ABSTRACT. This paper is an entry into the recent discussion within game studies about the apparent disconnect between the theory and practice of game design. In response to a call for the field to embrace a research through design methodology to strengthen the dialog between game scholars and designers this paper explores the potential of autoethnography for examining the practice of game design in terms of the ability to reflect on game design from a perspective more immediately relatable to game design practitioners. The paper demonstrates how the autoethnographic method and style of writing may provide new types of productive encounters between the theory and practice of game design.

ABSTRACT. A Plague Tale: Innocence (Asobo Studio 2019) and A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio 2022) are a duology of games set in the historical context of 14th century France during the Black Death. Given their historical setting, the Plague Tale games fall firmly within the ambit of highly critical discussions about authenticity in historical games, and ongoing debates about realism and verisimilitude. Here we adopt an explicitly subjective methodological approach - that of autoethnography - to explore how authenticity can be rehabilitated in discourses about historical games. Our findings show how autoethnography offers insight beyond a historian’s textual analysis, and engages with a key question in Historical Game Studies: in what ways do historical games (re)present historical discourse? This paper will be of interest to researchers concerned with Historical Game Studies and with the affective qualities of video games, and will be useful to anyone considering an autoethnographic approach to video game research.

ABSTRACT. Foreign-imported video games and gaming consoles suffer from influence in the Chinese market. When local authorities apply ideology like neo-techno-nationalism to protect local developers and cultivate their ability to develop online games, these foreign products become victims to local developers and cannot extend their influence in China as they were banned in China and challenging to receive licenses for sale. In this case, the production practice focusing on these products in China could also be affected, as their fates with these foreign-imported products are connected. By interviewing editors of gaming information media in China and participating in the industry, this research will investigate how local production practices were affected when these products from overseas markets were complex to sell in China on an official level and explore how the ban on foreign-made consoles and other limitations affected local workers who focus on these products. Understanding the influence on production practice and this industry, which is closely related to foreign-imported games and consoles, will offer a better picture for the research of the development of video games and their culture in China. It will also allow a further understanding of the Chinese gaming industry and community without constantly focusing on PC-based online games.

ABSTRACT. This proposal builds on ongoing research into the genealogy between leisure electronics and video games. Within this framework, we define and analyse a sub-category of electronic games, which we call “diode games,” in order to highlight their role in the genealogy of gaming practices. Our research combines a quantitative and distant approach using keyword counting and topic modeling with close reading analysis of a limited corpus of selected articles from the French edition of Elektor magazine (1978-1983). We extracted a corpus of 17 electronic games, analysed it, and compared it to the so-called "TV games" published by the same magazine. We argue that “diode games,” by focusing on the visual feedback given to players by diodes, invite a re-evaluation of the classic categories of gaming culture.

ABSTRACT. Videogame magazines have been pivotal sites for drawing links between games culture, industry, and marketing, prompting influential studies on games history and consumer culture (Kirkpatrick, 2015; Nieborg and Foxman, 2023; Nooney, Driscoll and Allen, 2020). There is hence a priority to preserve magazines in games archives as practiced by the Video Game History Foundation and community-led initiatives like the Internet Archive. Many collections however, tend to only feature dedicated gaming magazines (from Nintendo Gamer to PC Power Play), therefore representing only the most visible objects and players. Yet the target readers of gaming magazines—typically masculine or boyhood-coded—are not the only people who play games.

The absence of girls’ gaming cultures in these collections perpetuates the false assumption that girls do not play games. To research girls’ gaming cultures it is therefore useful to turn to the magazines that do target girls: namely, pre-teen and teen girls’ lifestyle magazines, within which illuminating insights on the interplays of gender, play, and industry marketing arise. This approach follows Angela McRobbie and Jenny Garber’s (1978/1991) work on girls’ bedroom cultures, where they note the importance of subculture research that studies beyond what is most public and visible.

This paper shares preliminary findings that surfaced through an analysis of two magazine publications: forty-five issues (ranging between 2006–2020) of Australian pre-teen girls’ magazine Total Girl (Pacific Magazines, nextmedia, 2002–), and eight issues of Nintendo’s Girl Gamer (Future UK, 2007–2009)—a free magazine insert included inside UK girls’ lifestyle magazines Bliss and Mizz.

Approaches to games reporting and advertising inside these magazines demonstrate alternative images of games culture. In place of hailing a hardcore ‘Gamer’ identity (Shaw, 2023; Butt 2022), Total Girl situates games beneath a larger banner of ‘Play,' reporting them alongside YouTube channels, electronic toys, and sleepover games. Readers are assumed to be ignorant of gaming history, with introductory timelines and profiles of women characters like Lara Croft, communicating a complex acknowledgment, and at the same time reinforcement, of gendered gaming marginalisation.

The games and genres featured in both Total Girl and Girl Gamer, meanwhile, vary significantly from mainstream games publications, as does the language used to describe them. Specific formats of girls’ lifestyle magazines are deployed, like personality alignment quizzes, friendship and crafting activities, and the centring of fashion and accessories. Games are visually presented on pages bathed in pastel pink and popular characters are rated for their “looks,” “huggability,” and “furriness” (Girl Gamer issue 2, pp. 28–29). Albeit reiterating an ideological model of girlhood, these lifestyle publications are nonetheless challenging many of the existing norms of games reporting (Nieborg and Foxman, 2023), reimagining the medium as ‘soft’ and feminine in place of ‘hard,’ boyish and rebellious (Kirkpatrick, 2015).

Girls’ lifestyle magazines have mostly gone unnoticed in games history spaces—and reasonably so, as they are not clearly marked as gaming objects. My early findings however, begin to offer an illuminating account of feminine play practices and contemporary gendered marketing. These findings thus contribute to a much larger endeavour to account for the unaccounted in games history, in which pivotal groundwork has been laid by feminist games scholars like Laine Nooney (2020) and Carly Kocurek (2017), who give voice to those uncredited and undervalued in games histories that prioritise patriarchal success stories.

In response to the process of sourcing and analysing girls’ lifestyle magazines, this paper also reflects on the methodological challenges of researching the invisible. The selected magazines were limited to what was available on second-hand online marketplaces, local library catalogues, and those owned by online hobbyist collectors (see [anon] 2021).

This paper thus points to the promising insights offered by girls’ lifestyle magazines, while also addressing the challenges in studying the invisible, beginning with identifying and sourcing marginal and culturally undervalued materials, while offering a set of suggestions to help steer games scholarship’s broader inclusion of the excluded.

REFERENCES [anon] 2021. “What Happened to ‘Girl Gamer’? Searching for Nintendo’s Forgotten Pre-Teen Girl Magazine.” [link and publication details removed for anonymous peer review].

Butt, M.-A. R. 2022. Gaming Lifeworlds: Videogames in Culture. [Doctoral Dissertation]. The University of Sydney.

Kirkpatrick, G. 2015. The Formation Of Gaming Culture: UK Gaming Magazines: 1981-1995. Palgrave Macmillan.

Kocurek, C. 2017. “Ronnie, Millie, Lila—Women’s History for Games: A Manifesto and a Way Forward.” American Journal of Play. 10 (1), 52–70.

McRobbie, A., & Garber, J. 1978/1991. “Girls and Subcultures.” In A. McRobbie, Feminism and Youth culture: From Jackie to Just Seventeen, (pp. 1–15). Macmillan Education.

Nieborg, D. B., & Foxman, M. 2023. Mainstreaming and Games Journalism. MIT Press.

Nooney, L. 2020. “The Uncredited: Work, Women, and the Making of the U.S. Computer Game Industry.” Feminist Media Histories. 6 (1), 119–146.

Nooney, L., Driscoll, K., & Allen, K. 2020. “From Programming to Products: Softalk Magazine and the Rise of the Personal Computer User”. Information & Culture. 55 (2), 105–129.

Shaw, A. 2012. “Do You Identify as a Gamer? Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Gamer Identity.” New Media & Society. 14 (1), 28–44.

ABSTRACT. While much attention has been paid to the impact of video games on educational contexts (Din et al. 2001; Gee 2003; Skoric et al. 2009; Hamlen 2014; Chen 2019), the role of video games in supporting PhD studies remains limited in investigation. Previous studies have documented increasing occupational stress among academics (Bozeman et al. 2011; Reevy et al. 2014), with particular attention to PhD students' well-being (Sverdlik et al. 2018; Bergvall et al. 2024). Depression and anxiety have emerged as the most severe mental health problems among PhD students (Satinsky et al. 2021). As early-career academics, PhD students face unique challenges, including graduation uncertainty, research output demands, and future career insecurity (Levecque et al. 2017), leading to prolonged stress activation in their intensive academic working and studying conditions (Brosschot et al. 2005). Although video games, having been characterized by the functions of relaxation and escapism (Yee 2006), may potentially serve the role of relaxation, stress relief, and detachment from the PhD studies for PhD students (Sonnentag et al. 2007). And extensive research in psychology has acknowledged the benefit of playing video games, especially in four domains: cognitive, motivational, emotional, and social (Granic et al. 2014). They have also proved the therapeutic capacity of playing video games, such as distractors in the role of pain management, the development of social and communication skills among the learning disabled, and stress, anxiety, and emotional regulation (Griffiths 2018). Building on previous research about the benefits of playing video games, this study examines the role of playing video games for PhD studies from the perspective of game research, exploring potential benefits beyond mere relaxation. This investigation carries particular significance beyond covering the research gap of video games in supporting PhD studies, as it may provide coping strategies for PhD students facing both external disruptions and internal struggles during their academic journey in such changeable world. The genesis of this research emerges from personal experience during my PhD journey, where video games served as an unexpected source of stress relief and creative thinking during challenging academic periods. In the early period of my PhD, I preferred competitive FPS (First-Person Shooter Games) or MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena). As thesis pressure mounted in my later years, my gaming preferences shifted toward Animal Crossing, Bus Simulator 2018, Genshin Impact, and Euro Truck 2. Regardless of their conventional genre classifications, I personally categorize these games as requiring light physical and mental effort, which is termed light-physical-labor and little-mental-labor video games. In these games, I took on various roles, such as a farmer, fisher, or driver. These roles demand certain physical effort through simple, repetitive tasks: casting a fishing rod at shadows in water or managing basic bus operations like opening doors and collecting fares. Similarly, those games require little mental engagement compared to PhD studies, focusing on manual rather than intellectual tasks. These light-load activities, while providing a sense of competence and achievement through different occupational experiences (Ryan et al. 2006; Yee 2006; Bowman 2018), offer a welcome respite from intensive academic thinking (Sonnentag et al. 2007). Besides, the meditative nature of these repetitive tasks, particularly during long drives in Euro Truck Simulator 2, often creates space for research inspiration. In other words, these light physical labor as well as little mental labor video games not only offer a mental space for psychological detachment from PhD studies but also provide spaces for deep thinking, appearing to facilitate both stress recovery and creative thinking. This personal reflection raises broader questions about whether other PhD students might experience similar or more benefits and whether gaming preferences might shift during intensive academic periods. Building on previous studies and my autoethnographic observation, this exploratory study investigates how PhD students utilize video games to support their doctoral journey. Specifically, we examine the relationship between game genres and their functions during different phases of PhD study (teaching, examinations, thesis writing). Our aim is to develop a taxonomy of game types and their roles in facilitating PhD studies and PhD students’ academic work. We will employ a mixed method, combining in-depth interviews and focus group discussions to explore gaming experiences across different PhD phases, followed by an online survey for broader validation (Johnson et al. 2004). Understanding how video games function during PhD studies could inform better support for PhD students while expanding our knowledge about the benefits of video games in intensive intellectual work. We hope this research resonates with those currently pursuing or who have completed their PhD journey and that it helps current and future doctoral students discover their own oasis in the gaming world.

ABSTRACT. In this paper we report on a series of classroom exercises fostering dialogue between novice and expert players to collectively explore how assumptions about games and game culture, shaped beyond the classroom walls, impacts the learning activities and dynamics in the classroom. Building on earlier work, which challenges the pedagogical paradigm often held amongst staff that novice players form a challenge to overcome when teaching about games (<anonymous>), this paper exposes and challenges the hidden student assumptions around appropriate player skills and background knowledge. We unpack how the dialectic between novice and expert players highlights the ways in which a game supports different readings when coalescing with different backgrounds, and how it exposes student assumptions and expectations around what are deemed appropriate games, forms of play, and engagements with gaming culture. This, in turn, impacts what is discussed and analyzed in the classroom and who feels invited and comfortable joining that conversation.

ABSTRACT. We propose the creation of a metaverse with Roblox as a digital twin of the CUGDL UDG Campus to create alternative spaces where students can interact to build multidisciplinary projects. Besides, the metaverse aims to implement microgame learning experiences to show students how they work in multidisciplinary projects solving world problems. Such microgames will help high school students better orient themselves about the more suitable career. The project is in the process of development, and for DiGRA, we plan to show the first steps of one semester under a scope of two years to fully develop the first phase of the project and the lessons to be learned.

ABSTRACT. The paper addresses the evaluation of game engines by internationals, i.e. expatriates and remote workers, in 10 Czech studios that use custom and commercial game engines. The research employs longitudinal semi-structured interviews with internationals, to advance their (locally unexplored) perspectives on such tools. Czech studios predominantly use custom engines that internationals see as lagging behind commercial tools. However, projects using commercial engines suffer from understaffing as being skilled in them is demanded internationally. Through live service arrangements, projects with custom engines rather promote communal aspects of local game-making in cooperation with players and modders. As this community might be unattractive to seniors who have nomadic views on game development, the paper argues for their longer studio onboarding. The results demonstrate that seeing commercial engines as democratising game production is problematic in development contexts that use engines that are alternative to those promoted by powerful industrial centres or actors.

ABSTRACT. In October 2024, the open source game engine Godot was forked: a wholesale copy of the engine’s code was made, allowing for a subset of users to build a distinct version of Godot independently of the engine’s governance body, the Godot Foundation. Forking open source software (OSS) is not illegal, nor uncommon. OSS licenses like Godot’s MIT License allow for parallel and even competing software development paths; forks can lead to completely different software packages, die out, or even be reincorporated back into their originating codebase branches. Beyond technical splits, however, forks can also represent social splits. Differences in politics, protests against governance boards, or even individual user bans resulting from interpersonal conflict have all led to forks upon forks of both software programs and the communities that build and maintain them.

