“Bob De Schutter [bɒp də sçʏ.’tɛr] is a tall Belgian man who exclusively wears dark slim-fit shirts and jeans. He is a washed-up basketball prospect, a terrible guitar player, and the proud owner of a far too large Heroscape collection. It is easy to befriend him if you have a bottle of Islay whisky to share or a beach volleyball to set.”
Biographical Statement
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 Applied 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. He is also the owner of award-winning game company Lifelong Games (LLC).
His creative, research and teaching interests include game design, the older audience of digital games, and the use of games for non-entertainment purposes. His work focuses on the importance of play throughout the entire lifespan and speaks out against the stereotyping of older video game players in game design and marketing.
He has been invited to teach, speak and exhibit in Europe, North America and Asia, his research on gerontoludic 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.
Bob has served industry as an independent consultant, public speaker, developer and entrepreneur, is a lifetime member of the International Game Developers Association and IndieCade. He has founded and chaired the Gerontoludic Society as well as the Flemish chapter of the Digital Games Research Association.
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.
Picture Gallery
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