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Queer(ing) Game Studies: Reviewing Research on Digital Play and Non-normativity

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Queerness in Play

Part of the book series: Palgrave Games in Context ((PAGCON))

Abstract

Through a systematic literature review, this chapter considers how game studies scholarship has approached LGBTQ players, communities, and perspectives to outline new and ongoing opportunities for research and activism related to queer and non-normative digital games, players, and play practices. This chapter seeks to ascertain not only what scholarship has been produced with regard to LGBTQ games, gamers, and gaming but to critically consider where and how as well: which disciplines, methodological traditions, and publishing venues are most active in this area. Knowing how game studies has thus far engaged with queer identities, communities, and issues offers game scholars a trajectory to build on existing work in this area, to both contextualize and advance the efforts of LGBTQ players, critics, designers, allies, and activists.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Here, a wildcard character indicates a search term that will return results that are not exact matches, therefore broadening the scope of the search. For example, the search gam* will return results with terms such as game, games, gaming, gamer, and so on.

  2. 2.

    QED published a special issue on queerness and gaming, and Bloomsbury published a book in which several chapters contained research on the topic. This is not insignificant in terms of total numbers, but further clarification is prudent to prevent misrepresentation of the data in Fig. 2.1. For further detail, refer to the references list.

  3. 3.

    Based on the results of this systematic review, a categorization between sociocultural and textually based approaches offers the most productive means of mapping existing research related to queer gaming; the former reports on empirical studies of LGBTQ-identified game players, groups, and communities, while the latter applies queer theories and frameworks to analyses of games, gaming practices, tools, and games-related texts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Sarah Evans

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  1. Sarah Evans
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Science, Information Arts and Technologies, University of Baltimore, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Todd Harper

  2. Department of English and Writing Studies, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

    Meghan Blythe Adams

  3. Department of Communication, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Nicholas Taylor

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Evans, S. (2018). Queer(ing) Game Studies: Reviewing Research on Digital Play and Non-normativity. In: Harper, T., Adams, M., Taylor, N. (eds) Queerness in Play. Palgrave Games in Context. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90542-6_2

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