The Paradox of Transgression in Games

The ‘Eudaimonic Experience’: A Scoping Review of the Concept in Digital Games Research

“…We conducted an initial forward chaining search by using the 'cited by' feature in Google Scholar for the Oliver et al (2016) paper, as this platform also considers conference papers (e.g., the main publication venues for HCI) missing from other databases. After collecting these records, the lead author performed an initial screening by browsing the title and abstract, including records based on four criteria: (1) records dealing with digital games or interactive game narratives (e.g., gamification and virtual reality in general are excluded), (2) publications in English, (3) peer-reviewed publications (including peer-reviewed conference papers, book chapters, and extended abstracts, but excluding dissertations, preprints, and books; e.g., Mortensen & Jørgensen, 2020), and (4) the availability of full texts. We conducted a second forward chaining search on the included records from the first search and performed the same screening procedure.…”

Overwatch Fandom and the Range of Corporate Responses

“…Bohunicky andYoungblood 2019). Instead, such controversial and transgressive (Mortensen and Jørgensen 2020) fanworks that make up a significant amount of fan labour are actively disavowed via legal action. Many fan creators operate in a legal grey area profiting from their works on platforms like Patreon (Kretzschmar andStanfill 2019, cf.…”

Whose Expression Is It Anyway? Videogames and the Freedom of Expression

“…This essay aims to add nuance to this discussion through two arguments. First, we will argue that videogames cannot be understood as mainly expressive or interactive, but that the two—what we will refer to as the procedural and representational aspects of games—must be considered together when approaching games as an expressive medium (Sicart 2011; Mortensen & Jørgensen 2020, 85). Second, we will argue that play and playfulness are generally ignored in debates about videogames and the freedom of expression, and that attention towards the playful aspects involving videogames as an activity will offer a more nuanced view of how videogames are set apart from other media and what this means for the status of expressions in videogames, not least when it concerns their potential harmfulness.…”

“…The fact that people engage with games through play is an affordance of the medium and must be considered in a debate about games and freedom of expression. Taking into consideration the dynamics of the ludic context will allow for a player-centric perspective that illustrates how certain games may challenge certain players’ sensibilities while remaining “play” for others, without falling for the fallacy that “play” means “harmless” (Mortensen & Jørgensen 2020). This new perspective will allow us to understand how players use games as a medium for their own self-expression while also providing a perspective to understand trolling and harassment in games, and positions itself within a growing body of research attentive towards the fact that play is not always enjoyable or even consensual for all involved (Boudreau 2019; Stenros 2019; Trammel 2020).…”