The videoludification of reality

The International Seminar “A Videoludified Reality. The Social Importance of Video Games in Contemporary Society“, which I coordinated and directed for Tabakalera within their video games program T Game, took place in Donostia-San Sebastián (Basque Country) on 28-30 April 2021.

Summary

Video games have acquired the greatest possible social and cultural importance in contemporary societies. It is not just a flourishing industry, but a phenomenon that is beginning to permeate the length and breadth of the social fabric. The ultimate proof that video game culture is affecting practically every area of our society is demonstrated by those aspects of video games that go beyond the limits of the games themselves. By this we mean the process of video gamification of social activities through which different aspects of our daily lives are being colonised by the mechanics, languages, aesthetics, interfaces, logics, meanings and practices of video games. Thus we see video-gamifying processes in areas as diverse as the economy, work, leisure, politics, education, health, social and personal relationships, the construction of identities and consumption. Starting from a conception of the video game as a socio-technical device or assembly – that is, as the expression of a network of discourses, practices, knowledge, rationalities, technologies and spaces – this seminar seeks to address the social, cultural, political and artistic importance of the video game within an increasingly gamified reality. The main focus of the seminar is the idea of the video-gamification of the social and how it is possible to approach fundamental issues that affect contemporary society from the video game in all its facets (narrative, recreational, social, ethical, political, technological, cultural and artistic). The speakers invited to the seminar will address issues such as gamification and the creation of subjectivities, the hegemony of neoliberal political rationalities, the relationship between recreation, art and capitalism, the gender and feminist perspective, and the video-gamification of cultural dynamics.