University of Sydney launches Ludolio games lending platform

The University of Sydney has launched Ludolio, a world-first digital platform that allows school and university libraries to lend video games to students for learning and research purposes.

Created by academics in the Sydney Games and Play Lab, the platform hosts a curated library of video games freely available to students. The innovative system is now being rolled out to universities around Australia and the world, with Stanford University in the United States among the first international adopters.

The platform launched with a curated starter collection of 20 games, including the robotics-transport simulation Mars First Logistics, the puzzle-platformer Webbed, and the quantum-entanglement adventure Schrodinger's Cat Burglar. Each title was chosen to reflect the range of opportunities for games to be involved in education.

Ludolio Pty Ltd was founded by researchers from the University of Sydney's Sydney Games and Play Lab, an interdisciplinary research group working across education, arts, engineering, and design. The venture received funding and commercialisation support from the University of Sydney Commercialisation Office and broader support from the Sydney Innovation and Enterprise ecosystem.

By 2027, the Ludolio catalogue is expected to expand to over 100 curated titles. The platform addresses a gap in educational resources, as traditional library lending systems have not accommodated digital games.

The launch comes amid growing recognition of games as legitimate educational tools. Research from the Sydney Games and Play Lab has demonstrated that video games can support learning in fields ranging from engineering and physics to philosophy and ethics.

The platform's expansion to Stanford University signals international interest in the Australian-developed model. Ludolio's founders said the system is designed to be scalable and adaptable to different educational contexts.