Games studies is now firmly established as a popular, important and significant area of study in the academic world. Bringing together theories and thought from a wide range of disciplines, this series features cutting-edge research addressing the major issues in game studies today.
To submit a proposal for this series, please contact:
Suzanne Richardson, Commissioning Editor for Media, Cultural and Communication Studies
[email protected]
Edited
By Paolo Ruffino
August 01, 2022
Independent Videogames investigates the social and cultural implications of contemporary forms of independent video game development. Through a series of case studies and theoretical investigations, it evaluates the significance of such a multi-faceted phenomenon within video game and digital ...
By Gaspard Pelurson
July 29, 2022
Taking the reader on a journey through queer manifestations in games, this book advocates for video games as a rich, political and cultural medium, which provides us with tools to navigate the future of gaming. Situated at the intersection of New Media, Game, Cultural and Queer Studies, the book ...
Edited
By Adriana de Souza e Silva, Ragan Glover-Rijkse
March 04, 2020
This book explores hybrid play as a site of interdisciplinary activity—one that is capable of generating new forms of mobility, communication, subjects, and artistic expression as well as new ways of interacting with and understanding the world. The chapters in this collection explore hybrid ...
By Torill Mortensen, Kristine Jørgensen
February 25, 2020
The Paradox of Transgression in Games looks at transgressive games as an aesthetic experience, tackling how players respond to game content that shocks, disturbs, and distresses, and how contemporary video games can evoke intense emotional reactions. The book delves into the commercial success of ...
Edited
By Stephen J. Webley, Peter Zackariasson
July 30, 2019
This book explores the central role of the zombie in contemporary popular culture as they appear in video games. Moving beyond traditional explanations of their enduring appeal – that they embody an aesthetic that combines horror with a mindless target; that lower age ratings for zombie games widen...
Edited
By Johannes Breuer, Daniel Pietschmann, Benny Liebold, Benjamin P. Lange
September 17, 2018
Evolutionary Psychology and Digital Games: Digital Hunter-Gatherers is the first edited volume that systematically applies evolutionary psychology to the study of the use and effects of digital games. The book is divided into four parts: Theories and Methods Emotion and Morality Social ...
By Alan F. Meades
February 12, 2018
This book offers insight into one of the most problematic and universal issues within multiplayer videogames: antisocial and oppositional play forms such as cheating, player harassment, the use of exploits, illicit game modifications, and system hacking, known collectively as counterplay. Using ...
By Alison Harvey
February 06, 2018
Western digital game play has shifted in important ways over the last decade, with a plethora of personal devices affording a range of increasingly diverse play experiences. Despite the celebration of a more inclusive environment of digital game play, very little grounded research has been devoted ...
Edited
By Torill Elvira Mortensen, Jonas Linderoth, Ashley ML Brown
February 05, 2018
Games allow players to experiment and play with subject positions, values and moral choice. In game worlds players can take on the role of antagonists; they allow us to play with behaviour that would be offensive, illegal or immoral if it happened outside of the game sphere. While contemporary ...
By Rachel Kowert
February 05, 2018
Despite their popularity, online video games have been met with suspicion by the popular media and academic community. In particular, there is a growing concern that online video game play may be associated with deficits in social functioning. Due to a lack of empirical consistency, the debate ...
Edited
By Steven Conway, Jennifer deWinter
December 08, 2017
This book analyzes the effect of policy on the digital game complex: government, industry, corporations, distributors, players, and the like. Contributors argue that digital games are not created nor consumed outside of the complex power relationships that dictate the full production and ...
By Rob Gallagher
July 11, 2017
This book argues that games offer a means of coming to terms with a world that is being transformed by digital technologies. As blends of software and fiction, videogames are uniquely capable of representing and exploring the effects of digitization on day-to-day life. By modeling and incorporating...