New horizons: interactions between video games and activism.

Doornbos, E ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2410-4830 and Cashmore, J, 2025. New horizons: interactions between video games and activism. In: Munk, T ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2356-8806, Doornbos, E ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2410-4830 and Mahoney, I ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0313-3418, eds., New forms of civic resistance and activism. Routledge, pp. 175-194. ISBN 9781003607472

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Abstract

In 2020, players of Animal Crossing: New Horizons in Hong Kong gathered online to protest for their right to democracy. This was just one example of an ongoing trend that sees videogames being used as a place for activists to promote a range of causes including environmental conservation to pro-peace advocacy to social justice movements. This chapter explores the ways that videogames have interacted with activism, both as a subject and as a tool. Videogames have grown in the last half-century from relatively rudimentary toys to mechanically intricate and visually impressive entertainment media, becoming a global cultural phenomenon generating billions of dollars a year. Technological advances and widening popular appeal have made videogames more viable as a method through which both creators and players can spread complex, nuanced messages of activism and civil resistance. Equally, however, there is an array of challenges that affect the medium’s reach, such as cost, server issues, digital literacy, and potential corporate or state control restrictions. Despite limitations, this chapter examines how videogames offer a space for wider audience participation that can contribute to positive real-world outcomes and considers what developments might be seen into the future.

Item Type:	Chapter in book
Description:	Chapter 10
Creators:	Doornbos, E. and Cashmore, J.
Publisher:	Routledge
Date:	23 December 2025
ISBN:	9781003607472
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.4324/9781003607472-13 DOI 2548061 Other
Rights:	© 2026 selection and editorial matter, Tine Munk, Elliot Doornbos, and Ian Mahoney; individual chapters, the contributors. This book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at https://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Jeremy Silvester
Date Added:	18 Dec 2025 15:55
Last Modified:	18 Dec 2025 15:55
Related URLs:	Publisher
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/54887

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