The Pop Theology of Videogames: Producing and Playing with Religion (Games and Play)

Young people in the West are more likely to encounter religion in videogames than in places of worship like churches, mosques or temples. Lars de Wildt interviews developers and players of games such as 'Assassin's Creed' to find out how and why the Pop Theology of Videogames is so appealing to modern audiences. Based on extensive fieldwork, this book argues that developers of videogames and their players engage in a 'Pop Theology' through which laymen reconsider traditional questions of religion by playing with them. Games allow us to play with religious questions and identities in the same way that children play at being a soldier, or choose to 'play house.' This requires a radical rethinking of religious questions as no longer just questions of belief or disbelief; but as truths to be tried on, compared, and discarded at will Cover Table of Contents Acknowledgements 1. Introduction Part I .Producing Religion: “Which Choices Lead Game Makers to Use Religion in their Videogames?” 2. Making Religion at Ubisoft 3. Indie-pendent: The Art-house Gods of Indie Games Part II. Consuming Religion: “How do Players Make Sense of and Relate to Religion in Videogames?” 4. Public Religion on Videogame Forums 5. Single-player Religion Part III. Conclusion 6. Pop Theology Bibliography Index List of Figures and Tables Figures Figure 1. Around each part of developing a yearly AC release, Marketing provides the base, the Brand team guarantees a consistent, recognizable “flavour,” and Editorial’s approval tops the game off for release. (Based on illustration by Siripattana Sangdu Figure 2. The character Cosmos in Christopher Yabsley’s Dungeon League is typical for a “holy Paladin,” drawn from a “palette” of genre conventions. Figure 3. Results in the Unity Asset Store for “religio*” are mostly Christian. Figure 4. Excerpt from the GameFAQs forum. Figure 5. Excerpt from two users Debating Link’s religiosity on IGN.com. Figure 6. The “Book of Magic” item from The Legend of Zelda, called “Bible” (バイブル) in the Japanese original. Figure 7. A depiction of Link praying before a crucifix and the Virgin Mary, from an official Japanese “Player’s Guide” (Nintendo, 1992, p. 151). Tables Table 1. List of (former) Ubisoft Informants and Participants Table 2. The Settings and Periods of the Main Assassin’s Creed Games Table 3. List of Indie Developer Respondents, with Their Past and Current Companies and Religious Positions Table 4. Final Ranking of Forums and Results of Searching for Discussions on Games and Religion Table 5. Anonymized List of Participants Table 6. Game Series by Number of Appearances in Unique Threads (2007–2017)