Theory · game theory papers, 2023–2026

Key findings

• Theory · game theory went from 34 papers in 2023 to 126 in 2026, roughly 3.7x in three years.
• NeurIPS publishes the most Theory · game theory work: 183 papers from 2023 to 2026, 48% of the four-venue total.
• The fastest-growing overlap is with Mechanism Design: papers tagged with both rose from 1 in 2023 to 19 in 2026.
• Among the 5 topics under Theory and Statistics, it ranks #4 by 2026 paper count; the fastest grower in the group, Theory · learning theory, is up 5.6x versus 3.7x here.

Representative papers

Spread across years and venues so every edition shows up

• NeurIPS 2026A Mechanistic Investigation of Theory of Mind in a Large Language Model
• ICML 2026(Doubly) Exponential Lower Bounds for Follow the Regularized Leader in Potential Games
• ICLR 2026Infinite Horizon Markov Economies
• CVPR 2026Tackling Model Bias via Game-theoretic Multi-agent Collaboration Framework for Hateful
• NeurIPS 2025AlphaBeta is not as good as you think: a simple random games model for a better analysis of deterministic game-solving algorithms
• ICML 2025A-PSRO: A Unified Strategy Learning Method with Advantage Metric for Normal-form Games
• ICLR 2025A Theory of Initialisation's Impact on Specialisation
• CVPR 2025Dynamic Stereotype Theory Induced Micro-expression Recognition with Oriented Deformation
• NeurIPS 2024Accelerated Regularized Learning in Finite N-Person Games
• ICML 2024A Statistical Theory of Regularization-Based Continual Learning
• ICLR 2024Generative Adversarial Equilibrium Solvers
• CVPR 2024GlitchBench: Can Large Multimodal Models Detect Video Game Glitches?
• NeurIPS 2023$\varepsilon$-fractional core stability in Hedonic Games.
• ICML 2023Auxiliary Learning as an Asymmetric Bargaining Game
• ICLR 2023Computational Language Acquisition with Theory of Mind
• CVPR 2023Improving Generalization With Domain Convex Game
• NeurIPS 2026Agentic AI Design Should be Mediated to Promote Social Welfare
• ICML 2026A Game-Theoretic Analysis of Attacks on Large Language Models via Compositional Skills
• ICLR 2026On Universality of Deep Equivariant Networks
• NeurIPS 2025Approximation theory for 1-Lipschitz ResNets