The Redot Engine, Godot’s fork, is inseparable from the political and interpersonal contexts of its creation. Redot’s name is a wink at the software being redpilled: internet speak for joining the reactionary right-wing, chauvinistic online media “manosphere.” Mirroring the rhetoric of Gamergate, X user @kryztofcheski complained about independent or experimental game developers’ use of prebuilt software platforms to make their games, writing, “Woke studios always use pre built engines to make games because they can't build their own engines.” Though the 20-follower account was clearly an online troll, the comment produced a long thread of responses which included everything from indie game devs mocking the original poster, racist commentaries, and other trolls rabble-rousing that game makers who care about social issues are technologically incompetent. Godot’s GitHub account, the primary venue for open source developers to gain access to Godot’s codebase banned accounts that posted explicitly racist or sexist comments or code change requests. Redot was born out of this small group of banned individuals, and its developers advocate for it using the common rhetorical parlance of redpill communities, that of “free speech” advocates fighting a righteous battle against oppressive feminist and social justice warriors. Or, as Reddit supporter Garrus-N7 puts it: “Godot is ran by wokies, Redot is ran by the people for the people.”

The kinds of hackneyed political rhetoric exemplified by the Redot fork has been well documented and critiqued by game studies scholars, including those who were directly impacted by the original and ongoing events of Gamergate (Chess and Shaw, 2015; Salter, 2018). Adrienne Massanari has further traced how the kinds of toxic play cultures prototyped in Gamergate have metastasized into an array of far-right metacultural movements, including Covid-19 hoaxes and denialism of the results of the 2020 US election (Massanari, 2024).

Beyond the impact of Gamergate’s rhetorical strategies on online culture, Redot is an example of Gamergate’s rising infrastructural legacies. More than just tools, game engines have long been sites for the infrastructuring of political and ideological movements (Malazita, 2024). Game engines’ capacities to act as trading zones (Galison, 1996) and translational actors are increasingly deployed outside of the games industry; engines are now being positioned as pieces of technology central to the future of the Internet and of mass manufacturing (Chia, 2022).

This talk will trace how game engines, game libraries, and the technical protocols that underpin them are being positioned to become central to the rise of technofascist governments and their populist supporters in the US and Europe, who are similarly positioning flexible data processing software as key to managing and policing national borders, academic research, and state citizenry. It is telling that after his invitation to a nongovernmental position in the US Trump Administration, tech oligarch Elon Musk announced that his new AI company, xAI, will not only be used to “advance scientific discovery,” but will also be used to combat “woke” corporate game studios and “make video games great again.” Game engines are thus a growing space where fascist and reactionary politics can be enacted, and where those politics can be spread to connected sociotechnical systems.

ABSTRACT. Online asset stores take up a prominent place in independent and amateur game development, yet academic interest in these marketplaces has been “surprisingly sparse” (Ball 2022, 27). Moreover, the amount of historical or mythological assets in spaces such as the Unity Asset Store or Fab stands in sharp contrast with the limited academic attention attributed to them in the flourishing field of historical game studies. This paper seeks to bridge this gap by investigating asset stores through the lens of historical game studies. First, we present a quantitative overview of ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Norse/Scandinavian assets in the Unity Asset Store, Unreal Engine Marketplace/Fab, Godot Asset Marketplace, and itch.io, and argue that these stores are intrinsically museal spaces. Second, we perform a qualitative analysis where we assess how history is, and can be, represented using these assets. We also compare the assortment of the four marketplaces, and look at existing games featuring such assets. Finally, we develop the notion of what we call 'feasible antiquity'. Our paper will be supported by brief demos of our own creations with these assets. Via this empirical approach, combined with our quantitative and qualitative analyses, we illustrate the potential of these assets to inform and shape feasible antiquities.

ABSTRACT. Understanding the behavioral dynamics of players in and outside of games is essential for game designers, marketers, and researchers in psychological and behavioral assessment fields. This study examines variations in inaction inertia and proactive procrastination among players of the acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV, focusing on the disparities between clearly defined “hardcore” and “casual” players’ behaviors during gameplay and in their daily lives. We employ a questionnaire-based approach—drawing on both self-constructed items about in‐game engagement and established scales for out‐of‐game behavior—to determine (1) whether inaction inertia and proactive procrastination manifest differently across these player groups within the gaming context and (2) whether those same tendencies transfer to real‐life situations. Our results confirm that hardcore players exhibit significantly stronger inaction inertia during gameplay than casual players, whereas both groups increase proactive procrastination when engaging with content they deem familiar. However, neither inaction inertia nor proactive procrastination observed in‐game corresponds directly to patterns seen outside the game, indicating that separate mechanisms underlie in‐game versus real‐world behaviors. We discuss possible reasons for this divergence—such as the role of avatar identification, immersion as a form of “conscious simulation,” and the notion of a “digital double life”—and outline directions for continued research to map boundary conditions between virtual and real-world self-regulation strategies.

ABSTRACT. This paper offers a phenomenological distant-play (Fizek 2022) reading of The Longing (Studio Seufz 2020), an underexplored semi-idle game that challenges traditional gameplay paradigms through its metareferential, philosophical, and contemplative structure. Our central argument is that The Longing uses its unconventional mechanics to explore themes of time, agency, and existential longing, thereby offering a distinct commentary on how contemporary players engage with themes of spatio-temporality, passivity, and self-realization at the intersection of literary and ludic experiences.

ABSTRACT. Because scholars spilled so much ink clarifying why video games are different from other media like literature, film, and TV (spoiler: they’re interactive), research on self-playing games typically emphasizes that minimal interactivity constitutes a break from video game tradition – a break various scholars have understood in posthuman fashion (e.g., Fizek 2022; Ruberg 2022; Bogost 2014). But is it truly posthuman to watch a computer simulation? Although these automated images elicit little to no interaction from us, are they not still very much for us? And do we not already have a name for non-interactive, self-playing moving images? This paper focuses on Will Freudenheim’s game engine-driven artwork, Schema (2023), to argue that, instead of a new form of gaming, self-playing video games are, on account of their passive reception, most fruitfully conceived as forms of “post-cinema” (Denson and Leyda 2016), hence the title: cinema + simulation = simema.

ABSTRACT. Alterity denotes a body of related concepts which describe and interpret the self’s experience of the other. While at times equated to “otherness,” we interpret it as the conditioning framework in which effects of otherness are produced. Our argument is that a distinct mode of alterity can be identified in a sizeable number of online role-playing games: specifically, those which are published and marketed over several years, with major content releases expanding the experienced space of play. The serial nature of such game publication, as well as the mechanics and dynamics involved in the reception of the content through play, affords a periodic reframing of the self-other relationship, as does the dialogue between the game’s producers and authors and their audiences.

We will be analyzing the shifting rhetorics of alterity in one title in particular. Final Fantasy XIV has had seven major releases and dozens of content-patches and additional updates since its original release in 2010, affording a longitudinal perspective on its strategies for creating an effect of spatial defamiliarization. It also has a complicated relationship to its country of origin (and the publisher which produces it), and our discussion addresses how fan cultures, global audiences, and publishing partnerships contrast with the themes and effects within the game itself.

ABSTRACT. Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) have attracted sizable attention from the academic communinity in the past 20 years. Leading this genre is the World of Warcraft (WoW) which has a large population of players in China. The research proposed in this Extended Abstract aims to investigate player motivational factors driving their respective decisions to return to or abstain from the WoW virtual world in the wake of over 1.5 years' service disruption.

ABSTRACT. We analyze players’ reception of collectible mechanics as part of gameplay and their associated fear or missing out in a massively multiplayer role-playing game, The Elder Scrolls Online, based on online discussion of the game on its official forums, and focusing on a notable period of time where a special anniversary jubilee event was held and unique rare collectibles were made temporarily available. Using machine learning methods of topic modeling we reveal the prominent and rising themes during the collection period and analyze their implications for gamified collectibles and their reception.

ABSTRACT. Please see the extended abstract

ABSTRACT. This paper presents a Gothic interpretation of Joseph Campbell's hero's journey, especially his concepts of the divine world and magic flight, through an analysis of the forest in Eternal Ring (FromSoftware, 2000).

ABSTRACT. To better formally analyze and design emergent gameplay, the authors define two related concepts: systemic reverberation and systemic absorption. Systemic reverberation describes both how player interactions generate unique game states and, in turn, how players understand the relationship between their interactions and the consequent game states. Systemic reverberation allows players to “echo-locate” through the abstract possibility spaces generated by the rules of a game. Further, by conveying unique states in response to the particularities of mechanical interactions, systemic reverberation tells the player that their choices “matter.” Conversely, when interactions or sequences of interactions have less of an understandably unique effect on game state, systemic absorption muffles the player’s ability to read the game(’s possibility space) using their mechanics, and tells them those interactions mattered less. Games that carry systemically reverberative responses to player interaction are necessarily emergent. To illustrate systemic reverberation and absorption, we synthesize and apply existing scholarship on game systems and carry out a comparative formal analysis using Pac-Man and Pac-Man Championship Edition. In so doing, we develop a list of practical strategies to encourage systemic reverberation in game design.

ABSTRACT. Social deduction games such as Avalon present a unique challenge for AI agents. To discover the hidden roles of others, players must employ indirectness and deception in their communication. DeepRole, an Avalon-playing AI agent created by MIT researchers in 2019, can communicate through in-game actions but is unable to communicate in natural language. We have created Avalocution, a bot that enhances DeepRole with one-way bot-to-human natural language utterances informed by DeepRole's internal knowledge representation. We hypothesized that our natural language interface would produce direct and indirect communication, exhibit human-like behavior, and provide a positive gameplay experience for human players. We collected survey data from research participants who played Avalon against Avalocution agents, and the survey data supports our hypotheses. We conclude that adding Avalocution’s simple one-way utterance generation model to DeepRole’s existing decision-making framework captures the nuance of communication required in Avalon while providing an excellent gameplay experience.

ABSTRACT. Generative AI (GenAI) systems such as Large Language Models (LLMs) or Large Multimodal Models (LMMs) will likely play a major role for games and gaming in the not-too-distant future. In our paper, we examine the challenges that come with the use of GenAI for NPC design from an ethical perspective. To do so, we first conceptualize a set of key values, followed by interview studies that seek to bridge the gap between theory and practice. The overall goal of our research is to develop a set of ethical guidelines to help game designers make informed decisions about when and how to use GenAI for creating videogame characters.

ABSTRACT. This study explores ‘anthrogames’, purpose-built games that merge anthropological knowledge with interactive design. Analyzing three pioneering examples, it traces anthropology’s evolving engagement with games: from virtual ethnographies and studies of game production to creating purpose-built games. The authors present a novel theoretical framework distinguishing anthrogames from educational games and traditional ethnographic media. Drawing on computer science, anthropology, and game studies, the study identifies design patterns and methodologies that translate ethnographic insights into engaging, scholarly sound gameplay. It highlights anthrogames' potential to redefine cultural representation through emerging technologies like Large Language Models and collaborative design. Positioned at the intersection of ethnography, technology, and participatory design, anthrogames challenge anthropologists and designers to develop innovative frameworks for evaluating and creating cultural representation in interactive media. This research underscores their transformative potential in computational anthropology and interactive ethnography, bridging scholarship and player engagement.

ABSTRACT. Gaming media in the mid-2020s is in a transformative state. The ascendancy of platforms like Twitch (Johnson, 2024) and YouTube (Carter et al., 2020) have helped independent creators gain a foothold in what was once the exclusive domain of gaming journalists and reporters. Yet while these transformations point towards a crisis point in gaming journalism and the broader journalism industry (Stanton & Johnson, 2024), the changes wrought by digital media also provide opportunities for creators and audiences alike. One unexamined aspect of this transformation is the opportunities the medium of podcasts provide, exemplified in this case by the rapid growth and expansion of “gaming podcasts” as a subset thereof. Despite some of the oldest of these shows dating back nearly twenty years and the videogame category being the largest in Apple Podcast’s “Leisure” section, there has been almost no sustained research into gaming podcasts and their appeal. This is particularly notable considering the overlap in research engaging with authenticity in gaming media, and in podcasting. Scholars like Siobhan McHugh (2022) and Zuraikat and Brown (2020) have noted that one of podcasting’s key features is its uniquely authentic nature and ability to foster parasocial relationships, while game studies researchers including Ruberg and Lark (2021), Kowert and Daniel (2021), and Leith (2021) have similarly examined the existence of authenticity and parasociality on platforms like Twitch. There has, however, been no research examining the potential differences or similarities between the forms of authenticity deployed in these mediums, even as the gaming media ecosystem becomes increasingly reliant on this type of content.

This paper explores these questions, focusing particularly on the important role that presenting an authentic persona plays in appealing to gaming media audiences who listen to gaming podcasts. To do so I draw on 1,800 survey respondents from gaming podcast audiences and semi-structured interviews with 28 gaming podcast creators – the largest bodies of survey and interview data yet collected on gaming podcasters. Through analysis of this data I show that it is the strength of gaming podcasters’ authenticity and their fostering of parasocial relationships - alongside the hands-and-eye free nature of the medium - that appear to play a key role in capturing gaming podcast audiences. These findings demonstrate that not only is authenticity a key draw for a significant portion of the audiences of these podcasts, but that it is in fact highlighted by some as being more authentic than the relationships fostered on other platforms like Twitch. This finding is highly significant when taken alongside associated findings that the audiences of gaming podcasts both overlap with and diverge from the broader audiences of gaming media - roughly 40% of creators claimed podcasts were their primary form of gaming media, while 48% noted they shared this title with other gaming media formats. To explain this difference, the paper proposes the idea that these podcasts create a “one-and-a-quarter way relationship” between creator and audience. This stands in contrast with the one and a half way relationship on Twitch posited by Kowert and Daniel (2021), but is key to the appeal of the shows. By choosing a medium which does not foreground direct audience interaction, these podcasters appear more intentional in the interactions they do have, thus increasing authenticity.

The paper also presents findings that further complicate our understanding of gaming media authenticity by showcasing how some aspects of the audience reject the idea that there is any form of personal relationship between listener and host - running strongly counter to research on parasocial relationships on Twitch (Ruberg & Lark, 2021; Woodcock & Johnson, 2019). Survey respondents were in fact equally as likely to state that they had no personal relationship with hosts as they were to proclaim that hosts felt like their friends. Interestingly, these responses were not mutually exclusive - listeners might acknowledge a lack of relationship in the same sentence they highlighted the feelings of connection. These novel findings thus paint a nuanced picture of how listeners navigate the tensions inherent in the (potentially parasocial) relationships these podcasts generate. Even as listeners understood that authenticity can be projected as a performance, this data shows that still found it to be effective in cultivating a connection between creator and listener. This represents a striking finding for studies of gaming media audiences as it not only showcases a significant level of critical thinking amongst audiences regarding their relationships with creators, but it also deepens our understanding of these performances of authenticity in gaming media. In doing so, this paper highlights the need to not only examine these different forms of gaming media in conversation with one another, but also shows the importance of continuing to engage with formats which have been historically neglected such as gaming podcasts, for their audiences represent new avenues for research that can provide important and distinctive findings.

