Religion and video games

The study of religion and video games is a subfield of digital religion, which the American scholar of communication, Heidi Campbell, defines as "Religion that is constituted in new ways through digital media and cultures." (Campbell, 2012, p. 3).[1] Video games once struggled for legitimacy as a cultural product, today, however, they are both business and art.[2] Video games increasingly turn to religion not just as ornament but as core elements of their video game design and play.[3] [4] [5] Games involve moral decision,[6] rely on invented religions,[7] and allow users to create and experience virtual religious spaces.[8][9] As one of the newest forms of entertainment, however, there is often controversy and moral panic when video games engage religion,[10] for instance, in Insomniac Games' use of the Manchester Cathedral in Resistance: Fall of Man.[11] Concepts and elements of contemporary and ancient religions appear in video games in various ways: places of worship are a part of the gameplay of real-time strategy games like Age of Empires; narratively, games sometimes borrow themes from religious traditions like in Mass Effect 2.

  1. ^ Campbell, Heidi (2012). Digital Religion: Understanding Religious Practice in New Media Worlds. New York: Routledge. p. 288. ISBN 978-0415676113.
  2. ^ Grieve, Greg (14 February 2016). "Video Games and Religious Studies". www.religiousstudiesproject.com (Podcast). Interviewed by David McConeghy. Atlanta, Georgia. Archived from the original on 29 March 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  3. ^ Campbell, Heidi; et al. (2015), "Why Religious Studies Should Pay Attention to Religion in Gaming", Journal of the American Academy of Religion: 1–24
  4. ^ Grieve, Gregory Price; et al. (2015), "Current Key Perspectives in Video Gaming and Religion" (PDF), Gamevironments (3), archived (PDF) from the original on 22 April 2018, retrieved 8 March 2018
  5. ^ Grieve, Gregory Price; Campbell, Heidi (2014), "Studying Religion in Digital Gaming. A Critical Review of an Emerging Field", Online: Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet, 5 (1), archived from the original on 4 March 2018, retrieved 8 March 2018
  6. ^ Sicart, Miguel (2011). The Ethics of Computer Games. Cambridge MA: MIT Press. p. 272. ISBN 9780262516624. Archived from the original on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  7. ^ Gregory, Rabia (2014). "Chapter 6: Citing The Medieval: Using Religion as World-Building Infrasturcuture in Fantasy". In Campbell, Heidi; Grieve, Grieve (eds.). Playing with Religion and Digital Games. Rou. pp. 134–154. ISBN 978--0-253-01253-1.
  8. ^ Wagner, Rachel (2012). Godwired: Religion, Ritual and Virtual Reality. London: Routledge.
  9. ^ Grieve, Gregory (2016). Cyber Zen: Imagining Authentic Buddhist Identity, Community, and Practices in the Virtual World of Second Life. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415628730.
  10. ^ Reichmuth P, Werning S (2006). "Pixel Pashas, Digital Djinns". ISIM Review. 18 (1): 46–47.
  11. ^ Campbell, Heidi; Gregory, Gregory Price (2014). "Introduction: What Playing With Religion Offers Digital Games". In Campbell, Heidi; Grieve, Gregory PRice (eds.). Playing with Religion and Digital Games. Indiana University Press. pp. 1–21.