All Theory · game theory papers

384 papers, page 2 of 8

51. ICML 2026Is Spurious Correlation Removal Always Learnable?
52. ICML 2026Knowing Who, Not How Much: Learning-Augmented Mechanisms for Consumer Utility Maximization
53. ICML 2026Last-Iterate Convergence of Regularized Gradient Methods for Stochastic Monotone Variational Inequalities
54. ICML 2026Learning in Bayesian Stackelberg Games With Unknown Follower's Types
55. ICML 2026Learning in Structured Stackelberg Games
56. ICML 2026Learning Unanimously Acceptable Lotteries via Queries
57. ICML 2026Maximin Relative Improvement: Fair Learning as a Bargaining Problem
58. ICML 2026Model Monotonicity in Autobidding Auctions: When Do Better Predictions Lead to Better Outcomes?
59. ICML 2026Multi-Level Strategic Classification: Incentivizing Improvement through Promotion and Relegation Dynamics
60. ICML 2026Multicalibration Yields Better Matchings
61. ICML 2026Nash Equilibria in Games with Playerwise Concave Coupling Constraints: Existence and Computation
62. ICML 2026On Expressive Power of Floating-Point Transformers
63. ICML 2026On the Coordination of Value-Maximizing Bidders
64. ICML 2026Online Contract Design With Unknown Technology
65. ICML 2026Online Fair Division with Additional Information
66. ICML 2026Optimal Rates for Feasible Payoff Set Estimation in Games
67. ICML 2026Overcoming the Incentive Collapse Paradox
68. ICML 2026Performative Learning Theory
69. ICML 2026Population-Aware Imitation Learning in Mean-field Games with Common Noise
70. ICML 2026Revisiting the Bertrand Paradox via Equilibrium Analysis of No-regret Learners
71. ICML 2026Risk-Averse and Optimistic Advertiser Incentive Compatibility in Auto-bidding
72. ICML 2026Robust Strategic Classification under Decision-Dependent Cost Uncertainty
73. ICML 2026Selling Data as a Digital Good with Scaling Valuations
74. ICML 2026Solving Imperfect-Recall Games via Sum-of-Squares Optimization
75. ICML 2026Strategic Candidacy in Generative AI Arenas
76. ICML 2026The Devil is in the Condition Numbers: Why is GLU Better than non-GLU Structure?
77. ICML 2026The Optimal Sample Complexity of Linear Contracts
78. ICML 2026Theory of Continual Learning Against Data Poisoning Attacks
79. ICML 2026TN-SHAP-G: Graph-Structured Tensor Network Surrogates for Shapley Values and Interactions
80. ICML 2026Understanding Dynamics of Adam in Zero-Sum Games: An ODE Approach
81. ICML 2026Welfare-Optimal Classification with Accuracy Auctions
82. ICML 2026What Preferences Can—and Cannot—Predict in Multi-Agent Online Learning
83. NeurIPS 2026A Mechanistic Investigation of Theory of Mind in a Large Language Model
84. NeurIPS 2026Agentic AI Design Should be Mediated to Promote Social Welfare
85. NeurIPS 2026Algorithms for Linear Equations with Min and Max Operators Under (Absolutely) Halting Condition
86. NeurIPS 2026Approximate Envy-Free Allocations up to any k Goods
87. NeurIPS 2026Avoiding Obfuscation with Prover-Estimator Debate
88. NeurIPS 2026CEO-Bench: Can Agents Play the Long Game?
89. NeurIPS 2026Chess-World-Model: A 10M-Game Benchmark for Exact State Tracking from Chess Move Sequences
90. NeurIPS 2026DeepVoting: Learning and Improving Voting Rules with Fine-Tuning
91. NeurIPS 2026Estimating Implicit Regularization in Deep Learning
92. NeurIPS 2026Extending Myerson's Optimal Auctions to Correlated Bidders via Neural Network Interpolation
93. NeurIPS 2026Generating in the Limit with Infinitely Many Hallucinations
94. NeurIPS 2026GoT: A Game-Theoretic Approach to the Game of Twenty Questions
95. NeurIPS 2026GT-HarmBench: Benchmarking AI Safety Risks Through the Lens of Game Theory
96. NeurIPS 2026High dimensional theory of two-phase optimizers
97. NeurIPS 2026How to Have a Sensitive Debate
98. NeurIPS 2026Learning Acceptable Lotteries via Queries: Minimizing Aggregated Violation Distances
99. NeurIPS 2026Learning Lotteries with Minimal Violations from Membership Queries
100. NeurIPS 2026Learning to Price with Persuasion

FAQ

How many Theory · game theory papers were published at NeurIPS, ICLR, ICML and CVPR from 2023 to 2026?

384 in total: 34 in 2023, 107 in 2024, 117 in 2025, 126 in 2026.

How many Theory · game theory papers are at NeurIPS 2026?

NeurIPS 2026 has 44 Theory · game theory papers, versus 49 the year before.

How many Theory · game theory papers are at ICLR 2026?

ICLR 2026 has 20 Theory · game theory papers, versus 19 the year before.

How many Theory · game theory papers are at ICML 2026?

ICML 2026 has 61 Theory · game theory papers, versus 47 the year before.

How many Theory · game theory papers are at CVPR 2026?

CVPR 2026 has 1 Theory · game theory papers, versus 2 the year before.

Which conference publishes the most Theory · game theory papers?

NeurIPS, with 183 papers from 2023 to 2026.