ABSTRACT. Despite being primarily focused on video gaming, non-gaming content, and discussions concerning mental health and wellbeing between streamers and their chats are increasingly commonplace. The ongoing, scheduled interaction between a streamer and an audience member generates a sense of community and intimacy, affording users a sense that their struggles or issues might find support amongst what they perceive to be friends and like-minded others. However, most streamers and their audiences lack the specialist skills or knowledge to manage these interactions appropriately, nor do we have an understanding as to how effective such practices are in terms of managing mental health and wellbeing for both the streamer or the user in the audience. Consequently, this study aims to explore how Twitch livestreamers manage emotional and mental wellbeing in their online space.

ABSTRACT. Game live streaming has become a major component of global game culture. Through interview data with Japanese game live streamers, this paper offers a first consideration of Japanese-language game streaming and its associated cultural norms, expectations, and streamer perspectives. We firstly show that Japanese game streamers mostly stream anonymously, and interrogate this preference and situate it within wider contexts of Japanese internet culture, gaming culture, and societal stigmas. Secondly we show Japanese game streamers do not only appeal to native Japanese speakers, but draw in viewers from both English-language and Chinese-language backgrounds. We examine this in the context of the widespread cultural perception outside Japan of Japanese “otherness”, demonstrating instead that Japanese game streamers are well integrated with global flows of game streaming. We therefore present a picture of a linguistic-cultural game streaming context that is in many ways familiar, yet also highly distinctive.

ABSTRACT. This abstract presents one segment of research findings from a survey conducted among 16 professionals who worked on video games either as historical consultants, or as developers who collaborated with historical consultants. Due to the regional focus on Central and Eastern Europe, the survey included respondents who worked for game studios in Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Serbia. It was additionally supported with information collected from game industry organisations in Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Estonia, and Serbia. The research presented here covers three aspects: hiring models, perceived benefits, and perceived weaknesses of histgameconsultancy.

ABSTRACT. This extended abstract examines the design and afterlife of "The Seven Cities of Gold" (Ozark Softscape 1984), an early adventure-strategy game set during the Spanish conquest of the Americas. Its designers aimed to create an open-ended "process-type game" that mixed historical reenactment with radical freedom of choice for the player.In the words of the game's publisher, the game would evoke “a sort of feeling that's unexpected in computer games. It's deeper. Maybe a little disquieting” (Electronic Arts 1984). Despite its promises to offer nonviolent alternatives to colonial conquest, the game mechanics unintentionally favored violence, undermining its potential for exploring counterfactual histories. While the innovations of Seven Cities directly influenced the 4X genre, its limitations anticipate some of the foundational problems of historical strategy games at large.

ABSTRACT. This paper analyses the game We. The Revolution (2019) and considers how the depiction of oppression and upheaval in the early French Revolutionary period is represented. We specifically consider how the game blends, adapts and utilizes history within its gameplay elements to convey modern-day perceptions of the French Revolution but also the complex, nuanced and shifting interpretations of the historical account. The analysis uses a framework developed by the authors (2020) to consider how decisions made during production shape the historical perspective of the player and therefore how the game negotiates historical representation, prioritizing authenticity and account over accuracy to evoke the atmosphere and moral complexities of the French Revolution.

ABSTRACT. This work proposes a critical epistemology rooted in the Global South and grounded in Latin American cultural studies for analyzing gaming practices and their ideological implications. By placing everyday mediations and appropriations at the center of the analysis, it reaffirms the contributions of theorists such as Jesús Martín-Barbero to the field of Game Studies. This approach opens pathways to diversify theoretical references and advance a deeper understanding of the cultural and political complexities of video games in non-hegemonic contexts.

ABSTRACT. Since about the mid-2010s (Wolf 2015), many scholars have been associating video games with countries or regions other than the traditional centers. Instead of the USA and Japan, these scholars have been interested in Europe (Navarro-Remesal and Pérez-Latorre 2022), Asia (Kang et al. 2024), or Latin America (Penix-Tadsen 2016). That trend has focused on game production and game worlds much more than on gameplay. Perhaps this is fully justified; perhaps in (semi-)peripheral game industries, that is to say in most places in the world, gameplay conventions are a rigid external form, which can hardly be modified locally but which can be filled with partly local content. In that sense the development of video games with national or regional references in smaller game industries would mirror the origins of the modern novel in the peripheries of the global literary system (Moretti 2000).

Or perhaps gameplay in (semi-)peripherally developed video games can also be affected by local circumstances. This is my main thesis, which I will support with examples related largely to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), one of the regions that are increasingly visible in game studies (Kristensen 2023; Mochocki et al. 2024). I will refer to existing research by focusing on three areas: platforms, fighting mechanics, and the relationship with national memory culture. I will also conduct my own analysis of a free short game Art Parable (Team Epic-C 2024).

From the perspective of platform studies, it is interesting that many CEE game developers used to develop their own game engines, producing visuals or physics different to those of the mainstream engines like Unity and Unreal (Vanderhoef 2021). In a similar vein, the use of personal computers rather than consoles seems to have encouraged a number of Czech game developers to produce titles containing complex, stat-based gameplay or aspiring to a high degree of realism (Šisler, Švelch, and Šlerka 2017).

Fighting mechanics may be particularly reflective of the aspirations to realism and authenticity. These aspirations have been expressed directly by the developers of the cRPG Kingdom Come: Deliverance (Warhorse Studios 2018); set in 15th-century Bohemia, the game has been advertised as an accurate simulation of melee combat (Pfister 2019). Furthermore, Hellish Quart (Kubold 2021), whose development is led by a Pole, is a fighting game and thus puts an even stronger stress on melee combat. Drawing some of its popularity from the importance of Sarmatism and saber-fighting in Polish culture, the game is also entangled with a version of Sarmatian ideology (Majkowski, Kozyra, and Prokopek 2023).

Ideological entanglements of gameplay have been well examined in game studies – one example is the concept of procedural rhetoric. In the context of (semi-)peripheral game industries, one important entanglement is that between gameplay and a memory culture which emphasizes historical failures. Polish game scholars have noted that the focus of video games on winning is in keeping with the globalized culture of the United States, which celebrates victories much more than Poland’s culture does. In the latter, locally produced games about national history often reference tragic losses (particularly in the Second World War and the Warsaw Uprising) but they still strive to offer their players the conventional experience of success – for instance, by omitting the broader context and focusing on small victories. And yet exceptions can be found, such as This War of Mine (11bit studios 2014), where the survival-oriented gameplay is in line with a less pronounced part of Polish memory culture, which commemorates civilian casualties of war (Schweiger 2015; Sterczewska 2016b). Notably, analogous issues seem to occur in boardgames (Sterczewska 2016a).

As my own analytical example, I will discuss a small game Art Parable, created during a cultural game jam in the ARoS Aarhus Art Museum in Denmark (the game jam has been part of the EPIC-WE project, which is funded by Horizon Europe). The narrator of the game encourages the player to complete an idyllic painting by clicking on a few thematically relevant elements, like a farmhouse or a sheep. If the player chooses to go against the narrator’s wishes and rip the painting apart in selected places, unsettling events happen and finally a war breaks out in the background. Art Parable may be seen as a comment on game interactivity itself – like the internationally recognizable title The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe 2013), from which it possibly derives its name – but also as a locally relevant satirical comment on the romanticization of history in 19th-century Danish landscape paintings (and in their present-day exhibitions).

Two limitations of this study are that the examples above are all confined to Europe (mostly Central and Eastern Europe) and that there is no analysis of gameplay experiences. To present some of the ways in which these limitations might be addressed in future studies, I will conclude with a reference to Emil Lundedal Hammar’s examination of counter-hegemonic commemorative play in Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry (Ubisoft Quebec 2014), a game set in the historical French colony of Saint-Domingue – today’s Haiti (Hammar 2017).

REFERENCES

Hammar, Emil L. 2017. “Counter-Hegemonic Commemorative Play: Marginalized Pasts and the Politics of Memory in the Digital Game Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry.” Rethinking History: The Journal of Theory and Practice. 21 (3): 372-395. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642529.2016.1256622

Galactic Café. 2013. The Stanley Parable.

Kang, Yowei, Kenneth C. C. Yang, Michał Mochocki, Jakub Majewski, and Paweł Schreiber, eds. 2024. Asian Histories and Heritages in Video Games. London: Routledge.

Kristensen, Lars. 2023. “Gaming Eastern Europe: Production, Distribution and Consumption.” Studies in Eastern European Cinema. 14 (1): 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1080/2040350X.2023.2149122

Kubold. 2021. Hellish Quart.

Majkowski, Tomasz Z., Magdalena Kozyra, and Aleksandra Prokopek. 2023. “Finish – Spare the Shame: Realism of Hellish Quart and Alt-Sarmatian Ideology.” Games and Culture. https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120231210599

Mochocki, Michał, Paweł Schreiber, Jakub Majewski, and Yaraslau I. Kot, eds. 2024. Central and Eastern European Histories and Heritages in Video Games. London: Routledge.

Moretti, Franco. 2000. “Conjectures on World Literature.” New Left Review 1 (1): 54–68. https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii1/articles/franco-moretti-conjectures-on-world-literature

Navarro-Remesal, Víctor, and Óliver Pérez-Latorre, eds. 2022. Perspectives on the European Videogame. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

Penix-Tadsen, Phillip, 2016. Cultural Code: Video Games and Latin America. Cambridge, MA – London: The MIT Press.

Pfister, Eugen. 2019. “Kingdom Come: Deliverance: A Bohemian Forest Simulator.” Gamevironments. 11: 142–148.

Schweiger, Bartlomiej. 2015. “Relacje władzy w polu wytwórstwa gier komputerowych.” Czas Kultury. 31 (2): 104–110.

Šisler, Vít, Jaroslav Švelch, and Josef Šlerka. 2017. “Video Games and the Asymmetry of Global Cultural Flows: The Game Industry and Game Culture in Iran and the Czech Republic.” International Journal of Communication. 11 (1): 3857–3879. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/6200

Sterczewska, Klara. (Writing as Sterczewski, Piotr.) 2016a. “Replaying the Lost Battles: the Experience of Failure in Polish History-Themed Board Games.” Kinephanos, no. April, 71–89. https://www.kinephanos.ca/2016/replaying-the-lost-battles/

———. 2016b. “This Uprising of Mine: Game Conventions, Cultural Memory and Civilian Experience of War in Polish Games.” Game Studies. 16 (2). https://gamestudies.org/1602/articles/sterczewski

Team Epic-C. 2024. Art Parable.

Ubisoft Quebec. 2014. Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry.

Vanderhoef, John. 2021. “Indie Games of No Nation: The Transnational Indie Imaginary and the Occlusion of National Markers.” In Game History and the Local, edited by Melanie Swalwell, 159–176. Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Warhorse Studios. 2018. Kingdom Come: Deliverance.

Wolf, Mark J. P., ed., 2015. Video Games around the World. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

11bit studios. 2014. This War of Mine.

ABSTRACT. This extended abstract outlines an ecocritical textual analysis of the virtual pop idols of "Splatoon 3" (Nintendo 2022) and their role in the game's online community. It aims to address a deficit of games studies research that engages with "metamodernism" as a cultural heuristic, and builds upon a growing body of writing in screen studies on "tentacular" media.

ABSTRACT. In this paper, I explore autoethnographic experiences of playing videogames that centre death, dying, and grief, including Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games 2020) and Gris (Nomada Studio 2018), to consider how videogames can offer perspectives on the crossroads of life and death that allow us to reconceptualise death in posthuman ways. From a humanist, capitalist, and neoliberal perspective, death is quite literally the enemy of progress; ‘death is the cessation of the very “acting subject”, […] Death, when it comes, will brutally interrupt our work before our task is done, our mission accomplished’ (Bauman 1992: 2, 4). Yet, this interruption is surely only so brutal if our constant focus is progress. If our focus was less individualistic and less anthropocentric, might this change our attitude towards death? This paper adopts a posthumanist perspective, to consider how critical posthumanism, steeped in feminism, new materialism, and rhizomatic relationality, can offer an alternative perspective on death through the medium of videogames. Braidotti (2013: 121) believes that ‘[w]e need to re-think death, the ultimate subtraction, as another phase in a generative process.’ As Arnold et al. (2018: 23) state, ‘[m]edia can become central to how people understand, represent, and engage with their own mortality and with the mortality of others’. Games such as Spiritfarer and Gris, I argue, allow us to take up Braidotti’s suggestion of making friends with death as ‘an ethical way of installing oneself in life as a transient, slightly wounded visitor’ (2013: 13) and accepting our place in a wider postdualistic world.

ABSTRACT. This paper aims to further develop the concept of “posthuman gaming” through a close examination of Signalis and its queer, posthuman embodiment in its gameplay. Not only does the posthuman embodiment of Elster-player destabilize the human-centric agency and desire to conquer, but its survival horror atmosphere (and play mechanics) also fosters new ways to better position humanity within ecological crises. We hope to create more productive conversations on how to reconnect with ecology through technology, instead of merely seeing them as two ends of the spectrum.

ABSTRACT. This paper investigates the nuanced experiences of acculturative stress among first-generation Latine individuals in the United States, focusing on their intergenerational dynamics and coping strategies. Building on previous research, we explore the dual challenge of maintaining cultural heritage while adapting to American society. Using a series of virtual focus group discussions and workshops, we qualitatively examined participants' familial relationships, communication strategies, and recreational activities, particularly games. These sessions revealed not only sources of acculturative stress but also the unique coping mechanisms employed by this first-generation Latine-American community. By highlighting these strategies, our research aims to contribute valuable insights to the field of Human-Computer Interaction and provide practical themes for developers and community organizations to create interactive experiences that address acculturative stress. By amplifying the voices of Latine individuals, we strive to promote opportunities for novel digital resources that recognize and enhance inclusive and culturally relevant approaches to addressing acculturative stress.

