern University, Bob was the C. Michael Armstrong Professor of Applied Game Design at Miami University (Oxford, OH), where he was affiliated to the College of Education, Health & Society, the Department of Emerging Technology in Business and Design, the Scripps Gerontology Center, while directing the Engaging Technology Lab. Before moving to the United States, Bob was a researcher and the lead designer for the e-Media Lab of the KU Leuven campus Group T and the owner of web development company DSV.