Video games and agency in contemporary society

Muriel, D; Crawford, G

Abstract

In recent years, the idea of player control, or agency, has become central and explicit in certain video games and genres, affecting many debates concerning the study or definitions of video games. In spite of this, the notion of agency in video games has been rarely explicitly explored or defined in relation to its sociological and political dimensions. Hence, drawing on actor-network theory, (neo-)Foucauldian governmentality studies, and empirical data gathered over a three-year period, this paper expands to our understanding of video game player agency and moreover, argues that video games provide an important example and perspective to consider the contemporary nature and political basis of agency.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 26, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Jan 5, 2018
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2020
• Deposit Date: Nov 27, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 1, 2018
• Journal: Games and Culture
• Print ISSN: 1555-4120
• Electronic ISSN: 1555-4139
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Volume: 15
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 138-157
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412017750448
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1555412017750448
• Related Public URLs: http://journals.sagepub.com/home/gac
• Additional Information: Funders : Basque Government