ABSTRACT. AAA games have reached an interesting crossroads where the amount of diverse representation has been increasing, but that representation is influenced by the hegemonic structures AAA games are rooted in. These diverse representations are often problematic, spreading harmful stereotypes or putting marginalized characters through intense trauma and horror. Despite this, marginalized people still play AAA games, and in doing so have created strategies of resilience. One such strategy is racebending, in which characters who are commonly understood to be white are reinterpreted as different races. Racebending often occurs in fan creations such as fan fiction and fan art. In video games, however, racebending can happen in the moment of play and involves the player racially experiencing the game. One example of racebending in AAA games is the interpretation of Kratos from the God of War games as Black. Using racebending practices surrounding Kratos as my case study, I argue that racebending is a form of play that fundamentally alters the game and challenges the centering of whiteness.

ABSTRACT. Scholars have long considered play to be a voluntary activity, an expression of freedom. In his recent monograph, Aaron Trammell contends that this definition precludes grappling with play’s non-voluntary manifestations as a means of subjection (2023). Seeking a corrective, Trammell turns to the black radical tradition. This paper comprises three parts. First, I relate Trammell’s project to contemporary discourses that are, likewise, trying to reimagine longstanding concepts by making recourse to non-hegemonic intellectual traditions. Specifically, I draw on Hong Kong philosopher Yuk Hui’s cosmological perspectivism to argue that different cosmologies ground not only different discourses about play but also different ontologies of play. Then, charting a brief history of the sport, I treat cricket as an example of a game that acquires a distinct existence for two different social groups: British colonists and Caribbean subalterns. Finally, I build on the work of Trinidadian Marxist, C. L. R. James, and Jamaican philosopher, Sylvia Wynter, to consider subaltern play not free, but fugitive.

ABSTRACT. The paper will offer a close-reading of "The White Tribe: Rhodesia’s War, 1966-1980" (White Dog Games, 2018), a historical board game on the rise and fall of the apartheid regime created by European settlers in what is now Zimbabwe.

ABSTRACT. This paper examines the Horizon series (Horizon Zero Dawn [2017] and Horizon Forbidden West [2021], and respective DLC) in terms of how it represents indigenous peoples in its projected future. The timeline of the series features a machine-executed mass extinction event, from which both natural and human ecologies are restored by project ZERO DAWN. Several subordinate functions, or subsections of the ZERO DAWN AI programming, oversee the repopulation of humanity, and this paper will pay particular attention to the APOLLO subordinate function (hereafter SF). This is because the APOLLO SF houses the database of pre-extinction-event human history, as well as providing the means of its dissemination through education. Crucially, the APOLLO SF was stolen by the Far Zenith (a consortium of extraplanetary immortal humans) who were able to benefit from the SF to unparalleled technological advancement on their spacecraft, away from the Earth. We therefore see a representation of humanity’s future if access to education were to be removed. It is clearly problematic that the “tribes” of the Forbidden West and other “tribal” imagery are used to symptomize restricted access to technology, information and education. Furthermore, the positioning of “tribes” and “tribalism” as a future-projected indicator of technological and cultural regression will be discussed in terms of how communities and peoples are labelled and imagined as “othered” by their engagement with technology and their socio-communal practices. Scholarship pertaining to the classification of indigenous or non-western peoples notes the consequent hierarchies of colonialism that are imposed (Davelle 1992). Further, Barnard (2003) notes that it is the generality of classification that positions any homogenous notion of “tribalism” derogatory, a sentiment that is compounded by Mafeje who notes that “the indigenous population has no word for ‘tribe’” (1971:254). I will endeavor to articulate sensitive and specific references to respective communities and offer critique in circumstances when the Horizon series is not forthcoming with such sensitivity. By this logic I will be drawing on the more recent, and more nuanced characterization of Indigenous peoples provided by Yunkaporta, who specifies that “an Indigenous person is a member of a community retaining memories of life lived sustainably on a land base, as part of that land base” (2020: 36). The field of game studies demonstrates intermittent engagement with indigenous representation in gaming (particularly in reference to triple A titles) most notably with Belanger discussing the historical influence of gambling within sociopolitical governance of North American Indigenous communities (2011; 2020). This paper will deviate from this critical field as it will offer representational analysis of the Horizon series, similar to the work of Lanni, who explores the games’ treatment of archival information with specific reference to the Quen, an indigenously represented community whose identity centers on the preservation of knowledge and archival diligence (2023). In reference to the archive of humanity’s history that is preserved as part of the APOLLO SF, I will critique the selection of information and cultural artifacts that are deemed to be representative of human history. Horizon Forbidden West depicts the curation of this sample through data points that articulate conversations about what to include in the APOLLO SF’s database. Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital (1973) will be employed here to draw attention to the hegemonic systems of knowledge production set in place by the ZERO DAWN project’s knowledge curation process. This is because it is the highly educated and influential scientists of the ZERO DAWN project who get to decide which forms of culture will be valued in the reformed world, and consequently, what kinds of knowledge are removed with the theft of the APOLLO SF, causing the narratively and aesthetically represented “regression to tribalism”. Furthermore, the Horizon series’ projection of humanity’s future without the APOLLO SF corresponds to Fabian’s conception of anthropology’s allochronic tendency (1983). This describes the “denial of coevalness” or the positioning of non-Western cultures in “othered” temporalities, which, in turn outlines an unwillingness to accept subaltern and Indigenous cultures in the linear timelines of Western progress. This paper will explore the Tenakth people as a case study, drawing attention to how the “tribe” worship exhibits of a ruined war museum. The community’s conventions and cultural practices are reduced to a misrecognition of holographic technologies in their reverence of twenty-first century militarism and this power dynamic represents an exclusion from the “more civilized” past. Kathleen Davis points out how the boundaries between ages and periods can come into being through discursive processes of identifying and ruling, specifically through colonialist imperatives (2015: 70). The Tenakth people exemplify the projection of boundaries between ages in their temporal separation from and reverence of what the series positions as contemporary capitalism. However, simply positioning the “tribes” as colonial subjects could be understood as reductive given the Far Zenith’s clear resemblance to interplanetary colonialists. There are significantly more studies that address the colonial and postcolonial dynamics of games in game studies (Mukherjee 2015; 2018; Lallani 2023) and many of these voices critique the player-as-colonizer gameplay loops of Empire: Total War (2009) for instance (Mukherjee 2015). In support of this, Dyer-Witheford and de Peuter’s (2009) foundational work recognizes that “video games are a paradigmatic media of Empire — planetary, militarized hypercapitalism” (2009: XV). The Horizon series represents the Far Zenith as interplanetary colonizers and sole benefactors of the APOLLO SF. Contextually, they escape from and survive the extinction event that the ZERO DAWN project had aimed to rectify, diverging from the repopulated humanity and vastly outmatching their technological development. I will conclude this paper by examining how the player character (Aloy) is afforded resistance to the Far Zenith but is also included as part of the “tribal” classifications that the series makes. Can we consider the player-character’s opposition to the Far Zenith a coexistent anticolonialist imperative? Or is it merely a distraction from other problematic categorizations and assumptions the series makes?

ABSTRACT. As game development increasingly incorporates artificial intelligence (AI) into its creative and production processes, novel legal challenges emerge. From generative AI tools that produce game assets to adaptive systems that respond dynamically to player behavior, the promises of enhanced creativity, efficiency, and personalized experiences come tangled with complex regulatory questions. This extended abstract outlines a series of legal aspects at the intersection of AI and game development, illuminating key areas where established doctrines and frameworks—rooted in human authorship, stable production roles, and traditional notions of liability—may fail to provide clear guidance.

ABSTRACT. This research project aims to carry out research on the operation of Section 481A through empirical research with key stakeholders, including game development companies who have applied for Section 481A, game development companies who are excluded from the tax credit because of the particular conditions, policymakers in the Department of Culture, Department of Finance and Department of Enterprise, and other relevant parties.

ABSTRACT. Focusing on the period between the rise of the Independent Games Festival, identified by Juul (2019) as the beginning of the contemporary indie aesthetic, and the disruption of Covid-19, this presentation provides a model for the use of shaming within the “indie” videogame subculture and marketplace to collectively regulate and valorize creativity, originality, and authenticity. These contests over originality took the form of enthusiast-press media campaigns, open letters, whisper networks, and review-bombing waged by developers themselves and members of the broader community on their behalf. In sum, the existence of indie game development as a cultural platform (Juul, 2019, 61) is an essential pre-requisite for the subculture to regulate norms about creativity and originality through shame and shaming instead of through legal affordances such as copyright or patent (Rosenblatt, 2011, 6-15). This explanation of shame as a norm enforcement mechanism bridges the gap between recognizing the role of the indie gaming subculture as a cultural platform and earlier work exploring developers self-reported norms around cloning in independent development (Phillips, 2015) and the broader industry (Ruggill et al., 2016; van Roessel et al., 2018).

ABSTRACT. This research aims to offer a new glimpse of mobile game research by tracing the development trajectory of two mobile otome games developed by Papergames, to distinguish mobile otome games from otome visual novels. Additionally, this paper seeks to examine the exclusive identity crisis of Chinese mobile otome gamers, especially how the identity issue emerges and the strategies the game company Papergames employs to mitigate these challenges.

ABSTRACT. Otome games, which originated in Japan, are a niche category targeting a female audience. In recent years, female gamers account for nearly half of China’s gaming population, and otome games have become a major hit in China’s gaming market. Despite the immense popularity of video games which are specifically designed for female players, scholarship still lacks sufficient exploration of female gaming (Lopez-Fernandez et al., 2019), and research on Chinese otome games and players is still scarce (Ganzon, 2019). Existing studies on Chinese otome games have explored romantic beliefs (Song and Fox, 2016), the images of female characters (Huan, 2022), and gendered gaming culture (Liu and Lai, 2022). However, the dynamics between female players’ in-game experiences and gender identity have remained relatively unexplored. This study addresses this gap by examining Love and Deepspace, China’s pioneering 3D otome game. Through the multi-modal analysis and semi-structured interviews, this research investigates how 3D visual elements, game mechanics, and the player ecology in the game community shape female gamers’ perceptions and experiences, contributing to the negotiation of their gender identity. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s (1988) and Judith Butler’s (2004) approaches, this article examines how interactions between players and Love and Deepspace reflect and reshape broader socio-cultural norms around gender.

ABSTRACT. This qualitative paper presents a work-in-progress that aims to highlight the problematic aspects of free-to-play otome games that combines affect with predatory free-to-play monetization schemes through which games leverage player data and channel player behaviour towards increased consumption (Whitson and French 2021; Blom 2023). As this paper shows, player behaviour in Love and Deepspace is channelled through the encouragement of affective reception (Lamerichs 2018) for its companion characters. This affective reception is monetized through the gambling-like gacha mechanic through which players try to obtain character memory cards that contain romantic relationships with the companions.

ABSTRACT. An examination of the imbrication of play and labor in the videogames industry.

ABSTRACT. Video games are inherently designed to evoke emotions in players, ranging from fun, pleasure, and enjoyment (Grodal 2000; Sweetser et al. 2005; Klimmt et al. 2009), which are commonly associated with game experiences as a while, to more complex feelings like fear, guilt, struggle, sadness, frustration, hope, and affection that emerge through players’ interaction with specific events, storylines, other players, or NPC (nonplayer characters) during the gaming process (Perron 2005; Leino 2010; Isbister 2016). Players’ emotional experiences in video games are not merely ancillary effects but are intrinsically woven into the fabric of the game experience (Leino 2010). Diverse emotional designs have been discussed and employed to create desired feelings and social emotions in players. Narrative design, as discussed by (Ip 2011), plays a vital role in evoking emotions through techniques such as the hero’s journey and character archetypes. Sound design also contributes to emotional experience in games, as Nacke et al. (2010) demonstrate that the absence of sound can have a detrimental effect on player engagement and immersion. Isbister (2016) introduces avatars, nonplayer characters, and character customization as the three design innovations that drive social emotions in players. Specifically, avatar design, especially customization features, serves as the mirror, allowing players to embody various roles, ideal selves, attributes, and identities through their avatars. Non-player character, designed to minor human relationships and emotions, serve as social agents in the game world, providing players opportunities for human-like interactions (Isbister 2016). Players’ emotional experiences have garnered large attention, with these studies mainly focusing on game design elements simulating interpersonal interactions and social scenarios. However, our examination of the paid co-playing practice reveals a novel approach to enhance players’ emotional experience – one that extends beyond previous research on how to make video games with rich emotional experience but rather strategically leverages existing emotional design elements of games to enhance players’ emotional engagement. Paid co-playing is an emerging practice in the video game industry where customers pay gamers to play online video games with them via audio communication. Through our ethnographic research, combining in-depth interviews and participant observation of both service providers (co-players) and customers in the Chinese context, we find that emotional experience emerges as a key service element throughout the gaming process, distinguishing it from other labor forms in video games which mainly focus on gameplay and goal achievement (Cao 2022). Although no formal classification exists, the service can be broadly divided into two categories: skill-oriented and emotion-oriented co-playing. The first category comprises highly skilled players who leverage their gaming proficiency as their primary selling point to attract and serve customers. While the second category consists of co-players who focus on providing emotional value to their customers. These emotion-oriented co-players primarily capitalize on their appealing voices, attractive self-portraits, supportive in-game behavior, and engaging personalities to serve their customers. They never merely rely on themselves to construct customers’ emotional experiences. Rather, intelligent emotion-oriented co-players consciously leverage the emotional design of the video game to enhance the effect of their emotion-oriented co-playing service. During our investigation, we identify two approaches through which co-players enrich customers' emotional experiences: leveraging game design and narratives to weave romantic relationships in the game world, and infusing avatars with voice and personality to create an emotional fusion between co-player and character. The first approach is observed to be prevalent among co-playing practices in the multiplayer online adventure game Sky: Children of the Light. Based on the loneliness feelings and players’ desire for companionship constructed in Sky (Isbister 2016), co-players strategically leverage avatar representation, environmental setting, interaction mechanics, and communication design to construct the feelings of romantic love for customers. For example, co-players often match their avatars' appearance to their customers’ costumes of avatars to create a visual sense of a loving couple, and they may utilize the 'Golden Wasteland' map (see figure 1) in Sky, exploiting its atmosphere of danger and despair to create an immersive environment that intensifies romantic experiences and deep emotional resonance. Co-players also employ avatars' interactive features, such as hugging and giving flowers, to express romantic gestures. Such skillful use of game design elements for emotional experience has established emotion-oriented paid co-playing as a distinctive feature of Sky: Children of the Light, setting it apart from paid co-playing practices in other games. The second approach is commonly observed in Multiplayer Battle Arena Games (MOBA) like League of Legends and Honor of Kings, which typically feature avatars with minimal personality development and storylines during gameplay. This lack of emotional design in avatars’ narratives becomes an advantage for co-players, who infuse their own voices and personalities into the characters they play, allowing customers to perceive both an enriched character and an idealized version of the co-players themselves. In this sense, co-players create a fusion between themselves and avatars, especially those with attractive appeals, in customers' minds. Their soft communication skills and mastery of gameplay combine to appeal to customers, enriching the emotional experience during gaming sessions. Co-players’ engaging communication style, appealing voices, and gameplay expertise combining appealing appearances of avatars work together to captivate customers, supplementing and enriching the emotional experience during gaming sessions. In conclusion, with co-players’ strategic use of the emotional design of video games, the paid co-playing could enhance the immersive quality of the game but also create a more authentic and emotionally charged social experience for the customer. This amplification and supplement of emotional experience bridge the gap between the intrinsic game design and the broader emotional needs of the players, potentially extending beyond the original emotional structure of the game, which is not anticipated and observed in previous research.

