Dr. Jing Sun is a game scholar who is dedicated to promoting game literacy in China. Her work empowers students to get an in-depth understanding of game ecology, develop a critical approach to game cultures, and design their own games. She got her doctoral training at Nankai University in China and the University of Virginia in the United States. After getting her Ph.D. degree, she was invited to Perfect World, founding and leading PW Game Research Center as the director, initiating research projects and collaborating with international scholars and practitioners in the field of games and esports. Three years later, she went to KU Leuven in Belgium, working on a project about game design for cultural heritages. Dr. Jing Sun’s research interests include game studies, game industry, and game design. She’s been the Chinese translator of several books on game studies and game design, and co-edited Introduction to Chinese Game Studies and Connected Esports Research. Her latest book Gamescape: What Video Games Can Tell Us About Our Culture And Society (《嬉游志：透过电子游戏看世界》) was published in 2024. As a regular contributor to Chinese media and think tanks, she’s also written game criticism articles and game industry reports.

game culture

game industry

game design

indie games

serious games

Associate Professor - Academy of Film and Creative Technology, XJTLU - 2023 to present

Director - Game Research Center, Perfect World - 2018 to 2021

I’m looking for potential PhD students in games. If you're passionate about the research in this field, please email me your CV and a brief research proposal.