Magdaléna Musichina, Uppsala University Master's programme in Cultural Heritage and Sustainability, 2020
Do video games and heritage go together? Video games as a category of heritage is on the rise and only recently it is beginning to be studied by heritage professionals, who cooperate with other fields, especially game studies, to explore this new, promising heritage. As video game heritage is entering the world of professional heritage and various museums dedicated to it are being opened, it is important to research its nature, roles and values. A research field of video game heritage has not yet been established, and the topic has been mostly covered by journalists and hobbyists, yet some scholars (for example in the special April 2020 issue of the International Journal of Heritage Studies) agree that this area is not only worth studying, but also has a great potential both as heritage and for heritage.
↑The well-known MMORPG game, World of Warcraft, can serve as an example of a game with an expansive original in-game lore/heritage, as well as a game which inspires formation of various communities.
How are video games relevant in cultural heritage studies? The significance of video games as a platform for depicting cultural heritage is now being widely recognized in the academic circles. However, mostly the academic focus in this area lay in the discussion of how faithfully can games depict historical settings/information. What still remains to be discussed is that games, in fact, have a much bigger potential in the sphere of heritage studies and that they can prove a unique tool fit to address many complex topics in cultural heritage and to support its vitality and development. ↑ Sasau monastery (Czech republic) in the 15th century, as portrayed in the video game Kingdom Come Deliverance (released 2018).
Why are video games valuable in cultural heritage? Cultural heritage of games themselves • Game museums – history of the development of games, showcasing, interpreting and preserving past technology/game design, feelings of nostalgia Cultural heritage within games • Presenting cultural and historical research • Interpretation of history and cultural identities • Offering a platform for creating new cultures and subcultures • Sustaining intangible cultural heritage (e.g. game jams as a cultural practice) • Building communities around games (players, artists, developers, etc.) • Community created content (software, art, writing, costumes, etc.) – interacting and adding to heritage • Immersion and interactivity with heritage • Easier accesibility and learning • Inspiring interest and engagement • Virtual „conservation“ of real objects
By now, video games are not an unusual medium to present historical research (with a differing level of accuracy), as they greatly improve the accessibility, immersion and interactivity of such content. Accessing historical research in this way has proved to help learning, understanding and to spark interest in topics that could otherwise be left unnoticed in a school textbook. Games in general are known to support critical thinking, imagination, focus, problem solving skills and benefit players by providing instant feedback on their actions. Such features could certainly be an advantage also in cultural fields other than history – games can serve as a tool to address complex topics such as Indigenous heritage, religion, gender, etc. The value of cultural topics in video games does not lay purely in the portrayal of existing cultures in a virtual environment, but also (and more importantly) in keeping cultures alive, forming of communities around the games and creating new active cultures.
Challenges for video game heritage Where there are benefits, there are also challenges to be overcome. This can only be done by exploring these challenges and not leaving them out of the equation. The most common issues that one needs to be aware of when studying video game heritage are for example the risk of flattening cultural heritage in games, biased or misleading interpretation, whitewashing, oversimplification of complex topics, underrepresentation of diverse gender identities, etc. What also needs to be considered is that video games, as any other medium, have their (technological or other) limits as to what can be done in them and what they are (at least yet) not sufficient for.
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↑Communities formed around games, as well as community-made content and art, play an important role in building a diverse game heritage.
Ref.: Xenia Zeiler & Suzie Thomas (2020): The relevance of researching video games and cultural heritage, International Journal of Heritage Studies, DOI: 10.1080/13527258.2020.1762705