ABSTRACT. The game industry is a passion fueled industry that encourages individual development of technical skills as a craft for expression, akin to a cultural industry like film. As such, developer circles and formal education programs often tend to prioritize focusing on the craft and building out these skills. While this is a noble pursuit in the larger game development space, it doesn't always serve to fully prepare developers for the precarious nature of a career in the game industry. The purpose of this study is to understand the methods through which game developers in the US learn to maintain a career that supports their livelihood in an industry that emphasizes individualism and high project-to-project mobility in recruiting. In the wake of the mass layoffs of 2023 and 2024—totaling a loss of around 20,000 jobs in 18 months—job insecurity is now more than ever at the forefront of game developer concerns. While the issue is clearly visible, the avenues to work around this precarity are less easy to come by. Content creators and a select few institutional journalists represent the current landscape of games journalism and much of the media coverage of games is focused on reviewing or surface level reporting of major events in the industry.

Our proposed study seeks to overcome the current limitations of games journalism and understand the perspectives and backgrounds of developers who are pursuing a career in the post-pandemic industry. Our focus will be on how and when game developers learn to “craft” a career, while navigating a project based industry fraught with job insecurity. Conducting formal interviews with participant anonymity will help circumvent the culture of secrecy in the industry, as developers can safely divulge information about their work experiences without fears of jeopardizing future career opportunities. We will then analyze patterns in responses, centering on experiences with pre-career education, entering the industry, and resources available mid-career.

ABSTRACT. This paper explores the role of both real-world and fictional stadiums and in Electronic Arts EA Sports FC (formerly FIFA) franchise. Stadiums in the EA FC/FIFA video game series are more than just the digital arenas for gameplay. They represent more than just fan connections to clubs but through personalization features characterize fan identity in-game and embody footballing cultural heritage, symbolizing the history, identity, and traditions of football across the globe. This research explores the cultural heritage value of these stadiums, focusing on both their role as virtual representations of real-world landmarks and as spaces of shared memories and experiences for players. The research question guiding this study is: How does the representation of stadiums in the EA FC/FIFA video game series contribute to their cultural heritage value and global significance?

ABSTRACT. Extended abstract, see attached PDF.

ABSTRACT. This paper explores contrasting player behaviors in two of the largest football (soccer) franchises - EA Sports FC (formerly FIFA) and eFootball (formerly Pro Evolution Soccer). Each game has built up substantial global online player bases (Guins 2022) and offer a wide range of official tools and paratextual materials to engage with their respective communities. Outside the official ecosystem, players have found their own ways to create, improve, subvert and re-engage with the games. Whilst toxic in-game behaviors often attract attention, players often demonstrate altruistic behaviors and collective action that mirrors both wider fan behavior regarding the sport (e.g. commemoration or remembrance activities), standing up to the perceived owners and authorities that police the game (e.g. fan protests towards both game companies and football owners) or reflect a range of social, activism, political and non-political causes (e.g. support for Ukraine, Palestine, LGBT+ rights and various charities).

ABSTRACT. This paper explores the remediations of personal journals and the processes of writing and reading them in the two titles Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games 2018) and Season: A Letter to the Future (Scavengers Studio 2023). By analyzing these two case studies, I argue that video game journals act as dynamic crossroads, where authorship, player agency, and cultural representation intersect, revealing the complex ethical and narrative processes of recording, preserving, and interacting with stories in video games.

ABSTRACT. Summarizing the findings of the (Anonymous Project), this paper presents an overview of the ways games tackle with possible futures, key principles for designing speculative games, and how TRPGs may facilitate speculative play. The project investigates speculative world-building and design in games, and how social, ethical, and philosophical implications of present-day scientific and technological discoveries, and social and environmental trends are projected in them. We identify speculative games broadly as games featuring plausible, fact-based, mid- and long-term speculative future scenarios. In this regard, while primarily focusing on extrapolations from current trends, we also evaluate visions emerging under conditions beyond contemporary relationships.

ABSTRACT. I map the current state of applications of and critical resarch into the use of communicative artificial intelligence for nonplayer characters in digital games. What has been done, what are researchers writing about it, and what are they not writing about it? Then I briefly lay out a potential fruitful area of theoretical discussion: the philosophy of fiction. I argue that AI-powered NPC dialogue may offer significantly new theoretical ground for the philosophy of fiction. I also show how we can draw on critical insights from existing research on AI in other domains. I end with a call for further critical, theoretical research coming from the our various disciplines and intersections within game studies on this topic.

ABSTRACT. What do machine-generated images want? "Imagined" by databases and fueled by underpaid workers, the images produced by Artificial Intelligence display, at least for now, peculiar characteristics arising from their machinic calculations: deconstructed and reassembled faces that appear distorted and blurred, with unnaturally elongated smiles, multiplied arms, and deformed hands, often containing an endless number of fingers on unknown appendages. These features bring AI-generated images closer to what we call "body horror," a long-standing element in horror genre films, video games, illustrations, and photographs, evoking feelings of disgust and strangeness. When applied to game design, AI-generated content can amplify these unsettling qualities, resulting in distorted and dehumanized aesthetics that align with themes of body horror, the uncanny valley and body dysmorphia. While such designs may evoke strong reactions, the use of AI raises critical concerns about the ethical and creative implications of delegating artistic processes to algorithms.

ABSTRACT. This extended abstract presents a model for the educational potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in video games, comparing indie and AAA games. It highlights how AI shapes gameplay, generates content, and models game properties while identifying differences in data usage, customization, cost, and innovation between the two segments. Indie games, with their creative freedom and experimental approaches, demonstrate a unique capacity to engage players in learning AI principles through active participation and experimentation. In contrast, AAA games leverage significant resources to enhance realism and global scalability, often prioritizing commercial success over innovation. This study aims to inform strategies for designing educational games and advocates for indie games as vital tools in promoting AI education.

ABSTRACT. In the Chinese context, a small group of game streamers are conducting English-Chinese game localisation practices based on non-localised English video games in live streaming. These activities not only include the streamers' gameplay such as the demonstration of game content but also cover streamers' speech to localise orally English texts on the screen with special techniques (e.g. voice acting). The objective of this project is to incorporate streaming-based game localisation behaviours into the research field, which significantly influences game localisation, audiovisual translation, multimodality, and game studies.

ABSTRACT. The gaming industry in China boasts a massive user base, with 654 million game users and 266 million game live stream viewers. This paper focuses on young gamers in China, exploring the impact of game live streaming on their spending behavior. Specifically, it examines in-app purchases in mobile games. Results show that watching game live streams influences both the amount and frequency of in-game spending by gamers. Platforms like TikTok and Bilibili surpassed dedicated game streaming platforms in popularity, with TikTok leading in user base. The results of this study indicate that live stream viewing is a critical factor in promoting user spending behavior in game marketing and content creation. Notably, in popular genres such as MOBA and shooting games, live streaming strongly encourages spending behavior. This suggests that utilizing live streaming will become increasingly important in developing marketing strategies and monetization models within the gaming industry.

ABSTRACT. Extended Abstract (see above)

ABSTRACT. In this study i analyse the characterization of Julius Caesar in four video games. It shows that Caesar's characterization supports a highly militarized picture of antiquity. This picture thus remains dominant in games and in the mind of the popular public and characterization is done in function of this.

ABSTRACT. This study employs qualitative tagging using Atlas.Ti to examine game design processes during the dawn of digital games, an understudied period in video game history. It addresses fundamental questions in the field of "historical game studies": what game design elements communicate a setting in the past and what are the forces that shaped them? We use Legionnaire (1982), by prolific game designer Chris Crawford as case study and we analyse how the past has been shaped in this game, using Crawford’s own writing, the manual and gameplay. This study sets out to bring to the fore how designers' considerations, restrained and enabled by technologies, shaped a genre and its development. The paper contributes to our understanding of the creation of games from history and creating playable histories as a continuous dialogue between the past and present-day concerns and the field of tension between them.

ABSTRACT. This paper brings videogames into conversation with ancient Greek tragedy and argues that videogames provide a unique venue for the enactment of tragic experiences as a way to reflect on human frailty and finitude.

ABSTRACT. In this research, a close-reading playthrough had been conducted to record the gaming experience of a Chinese text-based RPG computer game, Word Game (2021). This research analyzes the experience of playing this game, and how to the structure of sinographs (Chinese characters) contributed to the intended and unintended semantic / non-semantic meanings being perceived during the gameplay and how they affect the decisions of the player. While players typically make decisions based on the objective of winning, this paper argues that the literary aesthetics of text appearance and meaning can lead players to consider alternative factors in their decision-making process.

ABSTRACT. The progressing 'soulsification' of video games (Guzsvinecz 2024) has raised questions about the defining characteristics of the 'soulslike' genre. This extended abstract examines 'Hollow Knight' (Team Cherry, 2017), a metroidvania platform game often labeled as a soulslike, by analysing its narrative structure and thematic parallels to the 'Dark Souls' series (FromSoftware, 2011–2016). The analysis will compare narrative pattern of 'Hollow Knight' to the established style of Souls games using 'Dark Souls III' as a reference. The study will conclude by assessing place of 'Hollow Knight' within the soulslike narrative style.

ABSTRACT. First Two Paragraphs of the Extended Abstract:

Slay the Princess (Black Tabby Games 2023) is a Ren’py horror visual novel, where the player enacts the role of a fairy-tale Hero tasked with… slaying the Princess? Unlike in most fairy tales, the Princess is a destructive entity who resides in the Cabin and needs to be slain to prevent the end of the world. The game’s narrative setup (the Construct) prompts interactions between the titular Princess, the Hero with a non-negligable number of Voices, and a very intrusive Narrator, who encourages the Hero to fulfill his destiny. And yet, even if a Pristine Blade pierces the heart of the Princess, the Hero must die repeatedly, destined to be reincarnated and slaying the Princess again and again. The only certainty is the ending of the Hero’s life. But if neither the Princess nor the Hero will remain slain, just what does the Pristine Blade cut? In this contribution, I read the struggle of the Princess and the Hero as a psychological fable, and I take a stab at interpreting the game through Lacanian-infused psychoanalysis. I assert that the narrative layers of Princess are explicitly spatialised metaphors of psychic activity, and the repeated encounters of the main characters embody the meeting of vital psychological forces. To map their structural relations, I read the Princess “with Lacan” by applying his theory of the subject to the game’s character-relations, and I analyse the role of the Pristine Blade as a phallus and the quilting point of agency.

ABSTRACT. The paper aims to describe and problematize the notion of ‘ludotariat’. Introduced by Bruno Vétel (2013) as a critical alternative to the concept of playbourers, and strictly connected with the critique of economy, the notion of ‘ludotariat’ has not been widely adopted in game studies. Vétel defined the notion according to the growing interest in grinding, farming, playbour, and research on Real Money Trading (RMT), but curiously without references to the most influential critical works at the time (Dyer-Witheford & Peuter, 2009; Kücklich, 2005). In his work ludotariat designates "those who contribute to society solely through their capacity to play and we could add, not through their capacity to enjoy themselves, but their capacity to produce inside a game.” (Vétel, 2013, p. 6). Using this definition as the basis of my approach, I would like to introduce three original problematizations that expand and rewrite the original concept. Firstly, Vétel analyzes ludotariat in the context of value generation through RMT, while newer studies on game procedures point to the shift towards invigilation capitalism, governance, and practices of data and attention exploitation (Lassila, 2022, p. 6). These practices produce players who – in terms of Möring & Leino - are ‘inauthentic’ as they “appear to be working for the game”. (Möring & Leino, 2016, pp. 149–150). This means that ludotarians do not have to engage in RMT to be part of a new class, working “for the game” might mean playing not to pay. Moreover, viewing this class through the “capacity to contribute to society” might be counterintuitive, as “working for the game” might mean working against society in the sense that it is an excessive consumption of energy and time untranslatable to any form of social change. Ludotariat would therefore be better defined by wasteful consumption (Wilk, 2022) and practices related to fast-play, radically opposite of what Rainforest Scully-Blaker envisioned as an alternative way to look at leisure time and productivity (Scully-Blaker, 2024, 511, 516-518). Secondly, I propose to rewrite and redefine ludotariat by comparing it to the previous iterations of the exploited class, namely the proletariat, and precariat (Serada, 2024). By reconstructing the major arguments forming the critique of ideology aimed at different stages of capitalism I want to readdress the core idea of exploitation, and its meaning for ludotariat. In the case of the proletariat, it is the alienating form of work that disjoins the workers from the fruits of their labor (Marx, 2024, p. 691). In the case of the precariat, it is the “lack of secure work-based identity” and “the seven forms of labor-related security” (labor market, employment, job, skill reproduction, income, and representation) (Standing, 2011, pp. 9–10). I argue that defining ludotariat through the alienation from the means of production, and the specific modes of production imposed by digital governance (Frelik, 2016) is better than Vétel’s original idea concerning the capacity to produce within a game. What does the ludotariat produce, and for whom it produces – these questions remain to be answered. Lastly, I will problematize the notion of ludotariat along the lines of biopolitical critique of games (Dyer-Witheford & Peuter, 2009; Kłosiński, 2024). I will focus on questions of regulation of life with the use of game design (Jagoda, 2021, 14, 20). Examples of such regulatory mechanisms have been critically examined in analyses of avatars as apparatuses disciplining players to think, act, and learn patterns according to their affordances (Apperley & Clemens, 2016, pp. 115–121), and free-to-play models as governance mechanisms serving companies as invigilation data acquisition tools (Lassila, 2022, p. 14), an extension of algorithmic culture (Baerg, 2013; Galloway, 2006). The paper will present an analysis and interpretation (case study) of 3-4 contemporary games: Warframe (Digital Extremes, 2013), Genshin Impact (miHoYo, 2020), Star Citizen (Cloud Imperium Games, 2021), and Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios, 2024) to exemplify what types of signifying game elements concern governance mechanisms critical to the ludotariat. These case studies will take into consideration gameplay loops, game economies, procedural rhetoric, and class rhetoric. Methodology-wise, the core of this study is a critical, biopolitical, and hermeneutic study of games as ludotopias – spaces of play, where I focus on mechanisms developed to capture player attention and turn the play into work. I am aware, that the other side of the problem is the study of player(s), which is why I am also considering developing a questionnaire as the backdrop for a qualitative study. However, the first step would still be an autoethnography conducted while playing the selected titles with a reflexive diary being the primary tool for gathering data for making sense of my acts of play (Deshbandhu, 2023, pp. 280–281), as well as understanding my situatedness (Lammes, 2007, pp. 28–29) as a ludotarian.

References: Apperley, T., & Clemens, J. (2016). The biopolitics of gaming: Avatar-player self-reflexivity in Assassin’s Creed II. In M. W. Kapell (Ed.), The play versus story divide in game studies: Critical essays (pp. 110–124). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland.

Arrowhead Game Studios (2024). Helldivers 2 [Computer software]. PC, PlayStation 5: Sony Interactive Entertainment: Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Baerg, A. (2013). Biopolitics, Algorithms, Identity: Electronic Arts and the Sports Gamer. In B. Brummett & A. Ishak (Eds.), Sports and Identity New Agendas in Communication (pp. 245–261). New York: Routledge.

Cloud Imperium Games (2021). Star Citizen (Version 3.20) [Computer software]. PC: Cloud Imperium Games: Cloud Imperium Games.

Deshbandhu, A. (2023). Capturing the Holistic. Journal of Autoethnography, 4(2), 277–282. https://doi.org/10.1525/joae.2023.4.2.277

Digital Extremes (2013). Warframe [Computer software]. PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch: Digital Extremes: Digital Extremes.

Dyer-Witheford, N., & Peuter, G. de (2009). Games of empire: Global capitalism and video games. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Frelik, P. (2016). The master’s digital tools: Cognitive capitalism and non-normative gaming practices. Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds, 8(2), 163–176. https://doi.org/10.1386/jgvw.8.2.163_1

Galloway, A. R. (2006). Gaming: Essays On Algorithmic Culture. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Jagoda, P. (2021). Experimental games: Critique, play, and design in the age of gamification. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Kłosiński, M. (2024). Mapping Game Biopolitics. Games and Culture. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120241233808

Kücklich, J. (2005). Precarious Playbour: Modders and the Digital Games Industry. The Fibreculture Journal. (5). Retrieved from https://five.fibreculturejournal.org/fcj-025-precarious-playbour-modders-and-the-digital-games-industry/

Lammes, S. (2007). Approaching game-studies: towards a reflexive methodology of games as situated cultures. Proceedings of Digra Conference: Situated Play, 25–30. Retrieved from https://dl.digra.org/index.php/dl/article/download/342/342

Lassila, E. M. (2022). “Free”-to-play game: Governing the everyday life of digital popular culture. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 87, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2022.102434

Marx, K. (2024). Capital. Critique of political economy. Trans. Paul Reitter. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

MiHoYo (2020). Genshin Impact [Computer software]. PC: miHoYo: miHoYo.

Möring, S., & Leino, O. (2016). Beyond games as political education – neo-liberalism in the contemporary computer game form. Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds, 8(2), 145–161. https://doi.org/10.1386/jgvw.8.2.145_1

Scully-Blaker, R. (2024). Reframing the Backlog: Radical Slowness and Patient Gaming. In J. Raessens, S. Werning, G. Farca, & L. op de Beke (Eds.), Ecogames: Playful perspectives on the climate crisis (pp. 505–524). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.10819591.27

Serada, A. (2024). Are Free-to-Play Games Evil? Reopening the Debate on Exploitation. PAIDIA – Zeitschrift Für Computerspielforschung. Retrieved from https://paidia.de/are-free-to-play-games-evil-reopening-the-debate-on-exploitation/

Standing, G. (2011). The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Vétel, B. (2013). Le jeu à la chaîne.: Prémices de la monétisation dans les jeux en ligne. Usages Et Valeur. Lettre De La Recherche En Sciences Économiques Et Sociales (SENSE). (48), 5–7. Retrieved from https://shs.hal.science/halshs-01493958/

Wilk, R. (2022). Taking fun seriously in envisioning sustainable consumption. Consumption and Society, 1(2), 255–272. https://doi.org/10.1332/YYEE6072

ABSTRACT. In this paper we study Norwegian students videogame practices as an expression of cultural dispositions in their habitus and as an element of their wider classed cultural lifestyles, focusing on two questions. First, how do preferences for specific game series differ among active gamers, and second, how and to what degree does variation in series preferences – as well as habitual practice and expressed interest in video gaming more generally – follow social differences, focussing on gender and social class.

ABSTRACT. To understand the spectrum of different gamers, we recognize the need to study both the prevalence of self-identified gamers and the diverse identities they may represent. In this paper we present results from our exploratory survey study (N=894), broadly targeted to video game players in the USA, that allowed the respondents to identify themselves as gamers as well as non-gamer players. By utilizing gaming value measures and personal value measures, we explored what kind of latent groups of self-identified gamers and non-gamer players the survey sample yielded and how they differed from each other. The results of the cluster analysis identified five groups of active players, in four of which the self-identified gamers were overrepresented and which can be argued to be distinctive gamer subtypes. The results are discussed in reflection with the previous literature and discourses about gamer identities.

ABSTRACT. Digital games have redefined how historical texts are adapted, transforming static records into interactive narratives that resonate with modern players. This study focuses on how Justice Mobile (《逆水寒》, NetEase, 2023) adapts historical records into gameplay narratives, using two missions—“Butterfly and Dust” (蝶与尘) and “Yunchuan Xueqing” (云川雪青) as case studies. These missions are based on documented cases from Song Hui Yao Ji Gao and The History of the Song Dynasty, providing distinct levels of historical detail that offer a foundation for examining the relationship between historical content and narrative adaptation. This study addresses two key questions: (1) What is the relationship between video game narratives and historical records? (2) How do players interpret and engage with these adaptations? To analyze these questions, this study employs Chapman’s (2016, 2019) narrative framework, focusing on the interplay between framing narratives and ludonarratives, and Fairclough’s (1992, 2013) Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to examine how these narratives shape and are shaped by player interaction. By combining these approaches, this study aims to demonstrate how Justice Mobile balances historical fidelity with creative storytelling, offering insights into the broader potential of video games for historical dissemination and engagement. This study draws on several theoretical perspectives to contextualize the adaptation of texts in video games. These narratives can be broadly divided into framing narratives and ludonarratives, each contributing differently to the overall storytelling structure. Framing narratives, defined by Chapman (2016) and Klevjer (2002), are linear, developer-constructed paths that guide the player through fixed events. They ensure historical accuracy and provide a controlled framework within which players explore historical contexts. For example, cutscenes and pre-set dialogues anchor the player in specific historical scenarios, offering continuity and structure. Ludonarratives arise through player interaction, reflecting the choices and actions of the player. Ryan (2002) highlights this as a shift from fixed storytelling to a participatory model, emphasizing the importance of player agency. Chapman (2016) expands on this by identifying three core components of ludonarratives: lexia (basic narrative units players can combine), framing controls (developer-imposed constraints), and player agency (the degree to which players influence narrative outcomes). These components contribute to three distinct narrative structures: deterministic, open, and open-ontological. Deterministic narratives maintain fixed outcomes regardless of player choice, while open narratives allow limited flexibility. Open-ontological narratives, however, permit the highest level of player freedom, enabling multiple pathways and endings. These theories provide new perspectives for understanding historical narratives in games and emphasize players' key role in co-creating historical narratives. In exploring these narrative dynamics, Aarseth’s (1997) concept of ergodic literature is particularly relevant, emphasizing the active role of players in navigating and constructing meaning within interactive texts. Barthes and Duisit’s (1975) focus on “lexia” further supports the idea that narratives are built upon modular and combinable units, which players actively engage with to form unique experiences. Tekinbas and Zimmerman (2003) describe this as “emergent narratives,” where meaning arises dynamically through gameplay, blending developer design with player interaction. These theoretical frameworks comprehensively understand how historical games balance the tension between fixed historical representation and player-driven storytelling. This study employs Fairclough’s (1992, 2013) critical discourse analysis to examine the transformation of ancient texts within the game narrative. Data collection includes a thorough examination of the selected missions, which are based on cases from Song Hui Yao Ji Gao and The History of the Song Dynasty. The researcher played through the missions multiple times, recording gameplay to capture different narrative outcomes and player choices. Additionally, player-generated content, such as gameplay videos and online discussions from platforms like Bilibili and NetEase, was analyzed to understand players’ interpretations and reactions. Comparative analysis with the original historical texts was conducted to evaluate the balance between historical fidelity and creative liberties. For data analysis, this study adopts Fairclough’s three-step CDA framework: description, interpretation, and explanation. The description phase identifies key narrative elements and linguistic features in both the game and player discussions. Interpretation examines how these narratives reflect historical contexts and how players engage with and reshape them through interaction. Finally, the explanation situates the narratives within broader cultural and social frameworks, investigating how the game facilitates historical engagement and collective memory formation. This is ongoing research, but preliminary findings are emerging. Preliminary findings reveal a significant relationship between the extent of historical records and the degree of narrative adaptation in Justice Mobile, as well as its influence on player engagement and discussion. The analysis of the two missions, “Butterfly and Dust” (蝶与尘) and “Yunchuan Xueqing” (云川雪青), illustrates distinct patterns: 1. Historical Records and Narrative Adaptation For “Butterfly and Dust,” the limited historical records provide the game developers with greater creative freedom. While the mission retains a few key historical figures, the narrative introduces significant fictional elements, including symbolic imagery such as the butterfly and four alternative endings. These endings, determined by player choices, reflect the concept of “alternative history,” where historical possibilities are explored and expanded beyond the constraints of historical fact. This approach allows players to experience history not as a fixed timeline but as a space for dynamic exploration, emphasizing player agency in reshaping historical outcomes. In contrast, “Yunchuan Xueqing” is based on a richer body of historical documentation. To ensure that the adaptation remains engaging, the developers adopt a multi-perspective narrative strategy, presenting the story through the viewpoints of multiple characters. This method not only respects detailed historical records but also enriches the storytelling by offering players a layered understanding of the event. By shifting perspectives, the game keeps players immersed while ensuring that the narrative complexity aligns with the depth of the historical material. 2.Player Interpretation and Engagement The nature of narrative adaptation significantly influences how players engage with and discuss the missions. In “Butterfly and Dust,” the broad narrative scope and player-driven outcomes encourage diverse discussions. Players explore topics ranging from in-game details, such as symbolic elements and historical characters, to strategies for achieving the different endings. This breadth of engagement underscores the appeal of narrative flexibility, as players actively participate in constructing their own interpretations of history. Conversely, discussions about “Yunchuan Xueqing” are more focused and specific. Players often center their analyses on the chosen character perspectives, delving into how each viewpoint shapes the narrative and deepens their understanding of the historical event. This concentration reflects the mission’s adherence to historical fidelity and the impact of its structured storytelling approach. When considered together, these findings suggest that the degree of narrative adaptation plays a crucial role in shaping player experiences and discussions. Missions with greater creative liberties, like “Butterfly and Dust,” foster wider-ranging interpretations and broader engagement. In contrast, missions with more detailed historical fidelity, such as “Yunchuan Xueqing,” encourage concentrated discussions that focus on specific narrative elements. This interplay between historical adaptation and player interaction reveals how video games can serve as platforms for exploring both the possibilities and limitations of historical narratives. Overall, these findings suggest that the degree of narrative adaptation significantly influences the scope and nature of player discussions. However, this conclusion remains preliminary. Further investigation is needed to analyze specific narrative elements that have been adapted and to gather more comprehensive data on player responses.  

References Aarseth, E. (1997). Cybertext. Perspectives on ergodic literature, 202. Barthes, R., & Duisit, L. (1975). An introduction to the structural analysis of narrative. New literary history, 6(2), 237-272. Chapman, A. (2016). Interacting with Digital Games as History. In Digital Games as History:How Videogames Represent the Past and Offer Access to Historical Practice (pp. 30-55). Routledge. Chapman, A. (2016). Historical Narrative in Digital Games. In Digital Games as History:How Videogames Represent the Past and Offer Access to Historical Practice (pp. 136–170). Routledge. Chapman, A. (2019). Playing Against the Past?: Representing the Play Element of Historical Cultures in Video Games. In Historia Ludens (pp. 133–154). Routledge. Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and Text: Linguistic and Intertextual Analysis within Discourse Analysis. Discourse & Society, 3(2), 193–217. Fairclough , N. (2013). Critical discourse analysis. In The Routledge handbook of discourse analysis (pp. 9–20). Klevjer, R. (2002, January). In defense of cutscenes. In Computer games and digital cultures conference proceedings. Ryan, M. L. (2002). Beyond myth and metaphor: Narrative in digital media. Poetics Today, 23(4), 581-609. Tekinbas, K. S., & Zimmerman, E. (2003). Rules of play: Game design fundamentals. MIT press.

ABSTRACT. This paper explores the effect and effectiveness of cultural value-embedded media content, the Chinese game, which succeeds in the global market with the help of the national ‘‘going-out’’ policy and its high political power in the international. To conceptualize and operationalize the research, this paper first discusses the presumption of Chinese ‘‘going-out’’ games spreading Chinese symbols, knowledge, and ideology worldwide through the qualitative analysis of symbols, knowledge, and values of Chinese media content, which is affirmed by the examples illustrated in the context. Afterward, this paper hypothesizes that foreign users are found “vulnerable” to the impact of the consumption in terms of symbols, knowledge, and values towards China, as well as other variables like prior experience and cultural perception. Based on the 430 valid responses from three local Chinese mobile games, the survey result suggests that game consumption's impact on China exists in terms of symbol and knowledge, but not values. Users’ “prior experience” of cultural content positively correlates to the influence of one’s attitude towards the export country. Such findings provide a theoretical update to the academic discussion of cross-cultural and global communication: the case of Chinese games and their coexisting symbols and knowledge gradually influencing the consumers’ preference and acceptance of Chinese media content interrogates the dynamics and strategies between developers and foreign players.

ABSTRACT. This submission is an extended abstract.

ABSTRACT. Digital games have become a popular form of entertainment, especially for primary school children. While most gaming is social, the nature and quality can vary, sometimes including exclusionary behavior. Studies show that online cooperative games can develop social skills, but local multiplayer games with strangers are rarely studied, particularly with younger children. This preliminary study examines a local co-op multiplayer game for up to 8 players, played weekly in a game club by 7-12-year-olds over four weeks. To measure the club’s aptitude to support children’s social skills, three quantitative surveys (measuring social experience, peer relationship problems and social problems) were completed by game club instructors and approximately 50 children at the beginning and after the period. The paired samples t-test showed a high social experience as well as a significant decrease in peer relationship problems, however, changes in social problems were not significant, suggesting the need for further investigations.

ABSTRACT. ABSTRACT This research examines the design of three tangible, digital and hybrid games for the Central Energy Trust Wildbase Recovery (CETWR) centre in Aotearoa, New Zealand. The games focus on educating children about the stewardship, health, rehabilitation and release of ill or injured native birds and encourage visitors to CETWR to actively engage in wildlife advocacy and the stewardship of New Zealand’s native taonga . Games within museums and experience spaces are powerful education tools that enable visitors to engage more closely with the content and put the visitor at the centre of engagement. Games are fun, and in museums, they scaffold serious and complex information in playful engagement that gives agency to the user (Richardson 2022). Games within museums are designed for broad audience participation, but children and young people comprise a significant part of this audience. Nofal explains, “They are motivated to learn when involved in meaningful activities and experiential processes” (2020, 3.3). Museum games need a short playtime and achievable rewards for participants to complete the learning and move to the next installation. Games must be a “play of experience.” (Tekinbas and Zimmerman 2003), which extends into a whole sensory experience, touch, sound, movement and collaborative forms of participation that connect players in a shared experience. Experience games transcend media using tangible, digital and hybrid tools to create the game experience. In 1998, Te Papa Tongarewa, the National Museum of New Zealand, installed tangible interactive games to encourage a younger audience to visit the museum. At the time, the “Time warp” (“1998-2002 Past Exhibitions | Te Papa,” n.d.) was a revolutionary display; within it, the “Blast back” ride enabled visitors to fly on the back of a Harpagornis eagle , bringing visitors face to face with our native wildlife. At the time, these exhibits were groundbreaking. They set a precedent for including interactive and gamification within museums and education centres. Primarily, engaging visitors directly with content where they cannot interact with the source material is important. In New Zealand, 82% of all native birds are threatened or at risk of being threatened (“Extinction Threat to Indigenous Species | Stats NZ,” n.d.). Threatened species have a greater chance of extinction (“Conservation Status of Plants and Animals,” n.d.), so the general public have little opportunity to interact with native birds.

Wildlife advocacy through game design Central Energy Trust Wildbase Recovery Centre is attached to the Wildbase Hospital, which the veterinary department of Massey University manages. Around 40% of patients will be on the Department of Conservation list of rare and endangered species, and some will have conditions too complicated to treat elsewhere. Wildbase Hospital veterinary wildlife specialists from Massey University are onsite to rehabilitate ill or injured birds before they return to the wild. Visitors can watch the vets in action and learn the story of each bird - its injuries, treatment, and recovery. The three games—Diagnose Me, Be a Vet, and Track My Kiwi—were designed in consultation with Massey Vets and the Department of Conservation to provide an authentic and scientifically accurate experience of the process while also enabling playful engagement for the players. • The Diagnose Me iPad game was built in Ren’py as a visual puzzle game. Players are presented with five very sick birds to diagnose. Using a variety of analytical tests, players build an understanding of veterinary diagnostics and equipment through sequential exploration and learn why each test is essential. The game uses clickable illustrations and animated loops to guide children. • The Track My Kiwi game is a tangible RFID-activated treasure hunt in which children use a model of a telemetry tracker to find birds hidden within the education centre. • Be a Vet is a two-player tangible game similar to the board game “Operation.” In this game, one player takes on the role of anaesthetist and the other the surgeon to save a Kererū with a broken coracoid bone. Designing environmental games that are to be played in physical space can be challenging, both in terms of player engagement, balancing the needs of both players and observers and the need for scientific accuracy within the gameplay. User interaction challenges also compound the design of games within physical spaces. Games must be robust and safe to use, made with durable materials, and easy fabrication upgrades that can be replaced to cope with the rigours of physical play. These considerations also include being able to communicate design to future contractors and manufacturers who need to work to your specifications so that the games will last for years to come. In the six months since the centre opened, 42,000 visitors passed through the Central Energy Trust Wildbase Recovery centre, roughly 250 people per day. Forty-five school groups booked a visit, equating to 2,119 young people learning vital conservation knowledge about our taonga, the unique natural world and the roles of the Vets who care for them. The Kererū Surgery game is the most popular game at Wildbase and, despite heavy wear and tear, has provided a consistent and motivating experience to young visitors. CONCLUSION The takeaway message for designing these games is that you must get the fundamental science right at the start, giving you a good platform of variables that can easily be adapted into game mechanics. The games needed to be simple, with quick replicable actions with one or two steps to learn and immediate feedback results; otherwise, children get bored and frustrated and start using the games in ways they were not designed for. The play needs to be fun and engaging, so you must be careful that the science does not overwhelm the game’s play. There is room to develop further learning material around these games that asks children what they learnt from the experience and the next steps for learning. The designers were conscious not to overburden the games with seriousness. Children needed to find the games fun and engaging so that these positive memories would form a basis for understanding the roles of vets and conservationists in wildlife preservation.

ABSTRACT. The Playboy Bunny’s evolution from its 1960s origins in Playboy Clubs to its contemporary role in digital and gaming cultures illustrates its transformation as a symbol of gendered labor. Initially embodying masculine leisure fantasies and rigorously managed labor practices, the Bunny became an icon of commodified femininity. Today, it thrives on platforms like Playboy’s app, leveraging livestreaming and influencer branding. Prominent figures such as Twitch stars Amouranth and Mia Malkova highlight its integration into gaming-adjacent economies. This paper examines the Bunny’s role in linking gaming, gender, and digital labor, showcasing the interplay of algorithmic visibility, intimacy, and the commercialization of performative identity.

ABSTRACT. This talk examines burnout and exploitation in the game industry by situating games in the broader context of creative industries and chokepoint capitalism (Giblin and Doctorow). It draws on Loveless (2019) and Chapman and Sawchuck (2012) to explore games as a form of research-creation and artistic practice that opposes commercial game development. This analysis is supported by an in-depth analysis of Davey Wreden's corpus of games that reflect, often explicitly, on the game industry, including The Stanley Parable (2013/2022), The Beginner's Guide (2015), and Wreden's upcoming Wanderstop (March 2025). Ultimately, this talk is about what it means to think about games as a media object outside of the game industry. It makes the argument that burnout is not caused by a work-life imbalance, but rather the exploitation that is intrinsic to creative labour, even when that labour is situated outside of a traditional work environment. Through Wreden's work, it theorizes research-creation as a practice that reconfigures creation in a way that subverts capitalist desire and exploitation.

ABSTRACT. This extended abstract presents work in progress exploring how worker placement board games function as expressions of capitalist realism through their arithmomorphic modeling of labor processes and the material embodiment of managerial ideologies. Through analysis of games like Carnegie (2022), it demonstrates how these games' components and mechanics naturalize capitalist relations while foreclosing alternative possibilities through both their material architecture and the managerial performances they engender.

ABSTRACT. The paper investigates the intersections of theories of cosiness, nostalgia, and postdigital aesthetics.

ABSTRACT. In the PDF

ABSTRACT. Cozy games are popular, yet difficult to pin down. Originally formalized during Project Horseshoe, a think-tank style conference in 2017 which produced a white paper on cozy games (Short, et al, 2018), the genre has also garnered growing attention from game studies academics, interested in better understanding this rapidly growing interest in cozy game design and played experiences (Bodi, 2024; Boudreau, Consalvo & Phelps, 2025). Yet cozy games do not exist in a vacuum. As Boudreau, Consalvo & Phelps (2025) point out, what constitutes “cozy” cannot be solely defined by game developers – game players and game journalists/reviewers have also been active in meaning making. For example, game journalists have pointed to aesthetics as a core component of cozy games, with calm visuals and tranquil vistas. Likewise, cozy gamer TikTok content creators broaden the definition of “cozy” through their inclusion of physical gaming spaces, their clothing choices, and other elements (Boudreau, Consalvo & Phelps, 2025). Yet how does the wider community of game developers define cozy games? Is there agreement with the conclusions of the 2017 whitepaper, or are developers broadening the genre, augmenting it with their own ideas of what cozy games should be? To answer those questions, this paper investigates how game developers have incorporated PH’s original cozy games’ elements, and also what – if any – augmentations they have brought into cozy game production.

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ABSTRACT. In this study, we will analyze WtA: Heart of the Forest, a visual novel based on Werewolf: The Apocalypse, produced by Polish studio Different Tales and released in 2020. We aim to focus on the ways the pre-existing tabletop RPG provides a platform to address contemporary political tensions, universalize national issues, and challenge the human vs. nature trope by setting the game in a contact zone.

ABSTRACT. Digital games have become significant cultural platforms that offer players opportunities to explore identity, relationships, and agency in virtual spaces. While much scholarship on player-character relationships in role-playing games has emphasized personal expression and psychological identification, this study shifts the focus to how ambiguity in game design shapes the interpretive labor expected of players. Using Ashes of the Kingdom (Qookka Games 2023) as a case study, I argue that the game's refusal to resolve narrative and moral tensions constitutes a form of designed non-commitment. This structured ambiguity delegates interpretive responsibility to players, transforming identification into a culturally situated process of negotiation. In doing so, the game organizes participation not only through interactive choices but also through the orchestration of narrative uncertainty and the implicit demand for interpretive engagement. Players are not given clear ideological cues, but are instead positioned to supply coherence themselves by drawing on gendered, moral, and cultural frameworks. Ambiguity, then, becomes a way of structuring identity-related engagement not by enabling freedom, but by designing the conditions under which meaning must be made.

ABSTRACT. This paper introduces the concept of kinship embodiment, a multifaceted relationship between players and a game’s virtual assemblage, where components such as avatars, NPCs, environments, and narrative devices dynamically interact to create a cohesive experience. Drawing on philosophical frameworks like dualism and animism, and incorporating perspectives from queer and Indigenous studies, the paper positions kinship embodiment as a new model for evaluating player-game relationships. Through a close-play analysis of Hollow Knight, the study demonstrates how the game balances immersive and outmersive elements, fostering an emotional bond that transcends established binaries. The metaphor of a molecule within a substance highlights how the interaction between player and game fluctuates, maintaining a critical yet intimate distance. By expanding the vocabulary of game studies, this research proposes kinship embodiment as a framework to assess games not just for their immersive qualities but for their ability to cultivate a participatory and relational connection with players.

ABSTRACT. The Baldur’s Gate as a series is characterized by its evident and deep relationship with tabletop role-playing games (TRPGs). Not only is it set in the Forgotten Realms – a particularly prolific Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting – but also all of its stand-alone installments were consistently marketed and received as analog role-playing simulations. And although this characteristic pertains to both BioWare (1998, 2000) and Larian (2023) games, I would like to put forward a hypothesis that in these respective productions such effect was achieved quite differently. To illustrate that, I would like to focus on the voiced narrations featured in those games, as – in my opinion – the differences in their design showcase what aspects of TRPG experience were the developers’ focal points. There is no doubt that various communication modes present in tabletop role-playing have influenced the narrative of video games since the inception of the latter (cf. Grouling Cover, 2010, McKenzie, 2023). Through the processes of simulation, adaptation or modification, computer role-playing games (CRPGs) have consequently developed their own discourse(s) which distinguish them as a genre. Therefore, the CRPG narration understood literally, as a verbal description of sequenced events, includes many traditional table-top notions such as addressing the player and/or playable character (PC) (dependent on the ludic subject, cf. Vella, 2015) directly in the second person, focusing on PC’s feelings and sensations or anchoring the player’s actions in the context of the storyworld. The abovementioned functions of the narration can be seen in all of the Baldur’s Gate games which, first and foremost, feature a voiced narrator. However, the construction of the narrators differs vastly between the first two and the last installments of the series. Some of the differences can be recognized instantly – the presence of the narrator in Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn is very limited, restricted almost entirely to a few longer introductions to the consecutive chapters, whereas in Baldur’s Gate III the narrator is a constant companion to the player’s character, particularly during conversational encounters with NPCs. This is not (entirely) due to the sheer time gap between the releases which took place in distinct technological eras; it seems that such difference stems chiefly from individual approaches to translating the TRPG experience into the digital language. In short: I argue that while the first two Baldur’s Gate games attempted to simulate mostly the mechanical, systemic and material aspects of the analog D&D game and a table-top session, for Baldur’s Gate III the simulation of the social experience of a table-top session is of equal (or even bigger) importance. It must be said that the analysis presented will be somewhat asymmetrical, as the case of Baldur’s Gate III’s narrator is a much more complicated one. Nevertheless, a comparative perspective proposed here will hopefully shed some light not only on the most recent of the three games, but also on its predecessors. I take into account various sources – apart from the in-game utterances, the analysis includes the games’ reviews and promotional materials, especially the interviews with Amelia Tyler, the voice actress behind the narrator of Baldur’s Gate III. Such context will enable me to effectively demonstrate that – even given the limited nature of playable artifacts (cf. Leino, 2012) – the older narrations were, above all, digital counterparts of handbooks, while the newer one strives to imitate a live game master, not only narrating the events, but also acknowledging given styles of play (cf. Hammer, 2007). REFERENCES Grouling Cover, Jennifer. The Creation of Narrative in Tabletop Role-Playing Games. Jefferson and London.: McFarland & Company, 2010. Hammer, Jennifer. “Agency and Authority in Role-Playing «Texts»,” In A New Literacies Sampler, edited by Michele Knobel and Colin Lankshear. New York et al.: Peter Lang, 2007, 67–94. McKenzie, Brian. “«Murders on the Stage, Tortures, Woundings, and the Like»: Dungeons & Dragons Adventures as Tragedy”, Analog Game Studies 2, vol. 11, December 2023, https://analoggamestudies.org/2023/12/murders-on-the-stage-tortures-woundings-and-the-like-dungeons-dragons-adventures-as-tragedy/. Tapio-Leino, Olli. “Death Loop as a Feature”, Game Studies 12, vol. 2 (December 2012), https://gamestudies.org/1202/articles/death_loop_as_a_feature. Vella, Daniel The Ludic Subject and the Ludic Self: Analyzing the I-in-the-Gameworld (PhD thesis), Copenhagen: IT University, 2015, 309, https://pure.itu.dk/ws/portalfiles/portal/83014954/Dissertation_Daniel_Vella.pdf.

Baldur’s Gate, BioWare, PC/Mac. 1998. Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn. BioWare, PC/Mac, 2000. Baldur’s Gate III, Larian Studios, PC/Mac, 2023.

ABSTRACT. This paper analyzes the system design in the three major installments of the Baldur’s Gate IP in the context of automation. Its aim is to map selected strands concerning the evolution of afforded gameplay scenarios associated with the adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons tabletop rules for digital role-playing games. Engaging in a close analysis of one of the most popular high-fantasy gaming series, this work assesses the rules of play that were implemented in the influential D&D-based digital games between 1998 and 2023. It argues that the changing features of system design in the Baldur’s Gate games reflect a shift from the automation of combat rules to the automation of narrative choices. These claims serve to highlight both the strengths and limitations of digital applications of the D&D system design, given its current hegemonic status in the RPG market.

ABSTRACT. Extended abstract, see attached PDF.

ABSTRACT. Esports exemplifies the evolution of digital games into a socio-economic and cultural force of global impact and can serve as context for investigating pressing issues of contemporary digital culture. The reframing of digital play as a form of sport has both highlighted and supercharged the ongoing convergence of gaming and gambling, pioneering techniques that are increasingly appearing in other digital contexts. There is increasing evidence of individuals first exposed to gambling within games subsequently developing problematic gambling behaviours, lending weight to concerns about normalisation of gambling through digital games. This research uses crosstabulation of a dataset gathered from digital games players to investigate whether esports spectating is associated with participation in a range of gambling, and gambling-like behaviours. By understanding the potential interactions, it is possible to identify those practices and forms of gamblification which impact players and whether links exist between game-related gambling and traditional gambling.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates the convergence of gaming and gambling through a thematic analysis of 13 semi-structured interviews with video game players, identifying three key themes: the blurred boundaries between gaming and gambling, perceptions of gambling mechanics, and the complexities of platform economies. Notably, monetary involvement — particularly the ability to “cash out” — was central in participants’ definition of gambling, with “free” gambling-like mechanics perceived as “near-gambling”. Opportunities to gamble inside specific esports titles, and gambling-themed minigames further complicate these boundaries, as participants noted their normalization through constant exposure and advertisement. Platform economies, such as Steam's marketplace, were viewed as fostering speculation and encouraging profit-driven behaviors, transforming virtual items into investments. While participants acknowledged personal responsibility, concerns emerged regarding minors' exposure to these systems and the need for regulation. These findings emphasize the need for future research and regulatory frameworks that address platform-wide ecosystems rather than isolated game mechanics.

ABSTRACT. Extended abstract submission.

Brief abstract: Digital games have become a dominant medium with significant socio-cultural impacts. While gaming offers positive experiences, it also carries the potential for problematic patterns, such as Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD), first recognized in the DSM-5 in 2013. The convergence of gaming and gambling, through esports betting and gambling-like mechanics, has further complicated the distinction between these activities. This paper examines differences in tolerance between gaming and gambling. Gambling tolerance often involves increasing bet sizes for emotional arousal, linked to neurobiological and cognitive factors. Gaming tolerance, however, reflects extended time spent playing to achieve satisfaction, driven by motivations like social interaction and immersion. Applying gambling-derived diagnostic criteria to gaming behaviours risks misdiagnosis, ineffective interventions, and stigmatization. This study emphasizes the need for nuanced approaches to understanding and addressing problematic gaming and gambling behaviours, aiming to improve diagnostic accuracy, interventions, and support systems.

ABSTRACT. This extended abstract delves into a work-in-progress paper around the topic of platform dependency and digital entrepreneurialism. Using the case study of popular gaming streamer Pokimane and her new company Myna Snacks, this paper studies how gaming streamers are increasingly turning to start-ups to generate steady streams of income to combat their dependency on platforms. This paper observes how Pokimane attempts to combine her gaming streamer identity with that of the entrepreneur, ultimately failing to do so.

ABSTRACT. Gambling-like manifestations are increasingly appearing in video game streams, including enthusiastic responses to loot box openings, randomly obtained prizes from spinning wheels, and wins in real gambling games. The “slots” category on Twitch, displaying various gambling games, has garnered over 1.3 million followers. Previous research has indicated that gambling-like elements in streams may influence viewers to imitate the streamers’ behavior (Grosemans et al. 2024). This could be explained by the Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura 2008), in which people imitate online behaviors, especially when these are rewarded. Twitch recently updated its gambling policy to prohibit the streaming of unlicensed gambling sites in jurisdictions that lack sufficient consumer protection (Twitch 2022). However, being a platform with seven million monthly live streamers, it may be challenging to regulate this ban. These policy changes paved the way for new platforms to jump the bandwagon and promote gambling content. Kick, established in 2022 as a competitor to Twitch, is a prime example of such as platform. Supported by the online casino Stake.com, Kick continues to allow for sponsored gambling content, convincing many Twitch streamers to join the new platform. With them, a lot of viewers also switched to Kick (Browning 2023). To examine this novel and underresearched topic of gambling-like elements in video game streaming, a qualitative content analysis was conducted on Twitch and Kick. Twelve streamers were analyzed, who either showed paid-for loot boxes or in-game casinos, or who streamed on both Twitch and Kick. The results provided some interesting insights into the use of gambling-like elements in video game streams. First, superstition surfaced when interacting with gambling-like elements, such as chanting the words “GOLD GOLD GOLD”, “let’s go”, or the game developer’s name, in hopes of striking gold. Some even spoke to the slot machines as if they could influence the outcome. Losses were often disregarded, or followed by curse words directed at the game. Second, loot box opening challenges were observed, such as an “XXL Win Challenge” where participants continued opening loot boxes until they received a gold quality skin. This resulted in one participant having to unbox over 2000 loot boxes to get the desired prize. Third, streamers involved their viewers in the process, by unboxing boxes sent by viewers, by commenting on viewers’ loot box openings, or by using the word “we” instead of “I”. Despite this, most streamers discouraged viewers to buy loot boxes, with one streamer advising: “Chat, don’t do this! You will lose money and it is not worth it in the end.” In addition to loot boxes and in-game casinos, other gambling influences were present. For example, viewers could predict the outcomes of challenges, like the “Pick’em” challenges in Counter-Strike, or were exposed to other types of gambling-like activities, such as fantasy sports or bingo games, during loot box unboxings. Some streamers streamed on both Twitch and Kick, typically starting with “regular” gaming content on Twitch, inviting viewers to switch to Kick after a few hours. Once on Kick, the content shifted to gambling games, such as slots on Stake.com, which often served as a sponsor for the stream. Even chat emoticons are becoming more gamblified: with examples such as Pepe the Frog (a popular Internet meme) playing a slot machine, or emojis showing viewers’ predictions. In conclusion, gambling-like influences on video game stream platforms extended beyond the mere display of gambling-like items. Streamers demonstrated superstitious and magic thinking, even anthropomorphizing gambling activities. Viewers were able to co-labor in play (Smith et al. 2013), by participating in the gambling(-like) actions or by using emojis to display their predictions. Some streamers used the popularity of Twitch to lure their viewers to Kick, allowing them to stream gambling games without restrictions and sometimes even sponsored by (illegal) gambling websites. Perhaps contradictory, streamers warned their viewers against the negative effects of gambling-like activities. Future research, using in-depth interviews of focus groups, could investigate the experiences of both streamers and viewers with regard to the streaming of these gambling-like activities.

ABSTRACT. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased support activities by viewers who donate to artists and others through social tipping and digital gifts within virtual communities. These donations, provided by service recipients (buyers) to support service providers (sellers), are gifts and can be considered PWYW (pay-what-you-want) donations because there is no upper limit to the number of donations. This study focused on Twitch, a live-streaming platform, and conducted a cluster analysis of the log data from the top 100 streamers’ virtual communities. We classified these 100 communities, comprising streamers and viewers, into four groups based on characteristics of PWYW donation behavior. Using service-dominant logic as our analytical framework, we identified the distinct characteristics of each group . We also provide the theoretical and practical implications of the study results, contributing insights for future monetization strategies in support activities as society moves toward the digital twin and metaverse.

ABSTRACT. INTRODUCTION The analysis of game studies is at a crossroads. In approaching gameplay as a point of encounter during qualitative research, we immediately face the question of either (a) using avatars as a methodological tool to understand participants, or else (b) relating with our participants via avatars in a collaborative spirit. In our paper, we first outline two different routes to research (Route 1 and Route 2), which reflect the above approaches. We then present a study that engaged with youth via avatar-based interviewing in order to understand how they view their identity. Finally, we engage in meta-reflection on the implications of interpreting our findings via Route 1 or Route 2. We conclude that Route 2 reflects a more critical and comprehensive approach to games studies, which the DiGRA community will find useful as it grapples philosophically with the various facets of the political in game studies.

TWO ROUTES In articulating the distinction between mainstream/descriptive research and critical/political research, game studies has grappled with issues relating to the opportunities offered by, and the limits of, method. We contend that the different approaches implied herein can be subsumed under two routes. Route 1 holds that research ultimately constitutes a methodological unfolding (e.g., switching between nomothetic and idiographic pursuits, quantitative and qualitative pursuits, etc., in complementary ways) that can have largely descriptive aspirations and yield incremental advances in our knowledge. Route 2 holds that research practices imply a deeper appreciation of the decisions made along the way and of the entanglement between research methodologies and the political, thus inviting a more hermeneutic approach to research. Whilst this distinction was developed in psychology, it is of relevance to the social sciences including game studies (Buhagiar, under review). In essence, Route 1 errs on the side of a relatively uninvolved attitude and reads research as requiring an epistemological stance that enables methodological unfolding and self-correction over different findings over time. In contrast, Route 2 extends the research dynamic to more-than-methodological considerations and embraces the accompanying epistemological and political affordances that emerge. It is sensitive to the risks that emerge when the political/power is sidelined – namely risks relating to the perpetuation of irrelevant conceptual artefacts. Route 2 also holds the idea of social scientific self-correction with suspicion and favours a hermeneutic stance instead.

AVATAR-BASED INTERVIEWING WITH THE GAMING GENERATION IN MALTA We discuss these two routes in view of a qualitative study conducted amongst 23 youth (14 years old) across schools in Malta. In this study, we engaged with youth in a dialogue on their understanding of self-identity and their lived reality. These topics were queried via Avatar-based Interviewing (Pulis & Buhagiar, under review). This approach involved having participants (a) create an avatar in the game, (b) describe the avatar, and (c) highlight points of convergence and divergence between the avatar and themselves. This allowed participants to discuss difficult topics through the avatar, using language that drew upon the representational repertoires they often encountered online (e.g., when gaming, chatting, etc.). The avatar-based interviewing was part of a broader inquiry that also incorporated gameplay design by participants themselves (Aupers et al., 2017). The overall data were analysed using thematic networks (Attride-Stirling, 2001), and in this paper we present solely the initial findings that emerged from avatar-based interviewing. From the avatar-based interviews, the themes that emerged highlighted the uniqueness of the person, the idea of being survivors, and the craving of a simple life.

CRITICAL REFLECTIONS After presenting the findings, our paper proceeds by applying Route 1 (methodological sophistication) and Route 2 (more-than-methodological elaboration) to the interpretation of the findings. In conclusion, we reflect on the implications of interpreting our findings via Route 1 and via Route 2. Route 1 pushes us toward an understanding of (a) the themes as findings, (b) the themes as standalone outputs, (c) the interview process as gameplay-based protocol, and (d) future directions as referring to potential game studies research questions. In contrast, Route 2 invites us to consider (a) the themes as co-constructions, (b) the themes as contextualized hermeneutics, (c) the interview experience as gameplay-based encounter, and (d) future directions as queries into game studies research questions and critical practice. This shift in viewpoint – favouring Route 2 as more critical and comprehensive – carries significant implications for our philosophical approach to the practice of game studies, chiefly by reframing research as being always more-than-methodological.

REFERENCES Attride-Stirling, J. 2001. “Thematic networks: An analytic tool for qualitative research.” Qualitative Research. 1 (3), 385–405. https://doi.org/10.1177/146879410100100307 Aupers, S., Schaap, J. and de Wildt, L. 2017. “Qualitative in-depth interviews: Studying religious meaning-making in MMOs.” In Methods for Studying Video Games and Religion edited by V. Šisler, K. Radde-Antweiler and X. Zeiler, 153-167. New York, USA: Taylor and Francis. Buhagiar, L. J. (under review). “Idiography in Cultural Political Psychology: Two Routes to Research.” Edited Volume. Pulis, M., & Buhagiar, L. J. (under review). “Avatar-based Interviewing: A Method for Dialogue with the Gaming Generation.” Journal.

ABSTRACT. Game Studies, as an “interdisciplinary” field is and always has been in crisis. While the majority of thinkers, scholars, and pedagogues on games agree on a common goal of diversity, inclusivity and beneficial conflict, there is little agreement on how to get there. This piece reframes the history of interdisciplinarity as a crisis on two fronts: ideological and material (inter)disciplinarity. The text then argues for a particular solution to these sticky problems: pluralist game studies. Pluralist game studies is then explicated as having three practical approaches to enable the vision of game studies we all seem to want: anti-disciplinary, anti-qualification, and anti-exclusionary practices and spaces. The text concludes that these are not required of all game studies spaces, but in order for a healthy (inter)discipline, a certain percentage in pedagogy, conferences, and journals should exist. It concludes by highlighting spaces that already feature these techniques and ideology.

ABSTRACT. This article explores the potential of indie games—celebrated for their creativity and artistic freedom—to enhance European Key Competence 5: personal, social, and learning-to-learn. The PLAYCOMP project hypothesizes that improving teachers' video game literacy and providing structured, game-based activities can significantly develop students’ socio-emotional competences. The project will involve secondary school students (ages 12-16) in Finland and Spain, utilizing five indie games across a set of activities. To measure impact, the project will adopt the Bar-On Emotional Intelligence model and the EQ-i:YV instrument. A quasi-experimental design with control groups will assess the programs' impact. This work tries to combine educational approaches inspired by game studies with rigorous evaluation methods from other academic fields.